Each year, the holiday season seems to creep a bit closer to a season of getting rather than a season of giving. The Applebee's Give Squad is a movement that ignited in 2013 around a singular desire to re-instill the holiday spirit of giving in our online communities, and we decided to take it to the next level in 2014.
We set out with an audacious objective: Give first, give more, and inspire others to do the same. You read that right, America's largest casual dining brand entered the holiday season invested in a social movement centered around giving. Giving hope to Gina, who was laid off from her job just before Christmas and was wrapping empty boxes to put underneath her tree. Restoring Jen's faith in the kindness of strangers as her family approached a difficult holiday with a deployed father. Give. Give. Give. And expect nothing in return. Audacious.
Our incredible community quickly adopted the spirit of the movement and took it into their own communities, both online and offline. Utilizing a microsite at thegivesquad.com, we released daily #GiveSquad missions across Facebook and Twitter, inviting anyone and everyone who wanted to participate to be a part of the movement by taking actions as simple as holding the door for a stranger.
At the end of it all, Applebee's fans had helped us connect unsuspecting people with over 2,200 holiday gifts and gift cards. The movement resonated far beyond our existing community – generating over 21,000 tweets, 475 million timeline deliveries, and trending on Twitter for several hours during an incredibly competitive holiday season.
Because of every last second of the video you have to see before you leave this page.
