Posts Tagged America’s Giving Challenge

Pepsi’s announcement that they will forego Super Bowl ads this year in favor of a planned, philanthropic-based microsite called the “Pepsi Refresh Project” is in many ways a revolutionary acknowledgment of how effective online engagement can be. What’s not revolutionary, however, is Pepsi’s plan of engagement. Early reports indicate that Pepsi will follow the growing trend of companies running vote-based contests that award money to good causes. Coming on the heels of Ralph Lauren’s “Match Rugby Fund” and the Case Foundation’s “America’s Giving Challenge” (where people “voted” with their dollars), the best example at the moment is the “Chase Community Giving” contest on Facebook. The contest boasted “tens of thousands” of non-profits competing for a spot in the Top 100 with a guaranteed $10,000 prize and a shot at $1million. Over 1 million fans have voted to date and Chase plans to distribute the balance of $5million in a second round featuring only the Top 100 starting in mid-January.

The model is simple: offer a huge cash prize to non-profits or social entrepreneurs who will then creatively, enthusiastically and relentless beat the bushes to win. It’s like creating a seemingly infinite amount of brand ambassadors virtually overnight. Chase competitors recently hit me up an incredible 9 times in one day via email and Facebook.

The question that haunts me (and one that the Pepsis of the world need to carefully consider) is whether people care more about Chase now than they did before the $5million was up for grabs. If the goal is to create buzz online then it’s probably been a success, but if the goal is more focused on their bottom line (like hoping people now or in the foreseeable future will choose Chase for their banking needs) then I’m afraid this will come up short. Read the rest of this entry »