Whether you love them, loathe them or feel somewhere in between, two of the UK’s greatest institutions – the Monarchy and the BBC – are celebrating significant anniversaries this year of 70 and 100 years respectively. Expect to see, hear and experience more from both organisations throughout the year, no doubt building to a crescendo celebratory moment towards its end.
Some might argue that running sustained media campaigns to celebrate your organisation’s anniversary is slightly self-indulgent but, in my view, anniversaries are a fantastic opportunity to put your best corporate foot forward. Here’s why.
Right now it feels as if we all need good news. Coming out of the first pandemic most of us have ever experienced, to many it still feels as if we are in dark times, albeit, fingers crossed, with light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s no coincidence that the media cycle feels dark and negative too. So when something positive, like the recent Brit Awards, almost universally praised for being one of the best produced and hosted UK music events in years, with amazing performances from musician after musician, it was able to stand out like a beacon of light reminding us of the importance and pride we take in the music and talent in our lives.
Marking a significant corporate anniversary should aim to make the public and employees feel proud. At British Airways, a huge part of our work to mark 100 years of commercial aviation was focusing the campaign on initiatives that made the people of British Airways take pride in the part they played, past or present, in making the company successful.
Our activities aimed to energise and emotionally reconnect colleagues with the business, which was essential after it had just come out of a few difficult years. The same can be said for BA’s customers. Like its colleagues, without its customers, BA, nor any business, would be in business which is why an anniversary is also a great opportunity to remind and thank customers for the huge part they have played in your company’s success.
Celebrating an anniversary is also a golden opportunity to re-position a brand, explain its purpose and in the cases of the ultimate British brands of the Monarch and the BBC, affirm the values they stand for.
Of course, over a one-hundred-year period everything will have changed. History and heritage are naturally worth celebrating but it’s the future that really matters. Anniversaries allow your business to outline what it stands for, and make the case why people should care about it and how it is able to connect with bigger societal conversations. Looking to that future I’d recommend making a set of commitments that your business can get behind. These commitments will hold you to account, deliver change and leave a legacy to celebrate at the next major anniversary.
Louise Evans was Director of External Communications & Sustainability at British Airways and managed its centenary campaign in 2019.