Truist Financial unveiled its official logo and purple color scheme Monday, following the $28 billion acquisition last month of Atlanta-based SunTrust by Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based BB&T.
The bank merger, which created the nation's sixth-largest bank, is the banking industry's largest since the 2007-08 financial crisis.
“This striking physical expression is not what you would expect from a financial institution,” Dontá Wilson, chief digital and client experience officer for Truist, told Banking Dive. “And that's by design.”
The Charlotte-based bank chose purple to represent the combination of BB&T’s burgundy and SunTrust’s blue, Wilson said.
“It relates to a true merger of equals,” he said. “We take those two colors from institutions and show unity by pointing toward a color that unites us and brings those together. It’s about being bold and distinctive, yet warm and inviting.”
Truist’s logo also includes a monogram of two Ts inside a rounded square. Wilson said the two Ts mirror the Truist name and represent “touch” and “technology.”
CEO Kelly King has emphasized that the bank must increase investment in technology while maintaining a connection with customers.
"In order to have really good quality today, you have to have a blended relationship between touch, which is still important, and technology," King told House lawmakers during a Committee on Financial Services hearing in July. "With this combination, we will be able to [...] scale and have the capability to offer a real high level of trust based on technology and touch."
The bank, which worked with global brand consultancy Interbrand on both the name and design, said it gathered input from employees and clients through focus groups, workshops and interviews as part of a “rigorous and research-driven approach to develop the brand identity.”
Customers will start to see the new branding on digital platforms and in branches, as well as on outdoor advertising in Miami leading up to the Super Bowl, the bank said. Truist is the official bank of the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee.
The bank is set Tuesday to unveil its new signage for SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves. The stadium is expected to be renamed Truist Park.
As the bank begins what it says will be a 18-to-24-month brand transition, it faces a challenge to its new name.
Following BB&T and SunTrust’s announcement in June that it selected Truist as the combined entity’s new name, Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Truliant Federal Credit Union filed a lawsuit claiming the “Tru” prefix infringes on its trademark.
The bank responded with a counterclaim in December, saying Truliant is “improperly attempting to monopolize the common term ‘TRU-.’”
Truliant is expected to file its legal response to the counterclaim Tuesday, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
