Leveraging National Days in Marketing and PR Strategy
National Margarita Day; National Dog Day; World Book Day and even the more obscure and niche National Tortilla Chip or National Lemon Juice Day, it seems like there’s a day to celebrate almost everything.
But why, as marketeers, do we embrace these days and use them to connect with our target audiences?
Well, it’s simple. We are always on the lookout for innovative opportunities to not only connect with our target market but to build brand awareness, brand loyalty and drive engagement. In the past five years we’ve seen an increase in brands using these national days, such as National Coffee Day or International Women’s Day to make meaningful connections with their target audience and enhance their brand image.
Used correctly and meaningfully brands can successfully leverage these days to huge success. But, they can equally get it wrong and there have been some clangers from brands down through the years.
So why should businesses consider building a strategy around these national days?
They can tap into cultural relevance. National days are often connected to societal issues. By aligning strategy with these occasions, businesses can tap into the collective consciousness of their audience and demonstrate their relevance and awareness of current trends and concerns. For example, a company participating in Earth Day celebrations by promoting their sustainable practices can demonstrate their commitment to the environment to more eco-conscious consumers, potentially opening up a whole new customer base.
Building Brand Identity. Incorporating national days into campaigns allows businesses to showcase their brand identity and values in a way that makes them relevant to audiences. Whether they are supporting social causes or celebrating diversity, businesses come across as socially responsible entities that care. They are not solely focused on profit. This helps them to nurture strong, emotional connections with consumers who share similar values which, in time, can lead to brand loyalty and advocacy. A joint study from McKinsey and NielsenIQ examined sales growth for products that claim to be environmentally and socially responsible. Products making ESG-related claims averaged 28 % cumulative growth over the past five-year period, versus 20 % for products that made no such claims.
Generating PR Opportunities: Some national days attract significant media attention and public interest, and brands that align with the right ones can amplify their message and reach a wider audience. By leveraging these occasions to share brand stories, launch new products, or highlight something good in the company, businesses can garner media coverage and drive social media engagement. The downside of this, of course, is if brands try and jump on the wrong day they can end up doing more harm than good. In 2021 Burger King generated quite the controversy on International Women’s Day after declaring that “Women belong in the kitchen.” The fast food chain insisted that it was part of their campaign for gender equality but it just missed the mark and they were criticised heavily.
Boosting engagement and, crucially, sales: National days can offer businesses the chance to create excitement and anticipation among consumers through special promotions. If they can seamlessly capitalise on the heightened awareness surrounding these occasions, businesses can drive engagement both online and offline.
Here are some of the National Day Marketing Campaigns we loved in the last 12 months.
Norwich City FC – ‘Check In On Those Around You’
Norwich City FC’s ‘Check In On Those Around You’ campaign, was shared by the football club on World Mental Health Day in October.
The two-and-a-half-minute video shows two male football fans sitting in the same football stadium throughout the season. One of the men appears quiet and withdrawn, while the other is happy, and checks in on how his friend is doing. The film concludes by showing the empty seat of the perceived happier man, who has died by suicide. It aims to dispel the myth that only people who show obvious signs experience poor mental health. It was posted with the following caption: “At times, it can be obvious when someone is struggling to cope, but sometimes the signs are harder to spot.”
The film was viewed more than 57 million times on Twitter, with over 153,000 reshares and 311,000 likes. On LinkedIn, it gained more than 1,000 comments and more than 20,000 reposts.
Guinness – ‘Holding out for a Zero’
On Patrick’s Day 2023 Guiness asked revellers to ‘Make it a Patrick’s Day to Remember” and launched a responsible drinking campaign on a day long associated with alcohol. In the lead-up to the day Guinness 0.0 launched its ‘Singing Pints’ campaign, inspired by a consumer trend of drinkers blowing smiley faces on the head of their pint and then posting the pictures to social media.
Guinness 0.0 took the trend one step further and had the smiley faces come to life to sing a parody of a Bonnie Tyler classic – ‘Holding Out for a Zero’.
The campaign also built pride for Irish consumers ordering a non-alcoholic drink (8% agreeing with the statement ‘Proud to order a non-alcoholic drink’ after the campaign versus before).
Across the UK and Ireland, Guinness was also the most talked about non-alcoholic brand (across any sector) for the year ended 15 June 2023.