Here’s the regular look ahead…
…this time at the coming month of November 2016…
…for events, occasions and anniversaries to use for campaigns and promotions in your marketing calendar November 2016.
FIRST…a reminder that the end of the year and CHRISTMAS is fast approaching!
For pretty much all marketers, Christmas and the New Year is a time of peak opportunity to make sales…
…BUT there is a lot of competition of course. So, it’s important to be well prepared.
Before that, this year the USA sees the Presidential Elections (Tuesday November 8). November in the USA also means…THANKSGIVING (this year on November 24).
(In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is a month earlier on October 10).
“Black Friday” follows, which marks the start of the Christmas season shopping frenzy!
On a more somber note, November 11 is Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the USA).
Here’s a more comprehensive list of events and occasions…
November 1 – All Saints’ Day
November 1 – Extra Mile Day
November 1 – Authors’ Day
November 2 – All Souls’ Day
November 3 – Cliche Day
November 3 – Sandwich Day
November 4 – Use Your Common Sense Day
November 5 – Gunpowder Day (Guy Fawkes/Firework Night in the UK)
November 6 – Orphan Sunday
November 8 – US Presidential Election Day
November 8 – International Day Of Radiology (anniversary of the discovery of X-rays)
November 8 – Bram Stoker’s birthday (author of “Dracula”)
November 9 – World Freedom Day (anniversary of the “fall” of the Berlin Wall in 1989)
November 10 – World Science Day
November 11 – Remembrance Day / Armistice Day (marking the end of World War 1)
November 11 – Veterans Day (USA )
November 12 – World Pneumonia Day
November 12 – World Quality Day
November 13 – World Kindness Day
November 14 – World Diabetes Day
November 15 – Entrepreneurs’ Day (third Tuesday in November). NOTE…this is a US occasion…there is also a World Entrepreneurs’ Day on August 21
November 15 – Day Of The Imprisoned Writer
November 16 – International Day For Tolerance
November 17 – World Philosophy Day (third Thursday in November)
November 17 – International Students’ Day
November 18 – Occult Day
November 19 – International Men’s Day (in 60 countries, including Australia, Canada, USA and UK)
November 20 – Universal Children’s Day
November 21 – World Television Day
November 21 – World Hello Day
November 23 – Birthday of notorious Wild West outlaw William “Billy The Kid” Bonney
November 23 – Fibonacci Day
November 24 – Thanksgiving (USA)
November 25 – “Black Friday” (USA)
November 26 – Charles Schultz’s birthday (cartoonist and creator of “Peanuts”)
November 26 – Small Business Saturday (USA)
November 30 – International Computer Security Day / St Andrew’s Day
…and Sunday 27 November is the first day of Advent 2016.
Taking a look at events and occasions in individual countries…
In the USA…
November 1 – All Saints’ Day
November 2 -All Souls’ Day
November 6 – Daylight Saving Time ends
November 8 – Election Day
November 10 – US Marine Corps Day
November 10 – Return Day Delaware (Delaware)
November 11 – Veterans Day
November 24 – Thanksgiving Day
November 25 – Black Friday
November 25 – State Holiday (Georgia)
November 25 – Presidents’ Day (New Mexico)
November 25 – Lincoln’s Birthday/Lincoln’s Day (Indiana, West Virginia)
November 25 – American Indian Heritage Day (Maryland)
November 27 – First day of Advent
November 28 – Cyber Monday
Canada…
November 6 – Daylight Saving Time ends
November 11 – Remembrance Day
The UK…
November 5 – Guy Fawkes Day / “Bonfire Night”
November 11 – Remembrance Day
November 13 – Remembrance Sunday
November 27 -First day of Advent
November 30 – St Andrew’s Day (patron saint of Scotland)
Australia…
In Australia…the “main event” is undoubtedly…
…MELBOURNE CUP DAY…on Tuesday 1 November.
Remember this is the Spring Racing Season so it’s not just about the one race on the big day.
Melbourne Cup Day also marks the unofficial start of the Christmas run-in.
November 1 – Melbourne Cup Day (Victoria)
November 7 – Recreation Day (Tasmania)
November 11 – Remembrance Day
Moving on to some notable anniversaries this month…
November 1 (1996) – The first DVD players go on sale in Japan
November 2 (1936) – BBC Television service launched in the UK
November 13 (2006) – Google acquired the video-sharing site YouTube
November 15 (2001) – Microsoft released the Xbox video-game console in the USA
November 16 (2001) – the first Harry Potter film…”Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was released
November 19 (1916) – Goldwyn movie studios established in New Jersey, USA. In 1924 it merged with two other studios to form MGM, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
November 21 (1941) – first episode of the blues music radio show “King Biscuit Time” was broadcast in the USA. It is the longest running daily radio show in the USA
November 23 (1996) the first Tamagotchi handheld virtual pets were released in Japan
November 23 (2001) – the Convention on Cybercrime was signed in Budapest, Hungary. This was the first international treaty to address internet and computer crime and came into effect in July 2004
November 29 (1951) – the world’s first business computer, the LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office) went into service running business applications for J.Lyons & Co in the UK
Remember also that 100 years ago World War 1 was raging…
…75 years ago World War 2 was in progress…
…65 years ago the Korean War was in progress…
…and 50 years ago the Vietnam war was ongoing.
So, if appropriate for your audience, you will find many anniversaries of notable events in those conflicts.
Wishing you every success with your event-driven marketing in November 2016!
UPDATE (11 November 2016):
Here’s an occasion I confess to not being aware of previously…”Single’s Day” in China…
“Forget tiny little Black Friday. Single’s Day, the world’s biggest online shopping day of the year, is here! And it’s kicking off with David and Victoria Beckham and hopes of a $20bn spending spree.
More than $12bn was spent on shopping website Alibaba in the first 12 hours of Singles Day this year. It surpassed $7bn in the first two hours alone, and could be on track for $20bn over the course of the day. And that’s just one website…”
Full story at “What is China’s Singles Day and how does it compare to Black Friday?”