Yahoo didn’t need any clever publicity hooks to promote its 10th anniversary recently.
There was more than enough for the media to cover, including interviews with co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, who parlayed Yahoo Inc. from a college hobby into a full-time job. Today, the thirtysomethings are billionaires.
But two clever anniversary promotions caught my eye. Yahoo invited web surfers to print a special coupon from its main web page, redeemable for a scoop of ice cream at any participating Baskin-Robbins store. Yahoo also provided maps and directions so users could find where to go to claim their scoop during the one-day promotion on March 2.
I saw a blurb about the ice cream promotion in the Wall Street Journal, on the ABC News website, and when I did a Google search, I found more than 300 blogs that mentioned the promotion.
The company also offered a "Netrospective," fascinating online review of 100 interesting events that occurred during its 10-year lifespan. You’ll recognize lots of familiar milestones, from the dancing baby to the Bob Hope obituary which the Associated Press accidentally put online in 1998, to Howard Dean who, before the famous scream, fired up the online world to harness the political reach of the Web.
What are you doing to promote your company’s next major anniversary?
Two special reports I wrote will give you lots of ideas for things you can do to generate publicity. See "Special Report #14: How to Piggyback Story Ideas onto Holidays and Anniversaries" and "Special Report #18: Clever Contests That Will Tempt Reporters to Call."