Got History to Celebrate? They’re Not Just for Holidays!

Happy July 4th!

How does this holiday tie-in with internal marketing?  Glad you asked!

Independence Day is a festive holiday honoring a historic anniversary. But this type of anniversary need not be limited to a national celebration.

Phyllis Barr, founder of Corporate Culture Marketing by Barr Consulting Services in New York [ladyhistory@earthlink.net], specializes in “corporate memory marketing.” She helps organizations document their corporate history and leverage anniversary celebrations as a marketing tool – good for public/community relations, brand reinforcement, nonprofit fund raising, employee/stakeholder relations, etc.

So a company’s heritage can be used for internal as well as external marketing purposes.  According to Phyllis, this history “makes up the corporate culture and affects how an organization and its brands are viewed.”

Corporate history needs to be shared – through staff training materials, orientation, on the intranet, etc. – to “make employees better and more knowledgeable” and reinforce pride in their affiliation with their employer.  In her work as a writer, researcher, historian, and marketer, Phyllis has found that sharing a company’s history adds to employee loyalty. And a company able to highlight its reputation through its history also has a great recruiting tool.

In my next post I’ll share some examples of how organizations have marked their anniversaries in meaningful ways.  In the meantime, enjoy this holiday weekend!