New York Bank Tapped Tactical Magic for a Rebranding Project

When two New York-based banks merged recently, Memphis branding agency, Tactical Magic, was hired to develop a brand strategy for the newly created institution, Sterling National Bank.

Instead of choosing a rebranding specialist from the myriad of agencies in New York City, where Sterling Bank is headquartered, Suzanne Copeland, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Sterling, said she brought in Tactical Magic because she was familiar with the agency’s work and knew that Trace Hallowell, managing partner of Tactical Magic, would be a perfect fit for Sterling.

What Tactical Magic did for Sterling was to develop a brand strategy, create a new logo for the combined banking institutions, and create an identity system and a strategic support plan for the new brand.

“Trace has tremendous patience and grace. He made everyone feel not just heard, but respected, while pushing to ensure we reached the right conclusions and the right outcome,” Copeland said. “Certainly, the quality of the work and getting the best outcome is the most important, but when you can achieve that on time and on budget while making the people involved feel good about it, that is a real win.’’

The bank was named one of America’s 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in 2012 in a survey commissioned by Forbes and prepared by Governance Metrics International, a global leader in corporate governance.