Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program? The National World War II Museum takes pride in celebrating WWII veterans and the notable milestones in their lives. For several years, they’ve had a special relationship with Lawrence Brooks, the oldest living U.S. World War II veteran. Celebrating Mr. Brooks’ birthday has become an annual tradition for the museum, one that usually includes a big in-person celebration. Due to COVID-19 that couldn’t happen this year, but even a global pandemic couldn’t stop the museum from finding an alternative way to properly celebrate Mr. Brooks turning 111 years old. In lieu of a big party, the museum launched a birthday card campaign, asking the public to send congratulatory cards to the museum for Mr. Brooks. We expected to receive 500-1000 cards. On his actual birthday, the museum planned to deliver the cards to Mr. Brooks’ home and have the museum’s singing trio, The Victory Belles, serenade him and present him with his favorite cake. Due to Mr. Brooks’ fragile health and his family’s direction that they did not want a large media frenzy at the home, we focused our efforts on getting media to share how people could send Mr. Brooks a special birthday card. We provided media with our own photography and video of the actual birthday celebration to utilize in their coverage. Part of The National World War II Museum’s mission is to find ways to remind people of the importance of remembering the war that changed the world. By celebrating Mr. Brooks’ birthday each year, we hope to bring attention to the fact that our World War II veterans are aging, and it is important to honor those still with us. This year was especially important to help lift spirits and celebrate positive moments.

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)Mr. Brooks’ birthday celebration was wildly successful, completely surpassing all our expectations. More than 21,000 birthday cards from around the world were mailed to the museum! The celebration became the feel-good story of the week and put a smile on the face of everyone who read or watched it. Even at 111, Mr. Brooks is charming and endearing, but it was still a huge surprise to see just how much the media gravitated to this story and how much love was sent his way. While we had to turn away many interview requests due to his family’s wishes, the media results were awe-inspiring. There were 594 prominent stories secured, resulting in 1.3 billion media impressions and massive exposure for The National World War II Museum. An astounding 278 broadcast segments aired covering the museum’s initiative. CBS This Morning, CBS Morning News, ABC World News Tonight, CNN Morning Express with Robin Mead, The View, CNN International, Fox News Mornings with Maria and hundreds of local news stations ran segments about the museum’s celebration of Mr. Brooks. There were also 294 online stories, ranging from PEOPLE and Good Morning America to CNN and New York Daily News. The story jumped to social media, with many major news outlets posting about it, as well as Meghan McCain, co-host of The View and daughter of Senator John McCain sharing it on her personal Twitter. Most notably, the story was shared on National Geographic’s Instagram (146M followers), CNN’s Twitter (51M followers), Good Morning America’s Twitter (3.7M followers) and E! News’ Instagram (15M followers). All of this media fanfare inspired everyday people to wish Mr. Brooks a happy birthday and brought increased recognition to the museum and its mission.

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Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals and audience. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)

Entry TitleThe National World War II Museum Sparks a Birthday Card Bonanza

DivisionPublic Relations - SPECIAL EVENT

CategoryPublic Relations