Everybody lies

I mentioned earlier that marketing can be weilded to accomplish social good. I was reminded of this while I was (what else) watching T.V. I saw an American Express ad that asked card members to submit their ideas for worthwhile, socially significant projects. ClickZ News has a good write-up of this promotion, called The Members Project. Eventually, the top 50 projects will be put up for a vote, and AmEx will fund the winner. As ClickZ reports,

"When it first announced The Members Project last month, AmEx said the idea will allow its Cardmembers to "come together as a community by submitting and sharing their project ideas for making a positive impact in the world." That idea fits in with the Are You a Cardmember? campaign's goal of illustrating the values inherent in carrying AmEx."

There are already over 3,700 really creative ideas out there that you can review and rate. What I absolutely love is that it taps into the creativity and aspirations of customers. (Remember that I said good brands should be aspirational?).

What a great idea for libraries to steal (in a completely well-intentioned way, of course)! For those of you who do community work, why not let patrons help pick your projects. It's a terrific way to build your brand while getting people involved.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the title of this post, "Everybody lies" is a quote from my favorite T.V. character, House. The quote is a reference to the fact that I have yet to talk about my do-gooder-marketing research project even though I promised a week ago it would be my "next" post. I will write about it, but it's going to be a long-ish post, which is why it's been getting pushed to the backburner in the midst of a lot projects I'm working on, but it's coming! I just (unintentionally) lied about when. ;-)