Happy New Year! Oh, Wait.

October 3, 2014

By: Alicia Beard, Account Manager

It’s not too uncommon to hear Christmas carols being hummed around the WildRock office, even if it’s only the third day of October. But we’re not ashamed, our off-tune melodies come from a keen awareness of the lead times for many media outlets, marketing and advertising channels. If you want your holiday campaign to hit hard this year, now is the time to be getting your plans in place.  

The importance of having an eagle eye view and thinking 50 steps ahead when planning a marketing campaign cannot be overstated. Just take a look at how Oreo planned ahead for their marketing campaign and reaped the benefits. According to 7G Media:

“During the 2013 Super Bowl, Oreo employed 15 marketing brains to sit in a locked room and watch the game until they came up with a piece of marketing relevant to whatever happened in the game. There was a blackout at the stadium and within ten minutes Oreo had a post on Twitter and Facebook of an Oreo in a spotlight saying ‘You can still dunk in the dark’. It was shared more than 200 million times in the space of the evening.”

Planning ahead IS how you stay ahead of the competition. Any other company could have done something similar, but Oreo was one step ahead of them and created a piece of marketing material that was amazing and probably even surpassed their own expectations.

But don’t think that planning ahead just means focusing on the future; it also involves focusing on where you are relative to the industry. Marketing Donut makes the point that updating your image (such as colors, a different logo, clothing or brand packaging), being engaged with current customers and knowing the competition are just a few things that can help you do just that.

Most PR and marketing campaigns take a month of planning to lay the groundwork, build the content, get appropriate approvals and execute. So, think ahead for this year. Okay, now think ahead for next year. What different seasonal campaigns come to mind?

  • Thanksgiving
  • Christmas
  • New Year’s
  • The Super Bowl
  • Valentine’s Day
  • Spring Break

But wait – what’s that over there on the horizon… I think I can make it out… oh yes it’s Independence Day! That’s way too far away you say? Think again! Long-lead publications such as magazines work 3-4 months in advance, which means that whatever is looming over the horizon should be something you’re scoping out. You can never be too prepared for your marketing campaign, because right when you think you are the competition is probably already planning their next campaign.

Part of building Rockstar PR and marketing strategies includes detailed editorial calendars and keeping a pulse on key trends and needs with our media partners. Check out our services page to learn more.