Israel at *yawn* 60
Those of us who grew up in the U.S. PR world are familiar with the important concept of connecting your client/product to current events or trends. For example, when we launched the Oscar Mayer fat-free hot dog back in January, 1995, we hopped onto the trend of formerly fattening foods making attempts to reinvent themselves as less unhealthy. That trend, by the way, is why, for example, Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC – no one wants the word "fried" in its corporate name. It’s, well, not so good for business.
Anyway, when we were on the cusp of the Gregorian calendar’s change from 1999 to 2000, just about every single consumer-oriented company tried to connect their brand with "2000" in one way or another.
So here we are, and our State of Israel is about to celebrate her 60th birthday. And sure enough, every Tom, Dick and Harry of Israeli companies is doing its best to connect somehow to this national milestone that is the biggest since, well, the 50th, and will be the biggest until, I guess, the 70th.
I’m personally not a big fan of anniversaries, when it comes to news. I don’t think there’s much that can be done by a reporter to acknowledge an anniversary except to simply acknowledge it. Companies are always thinking about how to "Get PR out of" an anniversary, etc., but I just don’t see the news value there.
But there is one exception where I think it does make sense to try to connect what you have with an anniversary …
If your company or product or technology, etc. has been one of the significant milestones along the way for, let’s say, the State of Israel, then promote the heck out of it next week. Because you are part of what has enabled Israel to reach 60, in essence.
But if your product is not significant to Israel’s history (yet), then do your credibility a favor and resist the temptation to try to gain publicity. It could actually help your PR efforts in the long run.
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