To relaunch a legendary but long-dormant and relatively niche entertainment IP, DC and Milestone Media approached Ally as a brand partner with overlapping but independent goals.

For DC and Milestone, it was necessary to reintroduce the Milestone characters to the public, galvanize sentiment with the notoriously finicky comics fandom, and build a new readership among groups—particularly women and people of color—who have long felt excluded by the sometimes hermetic world of comics.

Meanwhile, Ally’s brand aim was to position itself as a leader in financial empowerment and DEI, raise awareness of their brand, and build trust with communities of color, particularly Black consumers.

Though these goals presented real opportunities for synergy, this campaign needed to accomplish all objectives while maintaining consistent messaging and remaining authentic in the ultimate goal of empowering Black and diverse creators, reshaping the comics industry, and sparking heroic and durable change in our shared, modern mythology.

Since 1938, superheroes have captured our imaginations, reflected shifting political and cultural tides, and allowed us to see the heroes in ourselves.

But their creators have been overwhelmingly white. But despite the wave created by Milestone Media in the ‘90s, it’s estimated that today, only 3.9% of comics artists and 5.8% of writers are Black.

DC’s relaunch of Milestone presented an opportunity for a unique brand partnership in the form of The Milestone Initiative, a talent accelerator for diverse comics creators powered by Ally and supported by DC’s position as the industry leader.

With the Ally-supported Milestone Initiative serving as a touchstone moment and driver for real cultural change, we built a yearlong program of brand integrated amplifying content around it, anchored by Milestone Generations, a feature documentary on HBO Max, narrated by Method Man.

People of color over-index among comic book fans, but are underrepresented among creators. In comics, only 3.9% of artists and 5.8% of writers are Black.

Today, every metric indicates that our audience is hungry for stories that reflect a diverse range of experiences, and for storytellers whose work connotes authenticity.

Milestone Generations engaged trusted authentic voices—like entertainment mogul Reginald Hudlin, Wu Tang’s Method Man, and comics legend Jim Lee—to activate our target communities through social media and specialized channels such as TBS’s Friday Night Vibes.

On-the-ground activations helped spread the word. We engaged Black artists to create murals featuring Milestone’s flagship hero in prominent public locations in Black and diverse communities, encouraging our audience to see themselves as heroes (and share messaging within their networks) through an innovative AR Snapchat experience and a Nascar featuring Milestone’s Static.

We launched with an announcement at DC’s flagship fan event—viewed by 22M— followed by a Milestone-themed special and CTA on TBS’s Friday Night Vibes. Organic social media pickup amplified these announcements, driving users to the Milestone Initiative digital hub.

The next several months saw a rollout of content and activations, including branded short form films re-introducing digital and linear audiences to the Milestone characters and mission, an innovative and wildly popular AR Snapchat experience, Milestone murals by artists of color in historically Black neighborhoods, and a Nascar featuring Milestone’s most popular hero.

In May, we executed the one-week Milestone Initiative Summit at DC Headquarters. This was followed by a mini-documentary spotlighting the Initiative fellows, and in July, the launch of Milestone Generations, an Ally-branded feature doc on HBOMax. We capped the program with The Milestone Chronicles, a print magazine collectible distributed at fan events, comic shops and to Ally customers.

The campaign garnered 1B+ impressions, including 82.5M impressions for our Snapchat experience.

Among engagers, Ally saw double-digit growth in brand KPIs, including:

+19% familiarity

+20%: “Ally cares about your financial wellbeing”

+10% purchase consideration

Milestone Generations received marquee placement on HBO Max, where it scored a 95% positive rating with 85% intention to share, and garnered sentiments like:

“[It] genuinely moved me to tears… Ally being a literal ally to Black business owners and spreading that to communities and individuals is genuinely incredible."

The story was covered in outlets like the LA Times, Variety and The Root, and the film was independently screened by institutions like the prestigious Schomburg Center.

Finally, The Milestone Initiative accomplished its goal. The diverse emerging creators selected for the program are now publishing professional work starring iconic superheroes including Batman, Cyborg, and others— and consumers see Ally as the brand that made it happen.