Good news - due to positive feedback from a bunch of clients, we are again including the eye-opening 15-second video clip (left). If you haven't watched it yet, you should. And if you've already played it 12 times because you like the music, by all means, keep on playing it...

Who can resist a reason to celebrate? Anniversaries – whether they represent years in business or a brand’s long-standing life – are excellent occasions to engage your customers in a positive exchange over an extended period of time.

That’s right: An anniversary can be celebrated over a much longer duration than the actual date on which it occurs. Here’s how to make an anniversary into a campaign.

Launch your celebration at the beginning of the year in which it occurs. For example, if your company has been in business since June 5, 1985, so will therefore be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2010, plan an announcement for January 2010 that alerts clients and media to your special year of festivities. This could include a press packet complete with a custom-imprinted calendar that highlights milestones through historic corporate/brand photos and special commemorative dates that will occur each month.

Throughout the year, motivate your employees to be proud of your company or brand heritage. Give them commemorative lapel pins to wear daily or anniversary-crested uniforms that distinguish the year as something special. Other little touches that make excellent desk and counter reminders of the event are 25th anniversary pens and notepads that both employees and customers can use from January through December of the anniversary year.

Finally, plan a commemorative event on the date of your anniversary. A store, for example, might offer cake and refreshments as well as giving away die-struck anniversary coins that can be used in the following months for product or service discounts. Use balloons to decorate your lobby and to give away to children; weight the string with an anniversary-imprinted magnet so that parents take away a little gift as well that will keep your contact information front and center in the years to come.

These are just a few of the many thousands of products and thoughts that I can offer in planning for your special commemorative occasion. Let me know when your next milestone approaches and I promise to make the most of it.