TD Bank Group has partnered with several Toronto-based arts and culture groups to create a series of events celebrating Black History Month.
The Then & Now series of performance, arts and cultural events–including a speech by acclaimed director Spike Lee and a celebration of African-Canadian film–commenced Jan. 16 and runs through March.
Scott Mullin, vice-president of community relations for TD in Toronto, told Marketing that the financial institution is acting like an “impresario” rather than simply attaching its name to the event.
“I think companies like ours have to start thinking more creatively about how we reach out to diverse communities in the country,” he said. “Part of the challenge is that to get the [cultural] organizations together to put on a series like this requires a single organization of some sort.
“Rather than simply slapping our logo on stuff, we’re trying to take approaches where we’re actually reaching out and connecting with people,” he said.
The Then & Now series is being promoted via in-branch advertising, a dedicated website with Toronto artist Sandra Brewster providing the art, transit ads and print ads in local publications including the Toronto Star and alternative weekly Now.
Mullin said the sponsorship is targeting Toronto’s black community with a particular emphasis on its younger members. “Through the process of demonstrating our support, we’re looking at making that message resonate with the broader black community in Toronto,” he said.
“We’ve always seen sponsorship as a very effective way of communicating our interest in, and caring about, diverse communities,” he added. “Sponsorship is a very effective way of demonstrating that we want to be the bank of choice and employer of choice for this community.”
Sponsorship has played a key role in TD’s marketing platform in recent years through its involvement with several major jazz festivals across the country as well as Pride events and the Toronto-based theatre festival SummerWorks, among others.
