Flashback Friday: Millennium Calendars

When it comes to iconic promo products certain examples come to mind like the commemorative buttons used during the election of George Washington in 1789 or the revolutionary burlap tote used to promote a local shoe store in Coshocton, Ohio. These are notorious as they were among the first promotional products on record and paved the way for what would become a huge industry later on. Since then, many products have come and gone, some of them leaving behind an important legacy with valuable lessons pertaining to their success or in turn their shortcomings. In this blog, we will review the positive impact of millennium calendars and the lasting effect they had on the industry.

Y2K

As the year 2000 approached, concerns grew regarding potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of numerical data for dates in and after the year 2000. This made way for the now infamous ‘Y2K problem’. The warnings about the potential issues that could arise ranged from legitimate to over-the-top in other cases. COMDA saw this as an opportunity to keep clients engaged through humour and piggyback on the momentum of this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.

Millennium Calendars

The creation of Millennium calendars is one of the first successful examples of “moment merch” where a topic that permeates public consciousness is used to promote a business or event. Our innovative calendars were not only visually attractive but they also gave everyone something to talk about, which is something our customers yearned for. The calendars themselves featured an aesthetic that was prevalent in popular culture around that time characterized by shiny objects and slick futuristic looks. As a result, it only made sense to add a hologram to contrast the bold minimalism of the cover.

Salt Lake City 2002

The introduction of Millenium Calendars increased business by a whopping 300% in part due to COMDA’s brilliant marketing approach that encouraged customers to “go out with a bang”. Without a doubt, our customers loved the hologram which helped set them apart from their competitors. The craze over Millennium calendars carried over into 2001 with the hologram making its final appearance in the 2002 Salt Lake City souvenir calendar. The Winter Olympics-inspired calendar included a legend of the venues, a schedule of the games along with historic images of the different competitions.

Custom Corporate Calendars

As a business owner or event planner, you don’t have to wait until the turn of the century to create a special calendar. Our fully custom corporate calendar gives you the ultimate control to create your own masterpiece with a custom cover and a fully personalized interior featuring your images. Similar to the Salt Lake City version, you can highlight days and special events that are important to your business. Sporting events can include schedules as the datepad is also customizable. For future promotions, you can always draw inspiration from previous success stories and include a touch of nostalgia in your campaigns with retro-inspired products.