How Do I Effectively Celebrate a Brand Milestone (Part Two)?
This week marks The Young & The Restless’ 50th anniversary. For 35 years, it has been the No. 1 daytime drama in the country. (Me? I’ve been watching it since 1990 with my family. Shick and Phack forever, thanks for asking!)
Since Justin just gave some great tips on how to celebrate a milestone like an anniversary last week, I wanted to pair his tips with a quick look at all the ways in which Y&R has been using its milestone to amplify its brand. A soapy case study on doing it right if you will.
Sure, they did a new release. It is here, and very well-written.
However, I have been impressed on the daily with everything they have done above and beyond this release. It includes:
- Securing milestone stories in major media outlets.
- They created hashtags for their staff and stars to use to talk all things anniversary all year long.
- They used the anniversary to update their logo of sorts, debuting a new opening sequence.
- Using the milestone to secure profile stories on its biggest stars.
- They are celebrating the anniversary on the show, but thinly veiling the 50th anniversary celebration as the fictional Genoa City Bicentennial Celebration. The celebration gives cause for old characters to come back and mix it up with former loves and foes while meeting the newer generation on the show. They are essentially bridging, a long-time tactic in media relations.
- They are taking advantage of digital channels, creating hilarious and engaging content for the likes of Instagram and Tik Tok that is gaining worldwide clicks and likes (it is totally Victoria, by the way).
- They are utilizing the anniversary to create theme weeks with traditional media on the grandest of scales, but programming those opportunities with thoughtful guests that make sense and are well prepared.
- They invested in some paid content, weaving it with the earned media and digital output.
- They pitched and secured behind-the-scenes looks at the exclusive anniversary party.
Cheers, #YR50! Here is to 50 more. You know I’ll be watching.
