Hard sell ahead for BB&T-SunTrust as ‘Truist’ lands with a thud

American Banker ^ | June 12, 2019 | Laura Alix

[C19fan]

Now the hard work begins for the architects of the new "Truist Financial" brand.

Truist was far from an immediate hit on social media, with many initially ridiculing it as looking like a typo. But while BB&T and SunTrust Banks may have to take some flak in the short term, the initial tweetstorm ultimately may not matter, several branding experts told American Banker right after the name was unveiled Wednesday.

[C19fan]

I work for one of the companies in the merger and my first thought when hearing the name of the combined company is "Truist" is WTF and how much money the companies blew on consultants. The new name of the Atlanta Braves' ballpark will be Truist Park; puke.

[alancarp]

Agree...as a Braves fan and BB&T customer: BOOOOO!

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Truist Park puke

Has a nice ring to it.

[NCLaw441]

I still like “Sun of a B”.

[ilgipper]

I don’t know why they can’t just stay as Suntrust. There are few better, more liked brands in big banking. They have kept the feel of a regional bank with good service despite their size. Seems stupid to me. BB&T has little brand equity do it can go by the wayside.

[Albion Wilde]

I don’t know why they can’t just stay as Suntrust.

In five years of dealing with SunTrust in the Baltimore-Washington area, I encountered one employee who was born in America. One.

[SuperLuminal]

Sounds too much like some SJW expression...

[outofsalt]

maybe, BS Trust?