Copyright Adweek
Anniversaries can be tricky things for brands. They invite celebration, but they also whisper a warning: If you’ve been around long enough to mark a milestone, you’d better prove you still matter. This year, Yahoo, Delta Airlines, and Peanuts each faced that moment — and turned it into an opportunity to remind audiences about not just where they’ve been, but why they still belong. Across industries, marketers are finding that nostalgia only works when it looks forward. Yahoo leaned into its 30th anniversary by positioning itself as a digital elder statesman reintroducing itself to Gen Z. Delta Airlines used its blockbuster centennial year to double down on emotional storytelling, tracing a century of flight while investing in new experiences that feel decidedly next-gen. And Peanuts, whose characters are nearly as old as commercial aviation itself, found new cultural currency through musical collaborations. Together, these campaigns show how heritage became a launchpad for reinvention, as brand leaders shared on stage at ADWEEK’s Brandweek 2025. Quirk meets culture For its 30th anniversary, Yahoo wanted to reintroduce itself to a new generation while staying true to its brand DNA. That approach came to life in a 15-second Super Bowl spot featuring Bill Murray, where viewers could email the actor directly. The stunt sparked immediate engagement, driving hundreds of thousands to email Murray that night, followed by a surprise halftime livestream that drew 2 million viewers, according to Yahoo chief communications officer Sona Iliffe-Moon. The ad ultimately became the fourth most-watched spot of the evening on YouTube, surpassing 8 million views, according to Iliffe-Moon. “The secret to being a durable brand is really being authentic and owning your brand DNA,” she said. “For us, that meant bringing quirkiness, humor, and not taking ourselves too seriously.” To stay relevant with younger audiences, Yahoo has also embraced social media trends, partnering with creators and channels like TikTok’s Everyday Leaf, a popular ASMR series featuring leaf crunching. Through Yahoo Weather, the company tied its products into trending content, blending utility with playful engagement. A century of people and flight Delta Airlines’ centennial celebration put the spotlight on the people behind the brand. Delta’s centennial safety video exemplified the brand’s approach, touching on every decade throughout the airline’s history while featuring actual employees. “We’re only going to see Delta turn 100 once, [and] that connects back to the authenticity that we are a brand about Delta people,” said Gina Laughlin, vice president of global brand communications. The airline also marked the milestone with two aircraft sporting a special silver-and-blue livery emblazoned with “100 years” on the fuselage. These moving brand billboards brought the centennial celebration to both domestic and international audiences. “We tried to make sure the 100-year logo and visual identity were in as many places as we could, and an airplane is a really nice place to do it,” Laughlin said, noting that the design was created by a Delta employee and executed with help from Airbus and Delta’s own mechanics. The anniversary branding extended to buses transporting employees and other touch points, ensuring the celebration was visible across the airline’s operations. Timeless humor, modern platforms Peanuts marked its 75th anniversary by leaning into the timelessness of Charles Schulz’s work while reaching modern audiences. Over 50 years, Schulz drew nearly 18,000 strips, creating a vast library of content that naturally fits today’s social media platforms. For the 75th anniversary, Peanuts intentionally mixed art from multiple eras to celebrate its history in a way fans could experience across time. “When we come up with different ideas of promoting or exposing new audiences to Peanuts, we look to the strip,” said Melissa Menta, svp of global brand and communications for Peanuts Worldwide. “Snoopy on all fours in the ’50s, and then he stands up, and then he starts to think. If you go through the decades, he looks dramatically different.” Peanuts’ storytelling also adapts seamlessly to social media. By translating the four-panel strip format to modern virtual grids, Peanuts continues to meet audiences where they are, keeping the humor, heart, and relatability of the original comics alive for both longtime fans and new generations. “The comic strip was social media before its time,” Menta noted, “so we kind of lucked out when things like Instagram and TikTok started.”
