Truist unveils logo that emphasizes high-touch, high-tech focus

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Truist Financial in Charlotte, N.C., is seeking to emphasize customer experience and technology with its new logo.

The $470 billion-asset company, formed by the $30 billion merger of BB&T and SunTrust Banks, debuted its brand Monday. The purple logo, a blend of the prior banks' burgundy and blue colors, incorporates two connected T's designed to represent the personal touch of Truist employees and its technology offerings. The interlocking letters are also supposed to symbolize the coming together of two institutions of similar size, and the solid, square shape of the logo is meant to connote trust, said Dontá Wilson, the company’s chief digital and client experience officer.

Truist will begin marketing the brand in Miami in conjunction with next month’s Super Bowl, then employ a “boom and echo” approach that will feature high-profile advertising, Wilson said in an interview.

The logo “shows how Truist will innovate and redefine the client experience,” he said. “It was the result of rigorous research and feedback from clients and teammates.”

Truist will focus its marketing largely on digital channels, including search engines, though it will also use billboards and other traditional means to get its message across. Wilson declined to outline the costs.

It will take time to replace BB&T and SunTrust colors and logos at branches since they will remain open during the switchover. The plan is to integrate and rebrand those facilities over the next 18 to 24 months.

“We still need to drive clients to existing brands” until the branches are converted, Wilson said. “We need to be deliberate about that transition.”

Truist will add its logo to sports venues over the next 18 to 24 months, "working with each organization to customize the approach taken," Wilson said.

Improving the customer experience with technology is a cornerstone of the deal that created Truist. The company intends to reinvest some of the cost savings from the merger into new products and services, including enhanced digital offerings.

Kelly King, Truist’s chairman and CEO, has called that effort T3 because the goal is to blend technology and high-touch service to generate more trust with clients. Truist executives have said such moves are necessary to compete more effectively with bigger banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Wilson said he believes the companies have made progress with brand acceptance since unveiling the Truist name in June. An informal poll by American Banker conducted after that announcement found that an overwhelming majority of respondents disliked the name.

“With each day we see more people getting excited about what we can do with Truist,” Wilson said.

“Anytime you introduce something new it takes time for people to get familiar with that newness,” he said. “What hasn’t changed is our commitment to taking care of clients and teammates. Most people ultimately judge you on how you do those things.”