Banks do battle with stagecoaches and airships

By J. Scott Trubey

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wells Fargo is breaking out stagecoaches. SunTrust Banks is floating blimps.

As competition for customers gets more cutthroat, some of metro Atlanta’s biggest financial players are waging an old-school marketing war. It's all about grabbing attention, preserving market share and growing client bases.

In a bank branding battle metro Atlanta hasn’t seen in some time, Wells Fargo and SunTrust are lobbing the most visible salvos.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo entered metro Atlanta when it bought the city’s No. 2 bank, Wachovia, in 2008.

Since then, Wells Fargo has launched a barrage of ads touting its community commitment and last month changed the signs on about 200 metro area branches and its signature Atlantic Station tower overlooking the Downtown Connector.

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