Turning Tauck’s anniversary into a PR newsworthy story

There’s a natural sense of pride that comes with hitting a milestone in business. Indeed, a company anniversary IS a big deal. Internally, it feels monumental. Employees cheer, loyal customers celebrate, and agency partners share in the excitement. But from a media perspective? Big sigh.

Brand anniversaries, as spectacular as they seem, just aren’t newsworthy on their own. Without an additional compelling news hook, even a centennial is just another pitch in a sea of “company anniversaries.” So, here’s the million-dollar question: how do you give a brand anniversary the media attention it deserves? That was our challenge when Tauck approached its centennial anniversary.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that only about 12% of companies are older than 26 years. Tauck, however, is a rare exception. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025, Tauck has been family owned for four generations…that’s a feat VERY few companies ever see. It’s a story worth shouting from the rooftops, but sadly, even that news hook alone doesn’t give the media much to talk about beyond congratulations. To give them something REALLY meaty to chew on, we used the 100th anniversary strategically to unlock rich media opportunities and launched a proactive consumer media outreach program that craftily left no stone unturned.

Our program centered on a two-pronged pitching approach aimed at: 1) generating coverage directly related to the 100th anniversary and 2) pairing the 100th anniversary announcement with other timely, relevant news hooks to drive brand awareness. The overarching goal was to put Tauck and the anniversary top-of-mind with the media. Our strategy involved:

• Developing and pitching 100th story ideas, such as an extraordinarily grand and luxurious 100-day world tour package. It didn’t matter if no one booked it (though HELL YEAH if anyone did!). The point was to offer a story that grabbed media attention and got them to talk about the centennial.
• Media tours! We put CEO Jennifer Tombaugh in the interview seat, talking about topics such as industry trends, future plans, new product announcements, initiatives, and of course, the anniversary. The milestone became the anchor for a broader conversation about Tauck’s leadership, resilience, and vision. Jennifer’s deep knowledge added rich context and personal insight, which helped journalists develop a more compelling story.
• Creating a massive sweepstakes campaign for Tauck and Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria that celebrates two Connecticut-based companies marking 100 years and coming together to thank patrons. We orchestrated every step of this sweepstakes, including facilitating the partnership, identifying the right sweepstakes platform and managing execution, developing the official rules, and cross-sponsor coordination to deliver all marketing assets (landing page, graphics, banners, in-store materials, etc.).

From early interviews in 2024 to ongoing outreach in 2025, we teased the media with slices of Tauck news. 100th anniversary messaging was consistently integrated into every communication…and the results poured in. The media embraced Tauck with loving arms: more than 183 million media impressions were generated around the anniversary. In addition to the featured stories linked above, Tauck’s story was meaningfully told across multiple channels with nods to the milestone throughout. Prominent pieces with continued pick up appeared in:

Travel trade outlets (a prime media target for Tauck), such as Luxury Travel Report, TravelAge West, Travel Pulse, Insider Travel Report, Vax Vacation Access, and Travel Weekly spotlighted Tauck’s 100th anniversary celebrations, voluntourism initiatives, the next 100 years, and more.

With the company headquartered in Connecticut, local and regional coverage was especially important, and the media brought continued love with placements in CT Insider, Patch CT, CBS affiliate WFSB-TV, and Boston News 25.

Of course, consumer media gave it lots of love too. Highlights include: AFAR, Forbes Travel Guide, MSN, and Everett Potter’s Travel Report.

And don’t miss one of our faves…the Forbes feature linked above with this fabulous call-out: “Tauck is having its best year celebrating its 100th anniversary with double-digit growth,” and “If Tauck’s next 100 looks anything like the last, luxury travel won’t just be about where you go. It’ll be about how you feel—and who you become—along the way.”

Oh, and the CBS story linked at the top of this page? That segment aired 654 times across various national and local markets over two days.