Piggybacking publicity onto popular or obscure days, weeks and months of the year is one of the easiest ways to find your way into the media, and I give lots of examples in my ebook, How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound.
Here’s one of the more obscure days of the year. It’s Pi Day, and it’s today, 3/14. It celebrates pi, which is 3.141592653589793, the mathematical constant that goes on without any repeating patterns, right into infinity.
Columnist Jim Stingl of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a column in today’s paper about two local businesses that are celebrating:
- Discovery World Museum is giving prizes to math wizards and Einsteins who can recite from memory the most digits of pi.
- Each year, Whole Foods Market in Milwaukee gives away free slices of apple, cherry or blueberry pie, starting at 3:14 p.m. It also sells pies for $3.14.
Your business doesn’t have to be tied to food, or math, in order for you to generate a little publicity from Pi Day. What can you sell for $3.14? Or what challenge can you issue to your customers that ties into the numbers 3, 1 and 4?
Update:
Someone who commented on Stingl’s column another great publicity idea:
“When I used to work as a medical researcher, our department celebrated Pi Day every year by bringing pies into work on that day. A lot of people would bring in pies and we’d set up the pies on a credenza in the hall outside of the labs along with plates and forks, whipped cream, etc. On the wall above the pies there were fun facts about pie.”
This is something ANY business or nonprofit can do. Try it, and invite the local TV stations and newspapers.
For more ideas, see Special Report #45: How to Generate National Publicity from Your Own Holiday (or Day, Week or Month of the Year). Or if you don’t want to create your own day, you can always piggyback onto someone else’s.
I didn’t think to get in on a promotion for pi day, but your post reminds me to BE PREPARED. I listened to you in a teleseminar once, and one of the points that I remember clearly is that every day is a “holiday” of sorts–you gave the website to register your own “annual celebration” date or month. So…I’m going to start tying my business into significant, upcoming dates…and doing it ahead of time!
Donna, you are referring to Chase’s Calendar of Events at http://www.Chases.com. It’s also worth mentioning that you can piggyback onto other people’s holidays, or days, weeks or months of the year. They do not have to be your own.
Hi Joan,
Somehow, i’m not quite sure how i have found your blog. I am new to blogging and found the idea of ‘pi-day’ and other ‘holidays’ a fascinating idea. Everyday’s (should be) a holiday! Love your content and an easy read, so i’ve signed up to your newsletter and will mention your site on my blog too.
thanks again for a great idea.
all the best
Richard
Richard, welcome aboard! Hope you like the newsletter. Keep my in mind the next time you score a publicity hit, and share it with me. I’m always looking for content for the newsletter.