Associated Bank hired Versant to help develop a customer brand campaign and employer brand to distinguish itself from competitors and capture its culture of collaboration, customer focus, and transparency. Versant created the tagline "A good fit" and Green Chair icon to represent Associated's brand promise and customer experience. A multimedia campaign launched in 2013 across various channels. Versant also developed an employer brand around themes defining Associated's workplace, communicating it internally and externally. Colleague stories in video capture elements of the employer brand. Initial results show increased brand recognition and a strengthened talent market profile, positioning Associated for further growth.

1. Case Study
Associated Bank: Branding From the Inside Out
Feb. 20, 2014

2. 1
Associated Bank: Branding From the Inside Out
The Need
The time had come to distinctively showcase Associated Bank in a crowded
market of national and regional financial services firms. Associated’s CEO
and leadership team wanted to raise the Associated brand profile and
presence in the market and position the organization for further growth. One
of the top 50 publicly traded U.S. bank holding companies, with assets of
$24 billion and more than 5,000 employees (called “colleagues”),
Associated has grown organically and through acquisition, expanding its
footprint to more than 200 branches in three states.
The Solution
In 2013, Versant helped Associated develop a customer brand campaign
and an employer brand, in parallel process. Together, they create brand
distinction for Associated versus competitors and authentically capture the
culture of collaboration, customer focus and transparency.
Work began with the customer brand campaign. Grounded in market
research, Versant created the “A good fit” tagline and the Green Chair icon
to capture the Associated brand promise and customer experience. A
multimedia brand campaign, launched in fall 2013, used broadcast, print,
out-of-home, direct mail, in-brand collateral, environmental branding and
digital and social media channels to uniquely define Associated to its target
audiences. For an inside look at the campaign, visit
associatedbank.com/goodfit/behind-the-scenes.
The employer brand was developed around the key themes that define the
Associated workplace experience, gathered in surveys and interviews with
colleagues and leadership. To engage colleagues and position Associated
to future talent, the employer brand is communicated internally and to the
talent market through a comprehensive plan that leverages a variety of
voices, messaging and visuals, and a mix of media and channels. Because
colleagues play a unique role in Associated’s market success as brand
ambassadors, Versant developed a video library of colleague stories,
capturing the faces and voices of colleagues speaking to elements of the
employer brand.
“As an organization,
we are committed to
delivering the
solutions our
customers need in
a way that works for
them. Versant
understands this –
and us.
The “A good
fit” campaign
captures our
customer promise
in a very authentic,
creative, high-profile
way. It has gotten a
lot of positive
attention and won
awards. We think it’s
a good fit for us.”
- Dawn Riedel, SVP,
Director Brand
Management &
Marketing Services,
Associated Bank

3. 2
The Outcome
Associated’s market profile and positioning have been enhanced. Results
gathered in the first months following the customer brand campaign show
an increase in brand recognition and positive association. This is expected
to strengthen as the campaign continues and additional elements, such as
signage and collateral, are updated to incorporate the “A good fit.” tagline
and the Green Chair campaign.
The customer brand campaign has also raised Associated’s profile in the
talent market with the positive profile established around the tagline and
campaign. The employer brand launch will build on the customer brand and
on previous Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Top Workplaces awards to position
opportunities for success together at Associated.
“Our colleagues
are the brand
experience for our
customers, whether
colleagues are
helping customers in
a branch or creating
new products,
services or
processes to
support customer
needs.
Versant helped us
incorporate our
colleagues into our
customer brand
campaign as brand
ambassadors.”
- Mary Thompson,
SVP, Director of
Talent, Associated
Bank