How SunTrust dug deep to mix purpose and profit

Stephen Whiteside

This event report breaks down how SunTrust, the financial-services provider, discovered and activated its brand purpose.

How SunTrust dug deep to mix purpose and profit

Stephen WhitesideWarc

"There is a lot of this word 'purpose' in media these days," Jeff Van De Velde conceded at The Market Research Event (TMRE), a conference run by the Institute for International Research (IIR) in Boca Raton, Florida.

In evidence of the term's growing importance, Van De Velde serves as svp/director of client experience and loyalty as well as executive director/purpose integration at SunTrust Bank. And, he suggested, other financial-service brands might gain meaningful benefits from abandoning their usual conservatism and joining the conversation.

"Banks are somewhat commoditised," he...

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