Charlotte is the banking capital of the Universe.
Only to those of us who live here, of course. (Did we actually beat SanFran for the #2 spot this year?! 🤣 )
The “banks,” as they are called, (formerly?) occupy these glittery glass buildings Uptown where I live. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Ally Financial, Regions to name a few.
But let’s take a moment to remember the late BB&T, which in 2019 merged with SunTrust to create Truist.
I see you, Truist.
Last year, to stick their flag on the proverbial Moon, Truist made a huuuuge investment by purchasing a crown jewel of the Charlotte skyline, the gorgeous Art Deco-style building, F/K/A the Hearst Tower. (It is the one to the left of the tallest building)
I am fortunate to see this building from my condo window every day, so I feel like me and the Truist Tower have become buds. And when the pandemic hit a few months later, I kinda felt bad for it.
It seemed kinda empty and lonely.
To spice things up, though, Truist added some lights to the outside. ‘Twas an interesting choice, for sure, but they eventually grew on me.
And then, a couple of weeks later (or was it months? I no longer have a sense of time.), in the wee hours of a Saturday morning,
all hell broke loose.
While drinking my coffee, my peace and quiet were interrupted by a helicopter chop chop chopping away two blocks over. All my neighbors were pretty mad this was 8 am, but you know me, I wake up super early.
All I could think was: This is odd. 🤔 There were only two times I could recall a helicopter flying low, really close to the buildings:
- during the 30 days of George Floyd protests (ok maybe that counts as 30)
- the week before the RNC when one was doing nuclear bomb sweeps up and down every street. (“That’s just great,” was about all I could say to that.)
But ANY activity is exciting nowadays in this Glass Ghost Town,
so I stood glued to my window to watch. Very much å la The Great Pumpkin 🎃 , a shiny red and white chopper rose up from behind the Spectrum Center.
Dangling from it, a rope with the giant letters “UI” swinging in the wind.
The letters were skillfully maneuvered through the glass towers and positioned next to the Truist Building. Then, I am assuming, someone on the building itself fastened them in place.
The next 4 hours were more of the same. This was one “flag on the moon” moment I didn’t want to miss, though. 🌜
But then, all of a sudden, the Interwebs EXPLODED! 🤯
- How dare they ruin our skyline with that atrocity?!?
- The handwriting of a kindergartener plastered on this beautiful building! The horror!
“Putting a bumper sticker on a Bentley,” is how one keyboard warrior put it.
I must confess I had these thoughts too. But, being a business owner, I knew that Truist was probably NOT stupid. I knew that someone must have been paid a lot of money to come up with this and there must have been focus groups. Knowing how slowly things move in Corporate America, this wasn’t just a snap decision.
People continued to be incensed about it, though.
After the building was lit up, with the letters in place, I decided it looked ok. I mean – I got used to it, I suppose.
And then, a few evenings later, it hit me.
As I was miles away, driving down I-77 back into the city, I saw it.
Clear as day. Standing out amongst the bland others.
And all these weeks later, no matter where I am, I still continue to see this sign. From miles away. From all directions.
So from someone who has been around the marketing block, and is currently a Marketing Scrum Master at your competitor bank,
Well played, Truist. Well played.
Mad props to you.