Page 12 - BusinessWest May 11, 2026

BANKING & FINANCE >>
Gaining
Separation
Banks Deploy
Many Branding
Strategies to
Stand Out in
Crowded Market
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
the arena in downtown Hartford formerly known as the XL Center.
It’s been nine months since a large PeoplesBank sign was installed on
And over that time, the signage, both outside and inside, as well as
the myriad other ways in which the bank gains visibility at the arena,
has done what it was intended to do, said Matt Bannister, the bank’s
senior vice president of Corporate Responsibility and Sponsorships.
This includes both quantitative results — 4,500 online mentions in 2025,
nearly 100 million impressions, and 53,000 engagements (likes, comments,
shares, and other engagement actions tied to arena-related coverage) — and
mostly qualitative progress in the bank’s determined, and ongoing, efforts to
separate itself from the former People’s United Bank.
12 MAY 11, 2026
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Top: PeoplesBank
Arena in Hartford.
Above: a Country
Bank function at
Polar Bank, where
the bank has a
large presence.
Left: one of
the Coffee and
Conversation
events staged
by Greenfield
Cooperative Bank.
Staff Photo
Business W est