In 2011, Lockheed Martin, a global aerospace and defense company, was approaching its centennial and needed help authenticating its new brand positioning, “100 Years of Accelerating Tomorrow.” Lockheed wanted to engage and motivate its 100,000-plus employees, and reinforce its position as a global innovator among current and future customers, prospective employees, and aviation/aerospace enthusiasts.

Initially, History Factory was asked to identify Lockheed’s 100 greatest moments and put them in a story bank that would be an interactive content resource distributed to the company’s communications team and its agency partners. Comprised of quotes, evocative images and brief story capsules, the story bank helped build momentum and appreciation for the value of the company narrative. An integrated centennial communications plan soon included a print and digital advertising campaign inspired by the story bank, and the Lockheed Martin website was redesigned to feature the 100 historical stories.

Based on the success of the award-winning ad campaign and high website traffic, Lockheed Martin sought a more permanent, tangible record of its history. History Factory produced a deftly written, richly illustrated centennial book, Innovation with Purpose: Lockheed Martin’s First 100 Years.

The first print run of 55,000 books sold out in two weeks, and to date, more than 80,000 copies have been printed. Seventy-five hundred books were distributed to business development and marketing teams, and a popular digital volume is available for free via iTunes.