How Truist Bank Built a New Brand from Nothing with Sherry Graziano

May 15, 2025    

Starting a new brand from scratch might sound like a dream to some marketers and a nightmare to others. But it is exactly what Sherry Graziano was tasked with when she signed on at Truist Bank back in 2019, right as the company was formed from a merger between BB&T and SunTrust Banks. She joined On Scope host Mike Berberich to discuss how she and her team tackled the challenge head on, capitalizing on the opportunity to shape a new brand in her vision. The pair discussed the advantages of disadvantages of launching a brand from zero, how Sherry approached imbuing the new Truist brand through every customer touchpoint, how her team was able to pivot when the pandemic happened just before launch, and Sherry's tips for managing the emotions and discomfort that came from the massive change of merging two already existing organizations.

On "This Week in ANA Magazine," editor Matthew Schwartz joined the show to spotlight a new story on the new media landscape, which is being driven by the rise of news influencers and is changing how people — and particularly young people — engage with content in general. This new reality is forcing brands to lean into more weird content and a trend called "unhinged marketing." In light of this new trend, Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discussed some of their favorite examples of unhinged marketing.

Learn more about the ANA's on-demand, self-paced Brand-Building Certificate Program and sign up by visiting www.ana.net/brandcertificate.

Have a topic idea or guest suggestion for On Scope? Let us know.