Rilla Delorier
EVP, Chief Marketing and Client Experience Officer, SunTrust Banks
With its new branding effort, Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks is declaring its purpose: Lighting the Way to Financial Well-Being.
As much a mission statement for employees as it is a message for customers, it is the basis for SunTrust realigning its approach to all it does, under the premise that purpose drives profit. It is reflected in everything from a new sales process and performance metrics to the 16 hours of paid volunteer time available to employees each year.
Rilla Delorier personally developed and spearheaded the concept, after she came to the conclusion that SunTrust had been focused too much on perspiration rather than inspiration.
She researched the power of purpose and the impact it could have, then wrote a business case that she shared with Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers. The crux of it: employees and customers are attracted to a company that is clear not only on what it does but why.
Rogers challenged her to turn her idea into a reality, which she has. A few quarters into the new branding campaign, research showed it has positioned SunTrust in the minds of consumers as optimistic, progressive and capable. Rogers credits Delorier with making a "tremendous impact" on SunTrust, calling her the driving force behind "one of the most critical initiatives in our history: the launch of our purpose."
