Be a Bank Who Brands Not One That Blends In

Why your brand voice matters more than grammar

Let’s start with a grammar lesson. Technically, who refers to people: a teacher who explains things clearly, a neighbor who returns your tools, a banker who knows your name. Objects (including businesses and banks) take that or which. So, the grammatically correct phrase is: “a bank that helps small businesses.”
That’s the rule.
But in branding, rules only matter until they get in the way of resonance. 

And who resonates in a way that never will. 

This isn’t about syntax. It’s about identity. “Who” is a brand strategy long before it’s a sentence structure. 

Brands who behave like people get believed like people. 

Banks who behave like institutions get ignored like institutions.

Because when someone describes a business as a who, they’re not talking about what it does.
They’re talking about who it is—assigning personality, presence, intent, identity.

And you can’t fake that.

You don’t just use “who” in your brand voice because you want to sound warmer. You earn it by being something more than a legal entity with a charter and some checking accounts. You earn it by building a brand that acts like a person.

A person who shows up.

A person who helps.

A person who understands what their customers actually need.

Don’t Tell Me What You Are—Show Me Who You Are

Let’s make this real.

Which of these two sounds like someone you’d trust?

• “We’re a bank that supports small business.”
• “We’re a bank who understands what it’s like to run one.”

The first is a statement of fact. The second is a signal of empathy.

Same subject. Same intent. Totally different feeling.

That’s what a “who” does. It takes a statement and makes it human.

But here’s the catch—and it’s a big one:
You can’t just start calling your bank a “who” and expect people to believe it.

You have to earn your who.

That means your brand voice has to match your customer experience. Your ads have to match your intent. Your actions have to match your promises. You have to sound like someone who helps—then actually help.

Earning Your WHO Starts With Clarity, Not Creativity

Define the real value you offer.

Most banks fall into the sea of sameness because they never stop to define how they help. They say they’re partners or advisors but rarely show how. To earn your who, you need clarity. That starts with identifying your Key Benefit the actual difference you make in people’s lives.

Every bank claims a Key Benefit. Very few can actually articulate it.

That’s why we use the Strategic Roundtable to arrive at a concise and clear benefit to the customer that becomes the core of all future messaging.

If you don’t have that benefit nailed down, stop everything else until you do. Because no brand voice can overcome vagueness.

You Can’t Fake Personality. You Have to Live It.

Make your brand reflect your reality.

You don’t get to claim personality unless your bank has earned it in practice. If your people go above and beyond for customers, your brand should tell that story—visually, verbally, emotionally. Not with platitudes, but with proof.

That’s where most banks break down. The brand says “personal,” but the ads look like stock photography. The brand says “relationship-driven,” but the website reads like it was written by a loan policy committee. You don’t have to invent something new. You just have to reflect what’s already true and elevate it.

Because you can’t fake your who.

You can’t market your way into trust you haven’t earned.

Your job as a marketer is to discover or clearly articulate how your bank already solves problems for real people. That’s the only foundation a human brand can stand on.

Start With Brand First—Not Your Products

Build your voice from identity.

In the Brand First framework, we start where most banks end: with identity. Not product. Not promotions. Just a clear articulation of who you are, what you believe, and how you behave.

This is how you earn your who.

Not by saying you’re a partner, but by proving you solve problems people actually have. Not by claiming community connection, but by showing how you support it.

Not by shouting “we care,” but by sounding like someone who does.

When your brand leads—when it sets the tone, posture, and promise—everything else falls into place. Product promotions start to feel more helpful. Onboarding becomes more human. Nurture campaigns sound like conversations instead of check-ins.

That’s why Brand First isn’t just a creative philosophy. It’s a business one. Because in a trust-based category like banking, people don’t buy what you sell. They believe who you are.

Talk Like You Know Them—Because You Should

Write to a person, not a market.

Most banks don’t write to customers. They write to compliance first, executives second, and customers third. And customers can tell.

Your customer isn’t a demographic. They’re an individual with a problem. And if your copy doesn’t sound like something you’d actually say to a real person in your town, rewrite it.

One of the clearest ways to test this: Read your ad out loud. If it feels stiff or robotic, your customers will hear that too.

As we argue in “Write to an Individual,” good brand voice doesn’t broadcast. It converses. It doesn’t announce. It listens. It feels like someone who understands you, not a bank that needs deposits.

If Your Voice and Your Behavior Don’t Match, You Haven’t Earned It

Match the voice to your behavior.

Once your voice is human, your actions have to be too. The words you choose don’t

matter if the experience doesn’t match.

If your ad says you’re approachable, but your call center makes people feel small, you haven’t earned your who. If your website sounds warm but your branch staff is cold, people will feel that disconnect. Fast.

Earning your who is about alignment. Not just consistency across channels, but consistency between what you say and how you behave.

Because no brand voice, no matter how clever or confident, can compensate for a broken customer experience.

The Banks Who Win Will Be the Ones Who Are Believed

When you earn your who, you stop sounding like a commodity.

You stop blending into the “sea of sameness” that defines bank advertising.

You start sounding like a real person—one your customers can trust, relate to, and even like.

And when that happens, customers don’t just choose you. They recommend you. They stay loyal to you. They forgive the occasional mistake because they believe you’re trying.

That’s the power of a “who.”

You’re not selling features anymore.

You’re building a relationship.

Brands don’t become human by sounding human.

They become human by acting human.

Earn your who.