Making the Most of a Brand’s Milestone Anniversary Event

How do you make your cus­tomers care about mile­stones in your busi­ness? We found one answer at a recent client event. 2026 marks 100 years for our client Mon­rovia, the country’s largest grow­er of pre­mi­um plants, and the company’s Cen­ten­ni­al Cel­e­bra­tion was a mas­ter class in mak­ing a mile­stone anniver­sary mem­o­rable.  

Cre­at­ing a Mem­o­rable Event 

The event took place at Monrovia’s Day­ton, Ore­gon, head­quar­ters, the largest of its three nurs­ery loca­tions. Over the week­long event Monrovia’s gar­den cen­ter cus­tomers and part­ners were treat­ed as the guest of hon­or at every turn.    

“We want­ed the event to be a cel­e­bra­tion of our cus­tomers,” said Katie Tamo­ny, CMO at Mon­rovia. “But we didn’t want it to just be a thank you. We want­ed it to hon­or our part­ner­ships and pro­vide unique oppor­tu­ni­ties for every attendee to learn more about the crafts­man­ship that goes into every Mon­rovia plant.” 

No detail was over­looked. From greeters at the front doors armed with good­ie bags and direc­tions to refresh­ments and pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties to guid­ed tours of the nurs­ery show­cas­ing plant prop­a­ga­tion, tree graft­ing lessons and top­i­ary craft­ing demon­stra­tions, guests were treat­ed to a stun­ning array of expe­ri­ences. There was even a gen­er­al store sell­ing mer­chan­dise hon­or­ing the 100th anniver­sary. Atten­dees wan­dered through inspir­ing plant dis­plays – includ­ing Cen­ten­ni­al Ruby Hydrangea, a lim­it­ed release selec­tion cho­sen for the cel­e­bra­tion year.  Cus­tomers also attend­ed tar­get­ed edu­ca­tion ses­sions, learn­ing from experts and brain­storm­ing with col­leagues.  

 Hon­or the Past and Pave the Way for the Future 

The Cen­ten­ni­al Cel­e­bra­tion pro­vid­ed an oppor­tu­ni­ty to hon­or four liv­ing Land­scape Leg­ends at an exclu­sive lun­cheon event. Each per­son was cho­sen for their his­toric con­tri­bu­tions to the indus­try and their impact on the future of hor­ti­cul­ture. The Land­scape Leg­ends includ­ed Anna Ball, Chair­man and CEO of Ball Hor­ti­cul­tur­al Com­pa­ny, Dr. Michael Dirr, pro­fes­sor, author, researcher and breed­er, Dan Hink­ley, world-renowned plant explor­er, and Martha Stew­art, lifestyle author­i­ty, author and tele­vi­sion per­son­al­i­ty. To mark the occa­sion, Mon­rovia made a dona­tion in their names to SeedYourFuture.Org, a non­prof­it ded­i­cat­ed to inspir­ing young peo­ple to pur­sue careers in hor­ti­cul­ture. 

 Show­case Inno­va­tion 

The event also includ­ed a Breed­ers Show­case – the largest inter­ac­tive peren­ni­al and shrub tri­al in the West. Cus­tomers and part­ners were pro­vid­ed a first look at in-ground tri­al plants from more than a dozen breed­ers from around the globe. Breed­er rep­re­sen­ta­tives were on hand to intro­duce new for 2027 vari­eties and high­light new plant inno­va­tions.  

Each night, guests were treat­ed to din­ner on site at the nurs­ery. The week cul­mi­nat­ed in a Cen­ten­ni­al Cel­e­bra­tion with din­ner, danc­ing, and a birth­day cake for more than 1,000 atten­dees. Mon­rovia team mem­bers served as bar­tenders and servers, pour­ing drinks into cus­tom anniver­sary glass­es atten­dees could take home. Din­ner fea­tured a BBQ feast that also includ­ed food trucks from Tillam­ook Ice Cream and Voodoo Donuts. 

 Craft Your Mes­sage, Share the Broad­er Sto­ry 

For our PR plan, the Cen­ten­ni­al Cel­e­bra­tion capped off more than a year of com­mu­ni­ca­tions efforts for both trade and con­sumer media rela­tions, the focus of which was not just about cel­e­brat­ing 100 years, but about hon­or­ing a lega­cy of qual­i­ty and inno­va­tion. Our mes­sag­ing also focused on how Mon­rovia is pre­pared for the future. 

 At the Cen­ten­ni­al Cel­e­bra­tion, we host­ed more than 50 writ­ers, edi­tors and gar­den com­mu­ni­ca­tors, coor­di­nat­ing inter­views and facil­i­tat­ing expe­ri­en­tial tours. Monrovia’s social team host­ed top influ­encers to help show­case not only the anniver­sary but the care and exper­tise it takes to grow a Mon­rovia plant. 

So, how do you make your cus­tomers care about a mile­stone? “You make it about more than just the com­pa­ny,” said Tamo­ny. “You pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ties for your cus­tomers to real­ly feel your appre­ci­a­tion, learn and look for­ward a future of grow­ing togeth­er.”