TD Bank released a video last Wednesday that is already closing in on 4 million views. Yes, million.
Most bank videos would be lucky to have 4 thousand views in that time.
We asked TD why this particular video was so popular. Vinoo Vijay, TD’s chief marketing officer, responded in part:
TD Bank has a YouTube channel, and we use video extensively to promote stories in campaigns like TD Thanks You and Make Today Matter to show how we are connecting with customers on a local level. With TD Thanks You… Then and Now, TD is channeling a social phenomenon that exists globally around nostalgia, through social media with hashtags such as #thenandnow, #tbt (throwback Thursdays) and #FBF (flashback Fridays).
Well, ok, but 4 million? The video garnered many comments, as might be expected, and they vary between enthusiastic praise (“30 seconds in I was tearing up. Thanks for the cry fest on a Thursday afternoon TD haha”) and your standard profanity-laced internet hatred (“YOUR AD IS EVERYWHERE WTF”). This last comment may give a clue that TD is pushing this ad harder than usual.
On the other hand, TD’s widely-seen #TDThanksyou video, mentioned by Vijay, garnered 22 million views. So perhaps that bank has cracked the whole social sharing puzzle. We recently saluted their canny use of hashtags, for example.