What’s one of the best tools in the PR toolkit? The anniversary.

It’s not just an opportunity for happy couples to enjoy a nice dinner. It can also be an opportunity for your brand. In PR, we’re continuously challenged with developing new ways to keep brands fresh and front-of-mind for our consumers. Enter the anniversary. A well-planned anniversary campaign can provide a newsworthy chance to make some noise and maybe garner a few new customers.

Even if it isn’t the happiest of occasions, celebrating an anniversary can be a good means of introducing a brand to a whole new group of consumers. Just look at The Beatles. On the 40^th anniversary of the band’s breakup, MTV Network released Beatles Rock Band, a new edition of the popular Rock Band video game franchise. And this isn’t targeted toward Boomers who grew up listening to the band’s music – although they probably bought it anyway. It’s targeted at their kids, born long after we lost John Lennon. Sales of Beatles Rock Band could turn into increased sales of The Beatles music.

But, what if you don’t have a new product to launch? No worries. Anniversaries can also serve as reminders of how integral your brand is to daily life. Jockey International*, the venerable underwear manufacturer, recently celebrated the 75^th anniversary of its Jockey Brief, which it invented in 1934. The brief dramatically changed the landscape for the men's underwear category and continues to be one of the most dominant styles of underwear today. Whether you’re a boxers or briefs man, you can all thank Jockey for taking underwear from full-body union suits to something comfortable to wear under clothes.

And sometimes, you just need to celebrate to say "thank you." To demonstrate its ongoing commitment to the breast cancer cause, earlier this year, Yoplait* hosted a free Sheryl Crow concert to commemorate 10 years of its Save Lids to Save Lives program. In 2008, consumer lid collection enabled Yoplaitto donate$1.5 million to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. To keep the momentum and donations going, it held a concertas a thank-you to breast cancer supporters everywhere, reminding them to continue to fight for a cure.

Remember, it’s not enough to just celebrate a milestone. For consumers to pay attention, you need to leverage an anniversary by providing context for a greater story. For The Beatles it was introducing a new way to interact with the band’s music, for Jockey it was reminding people not to take their undergarments for granted and Yoplait took the opportunity to illustrate and further its impact on a worthy cause.

What story will your brand tell?