ANNIVERSARY - From strategic planning to hybrid event
In the VOK DAMS Anniversary Study of 2006 we concluded that there will be a significant increase in anniversary activities in the coming years. Five years have passed, and we would like to re-evaluate our previous findings and represent the current state of anniversary communication in this new edition of our study.
It is a fact that anniversaries provide a unique chance for business communication. Businesses not only use traditional anniversaries, but also create specific occasions for anniversaries. Thus, businesses nowadays celebrate also their first or twelfth anniversary. Moreover, the business does not necessarily have to be the reason for an anniversary; also products, branches, mergers, extended service portfolios, etc. are being celebrated.
In 2006 we found that anniversary communication and its chances were not being used sufficiently enough.
It became apparent that there were serious weaknesses in planning, that the implementation was frequently flawed, and that the result usually was a one-off event whose flash-in-the-pan effects fizzled out very quickly.
As a consequence of such semi-professional approaches, capital was wasted. Thus, the first question now is: “How are potentials being used today?”
In addition, we have observed a paradigm shift in business communication. Communication is developing from being target-oriented to being value-oriented. The reason for this development is the rapid development of social media. Brand- and product communication are increasingly taking place on the consumer side.
Thus, the second, central question is: “How do social media change anniversary communication?”