Time to look ahead at the month of March 2015 at the events anniversaries and holidays that we can use to build a marketing campaign, product launch or promotion around.
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.
Also, there is the change of season with the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the Autumn Equinox in the south.
Moving on to other events…
March 1 – World Civil Defence Day
March 3 – World Wildlife Day
March 3 – Anniversary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell in 1847
March 5 – World Book Day (UK)
March 8 – International Women’s Day
March 10 – Money Day! (anniversary of the first printing of paper money in USA in 1862)
March 10 – Commonwealth Day (UK and Commonwealth countries)
March 13 – World Sleep Day
March 14 – Pi Day
March 15 – World Consumer Rights Day
March 15 – World Contact day
March 15 – The “Ides of March”. Beware! (Julius Caesar assassinated in 44 B.C.)
March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
March 20 – International Day Of Happiness
March 20 – March Equinox (occurs at 22.45 UT)
March 21 – World Poetry Day
March 21 – World Puppetry Day
March 21 – International Day of Forests
March 21 – International Day of Nowruz (Persian New Year)
March 22 – World Water Day
March 23 – World Meteorological Day
March 24 – Houdini Day (anniversary of the birth of the great escapologist in 1874)
March 27 – World Theatre Day
Taking a look at individual countries…
In the USA…
March 2 – Read Across America Day
March 2 – Texas Independence Day (Texas)
March 2 – Casimir Pulaski Day (Illinois)
March 3 – Town Meeting Day (Vermont)
March 8 – Daylight Savings Time starts
March 17 – Evacuation Day (Massachusetts)
March 20 – Spring Equinox
March 25 – Maryland Day (Maryland)
March 26 – Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day (Hawaii)
March 29 – Palm Sunday
March 30 – Seward’s Day (Alaska)
March 31 – César Chávez Day (California, Colorado, Texas)
Canada…
March 8 – Daylight Savings Time starts
March 9 – Commonwealth Day
March 20 – Spring Equinox
March 29 – Palm Sunday
In the UK…
March 1 – St David’s Day (patron saint of Wales)
March 5 – World Book Day (an event to promote reading publishing and copyright)
March 9 – Commonwealth Day
March 15 – Mother’s Day
March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day (holiday in Northern Ireland)
March 20 – Spring Equinox
March 29- Palm Sunday
March 29 – Daylight Savings Time starts
In Australia…
March 1- First day of autumn (already!)
March 7 – Mardi Gras parade (Sydney)
The Mardi Gras festival runs from Feb 20 – Mar 8, but the centrepiece parade is on March 7.
March 2 – Labour Day (WA)
March 9 – Commonwealth Day, Labour Day (VIC), Canberra Day (ACT), Adelaide Cup (SA), Eight Hours Day (TAS)
March 19 – National Close The Gap Day
March 21 – Autumn Equinox
March 21 – Harmony Day
March 29 – Palm Sunday
The Australian Grand Prix takes place over 12-15 March in Melbourne…
…and the 2015 Cricket World Cup (hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand) reaches the final on March 29 at the MCG.
Some notable anniversaries this month…
March 3 (1865) – Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation begins operations
March 8 (1865) – Birth of Frederic Goudy, American printer and typographer who designed more than 100 typefaces including Copperplate Gothic and Goudy Old Style
March 4 (1890) – Forth Bridge opens, the first major steel structure in Britain
March 15 (1945) – Billboard published the first album chart in the USA (the first #1 album was the King Cole Trio)
Finally for this month…
…on 29 March 1886, John Pemberton began advertising his “esteemed Brain Tonic and Intellectual Beverage”…
…known to you and I as Coca-Cola. It was originally devised as a headache and hangover remedy. That’s presumably why Pemberton approached Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta to sell the beverage on a trial basis.
It was there that carbonated water was added to the syrup to produce what we now know as Coca-Cola. However, it wasn’t initially a great success and Pemberton ended up selling two-thirds of his rights to Coca-Cola for the sum of $1,200.
The rest, as they say, is history!
Here’s to your success with event-driven marketing promotions in March 2015.
UPDATE (18 March 2015):
In the UK…today (18 March) is the day the government presents its “Budget” for the coming year. The date varies each year but it’s usually sometime in March ahead of the end of the financial year on 5 April. If you’re in the UK and in any kind of business related to money and finance, this is a topical event you can use in emails and other communication with your audience.