Summary:
“Learn how to build your brand for under $100 with one simple tip: creating your own holiday event. Explore the potential of lesser-known holidays listed in Chase’s Calendar of Events to align with your business’s message or product. Discover the three steps to establish your brand-building holiday, from conceptualization to submission to Chase’s. Leverage this strategy to generate buzz, secure media coverage, and establish an annual platform for promoting your brand effectively.”
Thanksgiving and Christmas may be just around the corner, but there are dozens of other holidays that take place in November and December that you may never have heard of.
Chase’s Calendar of Events helps businesses host those special days, weeks and months that have been created to celebrate everything from living a gluten free lifestyle to family reunions to National Hot Dog Day.
Whether philosophical or playful, your business can create its own holiday as a launching pad for a newsworthy brand-building campaign. Remember though and industry leaders don’t just report or comment on the news, and other people’s content – they create it.
Generating a holiday that ties in with your business, book, product or cause is one way to gain attention for your brand. For example: I had a client who was an expert in business etiquette.
She created Cell Phone Courtesy month and like magic, every year she gets a whole 30 days to promote her message (and her company).
She sends out press releases on the topic, gives radio interviews and has even appeared on television – all to promote, celebrate and give great tips on, you guessed it – cell phone courtesy.
Here are the three steps you can take to make your own brand building holiday.
1. Create a holiday event that relates to your business, book or product.
National Cell Phone Courtesy Month, Get Organized Month, National Hot Dog Day: If you can think of a topic, there is probably a holiday someone has created to celebrate it.
And many have used these events as a springboard for promoting their message to the media. Some of the events my clients have created and placed in Chase’s have garnered them coverage in USA Today, CNET, The Huffington Post and hundreds of other newspapers, radio shows and blogs. To create your own holiday, think about the following:
- What topic relates to our business, book, product or cause that we could create a credible holiday around?
- Is there a specific date, month or time of year when it would be most natural for our holiday to occur?
- What can we name this holiday to easily showcase the thing we want to celebrate and promote?
2. Submit your holiday idea to Chase’s Calendar of Events.
In order to be officially included in Chase’s yearly book and Web site, you need to apply to have your event accepted. It’s free to submit, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Check the current Chase’s calendar to insure that the holiday you want to create has not already been claimed by someone else.
- Create a Web site for the holiday or put a page on your existing Web site dedicated to it.
- Mind the deadlines for submission. Chase’s works in advance, so be certain that you submit your holiday or event early.
3. Build buzz for your holiday event.
About 30 to 45 days before your holiday is due to debut, write and distribute a press release about the upcoming event. Include some background on why you decided to sponsor the holiday and how it is relevant in today’s world.
If the topic permits, offer five to ten tips that the media can easily pick up and integrate into a feature story or news item.
The beauty of creating your own holiday is that while it only takes one time to set it up, once established, it gives you a yearly platform to promote.
This article originally appeared on Inc.com.
