Following on from the earlier post…
“Looking Ahead – Marketing Calendar 2013”
…I’m prompted to make this update by an anniversary that falls today.
150 years ago in 1863 on January 9, the London Underground railway opened for business.
It was a modest beginning. The initial line (the Metropolitan) ran from Paddington Station to Farringdon Street but from there it has grown to be the comprehensive network of today.
Naturally, the anniversary is being marked with a number of special events and the Royal Mail is issuing a special set of commemorative stamps.
More details at “150th Anniversary Of The London Underground”
After that initial post with ideas, events and occasions you can use for event-driven marketing campaigns in 2013, I went back and reviewed my sources.
Frankly, in comparison with years like 2012, there is something of a shortage of standout events.
Of course, there are the regular events that occur each year and a smart marketer should have no trouble at all putting together a schedule that will interest (and ideally excite) their audience.
However, as I look through my sources, most of the anniversaries seem to be birthdays (or deaths) of famous people.
Not all of these will be of great general interest.
So, you’ll probably need to look through a little more closely this year to find events and occasions that are suitable for your specific audience and purposes.
Here are a few more anniversaries that caught my attention…
January
4 – Isaac Pitman, inventor of a system of shorthand, born in 1813 (died in 1897). His maxim…”Time saved is life gained”
9 – Metropolitan underground railway, Paddington to Farringdon, opened 1863
February
1 – Rosa Parks born 1913 (died 2005). Refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, 1955, one of the seminal events in the Civil Rights struggle of the 50s and 60s in the USA
17 – Stanley Gibbons, stamp dealer, died 1913 (born 1840). Founded the business on two sacks of Cape Of Good Hope triangulars bought from two sailors in 1863
March
19 – Henry Livingstone, explorer and missionary, born 1813 (died 1873)
27 – Henry Royce born 1863 (died 1933). Partnership with Charles Rolls formed in 1904
(April sees no anniversaries of great note to my mind, with the possible exception of events in the US Civil War, if that’s relevant to your audience.)
May
2 – Beatles’ first number 1 single, “From Me To You”, 1963
15 – Frank Hornby born 1863 (died 1936). Patent for Meccano 1901. Hornby model trains from 1920
June
4 – Emily Davison, a Suffragette, brought down the King’s horse, Anmer, at the Derby, 1913. She died of her injuries four days later
16 – Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, 1963
July
30 – Henry Ford, assembly-line motor manufacturer, born 1863 (died 1947)
August
8 – “Great Train Robbery” in UK, 1963
28 – Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech in Washington, 1963
September
12 – Jesse Owens born 1913 (died 1980). Black American athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
October
10 – Panama Canal completed (1913)
11 – Edith Piaf, singer, died 1963 (born 1915)
November
19 – Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 1863
22 – Aldous Huxley died 1963 (born 1898). Huxley was the author of “Brave New World”
December
22 – Benjamin Britten, composer, born 1913 (died 1976)
As always, once a month I will post a regular article looking at events, anniversaries and occasions in the coming month that you can use for event-driven marketing.
It’s never too early to start planning your marketing calendar. I was somewhat shocked today to see hot-cross buns in my local baker! That’s a little early even for an enthusiast like me. Apparently, the major supermarkets in Australia have hot-cross buns in stock from…January 1!
Wishing you every success with event-driven marketing promotions in 2013!