Welcome to our regular look at the month ahead, April 2024…

…and the events, holidays and anniversaries that a smart marketer can use as the foundation for an event-driven campaign or marketing promotion.

Easter is the main holiday and this year straddles the months of March and April. Good Friday is on March 29…

…and Easter Monday is on April 1.

There are a number of other religious holidays and observances this month, so mark those if appropriate for your audience.

The other prominent event of general interest this month is…

…”April Fool’s Day” (a day for practical jokes and spreading hoaxes) which this year coincides with Easter Monday on the first of the month.

It’s also “Shakespeare Day” on April 23 which is also “English Language Day” and “World Book and Copyright Day”.

Other events of note… [Read more…]

Time to look ahead at the month of March 2024 at the events, anniversaries and holidays that we can use to build a marketing calendar for campaigns, product launches or promotions.

The main occasion of general interest is St Patrick’s Day on March 17. Plenty of scope for ideas based around luck, good fortune and finding that elusive “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow.

There is also the change of season with the March Equinox (March 20 at 03.06 UT). Daylight Savings Time changes this month as well in many countries.

In the UK it’s “Mother’s Day” on Sunday, March 10…

…and Easter is approaching. This year it falls on March 29 – April 1. [Read more…]

Time to look at the coming month of February 2024 for the various holidays, events and anniversaries that smart marketers can use as the basis for a promotion or campaign and to create a marketing calendar for February 2024.

It’s Chinese New Year on Saturday, February 10 (the “Year of the Dragon”). Celebrations culminate with the Lantern Festival on February 24.

Valentine’s Day (February 14) is a standout occasion for the month pretty much everywhere. Remember also “Groundhog Day” (February 2), now part of the popular consciousness thanks to the classic Bill Murray movie.

2024 is a Leap Year…so there’s an extra day in the calendar on February 29.

In Sports…the US Super Bowl 58 takes place on February 11.

Looking at other events… [Read more…]

“Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book (“Scientific Advertising”) seven times.  It changed the course of my life.”
 – David Ogilvy

This year (2023) is the 100th anniversary of the first publishing of the book “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins. It’s widely regarded as one of the foundation stones of what is known as Direct Response Marketing.

Somewhat surprisingly, it’s not that well known outside of direct response practitioners in the wider marketing community.

W-a-a-a-y back in 2008, I wrote a series of posts covering each of the 21 chapters in the book, discussing whether or not what Hopkins had to say was still relevant for marketers in the 21st Century. He described his aim for the book as follows…

“The time has come when advertising has in some hands reached the status of a science.  It is based on fixed principles and is reasonably exact.  The causes and effects have been analysed until they are well understood.  The correct methods of procedure have been proven and established.  We know what is most effective, and we act on basic laws.”

“Advertising, once a gamble, has thus become, under able direction, one of the safest of business ventures.  Certainly no other enterprise with comparable possibilities need involve so little risk.”

To mark this 100th anniversary of “Scientific Advertising”, the links to the original series of posts are below… [Read more…]

2023 is not yet over…we still have Christmas and the New Year to enjoy…

…but it’s not too soon to get started on putting together a marketing calendar for January 2024. So let’s take a look ahead at some of the events, anniversaries and other occasions that we can put to use for an event-driven marketing event or promotion.

Of course, the New Year itself is a great reason for a promotion. At this time, most people are making plans for the year ahead and often looking to make a “fresh start”.

“New Year Sales” are a staple pretty much around the world and no reason why you can’t make use of this.

Looking slightly further ahead…

…in 2024 Chinese New Year falls on February 10th (the start of the “Year of the Dragon”).

Back to January and other events of note… [Read more…]