5 Thanksgiving Ideas for Brands

As families, friends and loved ones get together to celebrate Thanksgiving, marketers should consider looking at just what the meaning of this holiday might help them add meaning to their own connection.

You can feel the anticipation growing. Blissful discussions of dinner plans, heated debates concerning the best recipes for stuffing, some anxiety over travel prospects and bustling shoppers stressing out their most favorite grocery store: indeed, Thanksgiving is near. It is, again, this time of the year where we're willing to get in touch with loved ones and feel the urge to be pleased for good things in our lives.

While it’s easy to totally embrace the celebration on a personal level, I'm wondering how challenging it is to make the leap in our work. How do we show thanks towards the individuals who matter to us - our clients and customers? When was the last time we thanked them? And did we do it properly: was the appearance of our gratitude sufficient with what our clients really mean to us?

There's absolutely some motivation to be found in Thanksgiving, a celebration that completely encapsulates both sides of gratitude, feeling it, and acting on it. Here's 5 things about Thanksgiving that will motivate brands.

1. Thanksgiving started out as a tradition to celebrate the harvest of the year. The loyalty of a client is just what brands aspire to harvest over and over again. Creating innovative branding campaigns or elaborating wise promotions. So, as Thanksgiving nears, we have to ask: what do we should harvest? Sales, engagement, customer satisfaction - how have they been grown over the last year?

2. Having established what you harvested, no matter big or small, considers thankfulness. Doesn’t mean your customers who naturally will appreciate all the enjoyment you contributed into their daily lives. I’m talking about how you have expressed or show your gratitude for your customers’ loyalty. Be it ancient or nascent? What have you conducted these days to show you value their business?

3. In the era of data and ROI driven marketing and advertising, there's no excuse to not be grateful. Each and every move from customers is taken into account. Therefore, marketers can create something good to reward their behavior and express appreciation. Planting those little seeds of thankfulness will guarantee success of the next harvest.

4. Because Thanksgiving also is about giving back. Henry Van Dyke summed the idea wonderfully: “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” We construct a whole company around this mantra. We understand the price of small rewards that can nurture or change a relationship among brands and their customers. We call it generosity marketing.

5. Lastly, if food is that important on Thanksgiving, it’s mainly because dinner is a fantastic excuse to assemble around with friends and family and share a meal, experiences, emotions. Thanksgiving is indeed one of these times a year where we are eager of focusing again on emotions and connections. If the occasional family drama invites itself to dinner, this is also the best time to rebuild broken links. This is certainly something brands can very well relate to. In today’s economy and tough competitive environment, emotions are the one thing that keeps the bond between a brand and its users together. If you think yours is drained or you hope to strengthen it, we may help.