American Express sought to generate participation in its philanthropic Members Project amongst a generation disinterested in the brand. Continuing the brand’s heritage of association with leading entertainers, the cast and characters of hit-show Glee were engaged to extend an invitation to their show’s loyal Millennial following. A light-hearted confrontation between the show’s do-gooders and evil-doers challenged the audience and provoked coverage. The campaign resulted in a huge uplift in participation in Members Project and earned media.

- A parody PSA invited Glee fans to take part in a debate between good and evil on Facebook.- The parody website "WhoCaresIDont.com" encouraged pass-along and click- through to Members Project.- TV spots invited people to take part in the debate on Facebook.- Facebook gave the characters a place to write do-good and snarky posts, and fans to comment in return.- Our volunteer event rewarded 20 fans a charity event, where they got to meet the stars of the show in person.Contextually relevant pop culture sources, such as Access Hollywood, The Insider and E!, were used heavily to create awareness and buzz leading up to the program launch / season two premiere of Glee and the final volunteer event. Engagement was driven through use of Glee Character pages and posts throughout the program.

The partnership yielded strong results in awareness, opinion-shift and brand likeability for American Express. But more importantly, the do-gooders won out; increasing the number of Members Project fans by 400% and total volunteer searches for all Members Project charities by 34% while the Glee program was in market. The promotion also yielded $13m in added value for the Glee cast’s nominated charity: Education Through Music. All told, the campaign yielded 270 million earned impressions across 32 broadcast channels and 168 online placements. Facebook posts and sharing on the Members Project page also increased by 250%.