There was one marketing campaign Tyrrell Schmidt was particularly excited to work on when she joined TD in 2015.
Schmidt, a long-time marketer with experience working on international campaigns in markets across Europe and Asia, was hired to help lead the evolution of the TD brand in Canada. As she settled into her role, people outside the Bank continuously mentioned the #TDThanksYou campaign as a standout for the brand, which made a global splash when it launched in 2014.
In its first year, the campaign featured in-branch “surprise and delight” giveaways for customers, including “Automated Thanking Machines” which dispensed personalized gifts, such as plane tickets for a mother to visit her daughter in Trinidad, and the opportunity for a Toronto Blue Jays fan to throw the first pitch at a game. A video ad featuring the machines and customers’ reactions went viral, generating international media coverage and racking up more than 25 million views on YouTube
alone.
“People I had worked with in Asia would reach out to me and say, ‘Were you involved in that campaign?’ and I'd say, ‘Sadly no, but I can’t wait for next year.’ It was so iconic that everyone wanted to play a role,” Schmidt said smiling.
“When I joined TD, the conversation was around, ‘What do we do next?’ We wanted to build on the success of the first #TDThanksYou yet keep things fresh and engaging.”
Schmidt, now the Global Chief Marketing Officer at TD, and her team are proudly celebrating the 10th anniversary of #TDThanksYou this year by taking the campaign to the next level.
What started as a way to celebrate everyday TD customers in branches across Canada has evolved to thanking and showing appreciation on a broader scale. This year, the campaign features some of the largest regional drone shows across Canada, and giveaways that include tickets to the most sought-after concert, VIP access to the Canadian Country Music Awards, and more surprises for customers in select TD branches, including Starbucks gift cards.
Keeping a marketing campaign engaging and fresh for customers for a decade is no easy feat – especially in an age of social media where brands are constantly vying for attention and engagement. But for Schmidt, one of the reasons why #TDThanksYou has remained so successful all these years is because it keeps TD customers at its centre.
“Our superpower has always been grounded in our belief that people matter the most, which is at the core of the relationships we build with our customers,” she said.
“We deeply believe in building relationships with our customers, understanding their needs, and working alongside them so that they can meet their goals. That has always been what has made TD so special – it's how we show up in our community.”
The evolution of #TDThanksYou
In 2014, the marketing team at TD began brainstorming ideas. They wanted to develop a campaign that recognized the Bank’s customers while thanking them for choosing TD. The idea to “surprise” them came up as a theme.
The team quite literally surprised and delighted customers when it launched the inaugural #TDThanksYou campaign in 2014. In addition to the “Automated Thanking Machines,” TD colleagues handed out green envelopes with $20 inside to customers in more than 1,100 branches, and thousands of other TD customers using the Bank’s phone and online banking services received a direct deposit of $20 into their account. In total, more than 30,000 TD customers received a surprise.
On top of earning international media coverage, the viral campaign was recognized by The Shorty Awards, winning the best financial services in-real-life activation award. #TDThanksYou was such a hit that the marketing team wanted to build on its success and continue the campaign annually.
“It was important for us to build on the initial program idea and ensure it felt innovative and exciting,” said Michael Armstrong, Vice President, North American Brand & Sponsorships at TD. “Highlighting some of our amazing TD customers and the work they were doing in their communities was a natural evolution.”
As the campaign continued, #TDThanksYou shifted its focus from in-branch surprises to surprising customers who give back to their communities. The reason for this was to demonstrate that at TD, customers are more than numbers; colleagues know them on a personal level and the Bank wanted to celebrate that by recognizing those who were making an impact in their community.
In 2018, for example, TD gave roughly $1 million to causes and organizations associated with its customers. This included $50,000 donations to seven organizations addressing issues such as mental health, giving youth in marginalized communities access to organized sports, and community housing.
During the pandemic, the theme of celebrating good in the community continued. The campaign highlighted TD customers who were giving back as the world dealt with lockdowns. One customer the Bank wanted to thank was a small business owner who handed out meals to families in need while school breakfast programs were on pause. TD surprised Angela, the owner of the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. eatery The Breakfast Pig, with a brand-new patio at her restaurant to thank her for helping feed her community.
Much like the initial campaign in 2014, TD created a video capturing Angela’s reaction to the surprise, which earned nearly 4 million views on YouTube.
“Customers have always been at the heart of what we do, and our relationships ignited the evolution of #TDThanksYou,” Armstrong said. “Understanding our customers allowed us to support their goals, ambitions, and the ways they were supporting their communities.”
#TDThanksYou 2024
This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of #TDThanksYou, the marketing team wanted to switch things up. There was an opportunity to make this year’s campaign even bigger, Schmidt said, meaning the Bank was looking to thank more of its customers.
"We wanted to do something big for both our customers and colleagues, demonstrating our appreciation on a mass scale for all,” added Armstrong.
The TD creatives behind the campaign engaged in brainstorming sessions internally and with their external agency. Together, Armstrong said, the team “saw an opportunity to show that every customer and colleague matters and develop a series of appreciation to spark joy and happiness through acts of thanks.”
This concept materialized in a few ways. To achieve the theme of appreciation for all customers, the team introduced a series of appreciation acts with contesting, exclusive offers, and in-branch surprises.
The team also wanted to lean into technology and create an exciting new way to display thanks and give TD customers unique moments that they could capture and share on social media.
This resulted in five drone shows across Canada, where light-up drones dance across the sky, spelling out “#TDThanksYou” and creating a QR code for viewers to scan, taking them to the campaign’s website. There, TD customers can enter for a chance to win prizes such as concert and sporting event tickets, and a red-carpet experience at the Canadian Country Music Awards on September 14th in Edmonton, Alta.
"We wanted this year to feel very relevant and modern,” said Schmidt. “And of course continue to demonstrate how TD appreciates its customers in bigger ways.”
Audience engagement was also top of mind. Schmidt and her colleagues knew that shorter pieces of content tended to perform better than longer ones, which is reflected in this year’s marketing materials with 15-30 second videos assets. The campaign started in July and runs until September.
“Attention spans today are a bit shorter than they were 10 years ago, so we started using many more types of content, which proved to be a really great way of getting people interested,” Schmidt said.
For Armstrong, the media may have changed, but the purpose of the campaign remains the same. By creating opportunities for more TD customers to engage with the campaign, whether it be through a free drone show or a contest, it allows the brand to show all customers that they matter to the Bank.
“Seeing customers' expressions during the surprises and the passion among our colleagues remains my favourite part of this campaign year after year,” Armstrong said.
“It’s wonderful to see colleagues rally behind this campaign each year with a passion to make it bigger and more impactful.”