Volkswagen Canada is reaffirming its owner-centric positioning with the fourth edition of Volksgiving, built around honoring those giving back to their communities.

For this iteration of the program, the automaker is putting the spotlight on 20 VW owners in Canada who’ve made a difference in the world and for the environment, gifting them trips to places like Europe, California and New York City, or with experiences like a golf tour to The Masters in Augusta, Georgia.

The creative by Taxi features some of them, including Orillia-area resident Sheilagh, who recounts working on a humanitarian trip to Kabul, Afghanistan and inspiring moms and daughters as an empowered woman driving her VW Beetle, and Haligonian Lauren, who repurposed a dilapidated public space into a community garden. The campaign quantifies the kilometres they’ve put into their work, much of it done from behind the wheel of their VW vehicle, a number that is put on display at the course where they are given their recognition.

“There’s something unique and different about Volkswagen drivers; they continuously strive to make a positive difference in the world we live in,” says Lynne Piette, Volkswagen’s director of marketing.

According to Piette, the initiative is about the selfless efforts of VW owners who go the extra distance in their Volkswagen vehicles to help bring communities together, and make Canada a more inclusive country and to create a sustainable future.

The move builds on Volkswagen’s surprise and delight offerings gifted to deserving frontline workers at the pandemic outset, nominated by colleagues. The year prior, Volkswagen says it received 1,300 submissions for deserving volunteer recipients and provided charitable donations to each of their organizations. Piette says giving back through “Volksgiving” remains one of the marketing priorities for the brand, because it’s important for Volkswagen to have a place in society that has a bigger purpose than just selling cars.

The greater emphasis on sustainability in this year’s campaign fits with another element Volkswagen has made a key part of its brand more recently.

The road to an electrified future was the subject of “A Year in Electric,” an effort the brand made to hijack Spotify’s annual “Wrapped” campaign. Volkswagen was among those that shared a run-down of its most listened to songs, artists and genres on the platform, which – thanks to a year of listening efforts happening behind the scenes – included tracks like Drake’s “Charged Up,” Katy Perry’s “Electric,” and AC/DC’s “High Voltage.”

Both the “Volksgiving” and “A Year in Electric” campaigns were handled by Type1, Volkswagen’s dedicated agency made up of talent from WPP’s Taxi and Wunderman Thompson.