7 tips for conducting a Veterans Day campaign

As a public relations opportunity, Veterans Day offers a legitimate news hook, yet a campaign or pitch built around the occasion can be tricky.

Certainly, it’s not to be confused with October’s National Cat Day or the upcoming National Square Dance Day—celebrations that beg for PR teams to newsjack them with crazy, creative pitches.

Veterans Day, by contrast, demands a serious and thoughtful campaign. If you’re building a corporate social responsibility program around our nation’s observance of the day, it had better strike the right tone.

1. Research what’s already out there.

The last thing any good PR professional wants to do for a Veterans Day effort is to copy something already in the works. Obviously there is room for more than one “buy x and we’ll donate to y,” but an original idea will be more successful. It’s often helpful to scan newswire releases from previous years to determine levels of commitment and PR strategy.

2. Partner with a reputable organization.

This is a good idea for many reasons. It enables you to vet a concept for appropriate theme and messaging, to lend a campaign credibility and for “boots on the ground” in staging an event or other massive undertaking.