Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Why not offer a contest? Have people submit essays and pictures of their homes telling why they need replacement windows. 50 winners. Grand prize is free replacement windows for the person's home. The other 49 get 50% off windows (for example).

A 50th Anniversary is a big deal for any business, and a great story in this economy.

I like Jay's idea for a contest tied somehow to "50", either the number of winners, or perhaps you give away 50 windows (can be to one winner, or 10 total to 5 winners, so there's some opportunity to sell the rest of the home). A great giveaway with a tie to the business angle can net some nice PR both locally near your various offices/centers and further afield (online, trade pubs).

While the giveaway might not be "low cost" it can lead to some high quality coverage that you're not paying for.

Another idea would be to tie 50 years to 50 tips for saving energy on your website... or work with some bloggers who cover home building, energy saving, other related topics and provide a guest post on "Celebrating 50 years of energy savings: Our best tips" or something similar.

Best of luck!
--
Mandy Vavrinak
Crossroads Communications

Wonderful ideas from everyone here! Don't forget contractors--those that funnel orders from customers. Consider special graphically-designed 50th sticker/seals for application to letterhead, ads, brochures, invoices, etc. to use throughout the 50th year. Contests are always awesome ideas; or another PR value might be to consider donating free windows to a local home (elderly, low income, etc) as designated by social services (your own version of Extreme Makeovers?)

Good luck!

jag
MarketBase

What does 50 years mean to your customers? That you're having a bit of a party? Not interested.

But if it means that you've been around long enough to be trusted, recommended, around long enough to honour your warranties, and have the experience to know what you're talking about be able to do the job right… that's would ring many more bells with your customers.

Sit down and work out what the benefits are, and then communicate them clearly. You could develop a "quality mark" that is stamped onto your website, emails, and all your printed material – Trusted for 50 Years – or something similar, or incorporate "Established 1959" under your logo, all things reassure your customers and add to the perception of stability and permanence – all good things in these turbulent times!

Good luck,
chough