TD has a track record of showing its appreciation for customers with its four-year-long “#TDThanksYou” campaign, but for 2018, the bank decided to focus not just on the people, but the work that they do to improve their communities.

Yesterday, TD gave roughly $1 million to causes and organizations associated with its customers. The bank gave 42 different causes $5,000 each to help fund their work, on top of seven donations of $50,000 that were given to a range of community groups, from those addressing mental health issues, to giving youth in marginalized communities access to organized sports, to grassroots community housing projects. The stories of those seven customers and the causes they champion have been captured in a series of videos.

The videos are being shared online, both through a dedicated online microsite, on social and YouTube. Yesterday, during the bank’s customer appreciation day, it set up a pair of “war rooms” where it monitored how each story was performing on social and how consumers were reacting to them, adjusting course in real-time and ensuring videos reached the right audience.

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Diamond Integrated Marketing worked with TD on the campaign.

The long-running “#TDThanksYou” campaign has always been focused on recognizing its customers, usually with gifts that are personalized and reflects what they are passionate about. To date, the video for the first edition of the campaign has earned nearly 24.6 million views on YouTube alone since launching in 2014.

But this year, the campaign has evolved to show not just customers the bank wants to “thank,” but the community organizations and causes they are involved with. In March, TD launched “The Ready Commitment,” a new CSR platform that aims to build “a more inclusive tomorrow” by focusing on four key pillars: building financial security; a more vibrant planet; connected communities; and better health. The bank has targeted $1 billion towards community-focused initiatives that address these pillars.

“Our goal was to evolve the campaign to connect to that work,” says Theresa McLaughlin, global CMO at TD. “We’re not just thanking our customers, we’re thanking them for what they’re doing in the community. When you look at the stories and you see how our customers are going above and beyond, it’s just as heartwarming as in the past. ‘#TDThanksYou’ has always shown how well we know our customers, but this is taking it to the next level by saying we also know what they care about. Caring about the community is something we have in common.”

The bank previously linked its CSR efforts to community stories during the “Make Today Matter” campaign four years ago. But “The Ready Committment” is a far more long-term program. McLaughlin says that while the money involved with “The Ready Commitment” is important, numbers that big can feel abstract, so focusing on community stories helped bring its impact to life.

While “#TDThanksYou” remains a primarily digital campaign, a TV spot has also been added to amplify this year’s campaign, the stories it is telling and the goals for “The Ready Commitment.”

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“When we look at the nature of the stories, there are so many of them to tell that we felt it was important,” McLaughlin says. “Partially because the concept is different from the past, but also because many of our customers may go to some of these organizations and contribute themselves, or get motivated to get more involved. And after launching ‘The Ready Commitment,’ it felt like the next right step was to give an example of what it actually means to build a more inclusive future.”

Last year, TD also refreshed its brand to “Ready for You,” positioning itself as a bank that’s also a friendly partner to its customers, helping to handle challenges related to their uncertain financial futures. McLaughlin says that in addition to connecting “#TDThanksYou” to its CSR platform, it was important to think of it in the context of the work it has been doing to establish its new brand.

“The world is moving to a place where it’s all about personalization and deeply connecting to our customers,” she says. “People are choosing brands with purpose. As the world goes more and more digital, our customers are telling us that they want to stay connected and have an emotional connection and work with a financial partner with a soul. TD has always had that soul, and this is bringing that common ground to life.”