People's United's to Kick Off Ad Campaign on Super Sunday

New England's largest bank could not have picked a better day to launch its latest marketing campaign.

People's United Bank in Bridgeport, Conn., said Friday that it will kick off its new campaign with a television spot that will air throughout New England during Sunday's Super Bowl, when millions of Patriots' fans will be watching their team battle the New York Giants for the Lombardi Trophy.

The commercial, directed by Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, will mark the debut of the bank's trademarked new tagline, "What know-how can do." According to a company news release Friday, the commercial will follow "a typical People's United Banker, who, on the way to work, observes and solves small problems and helps people along the way, cheerfully and without hesitation."

People's United said the campaign is designed to highlight two key themes, empathy and expertise. Along with its advertising agency, the VIA Agency of Portland, Maine, People's developed the campaign around those themes after conducting market research with customers, employees and other stakeholders.

"Our new brand messaging is about being genuine," People's United's President and Chief Executive, Jack Barnes, said in a news release. "It reflects our 170-year commitment to bring not only experience, knowledge and proficiency to the table, but to do so in a productive and a personalized way."

People's United was primarily a Connecticut company until it raised more than $3 million in a stock sale five years ago and began its aggressive march across New England. The company has acquired four banking companies in New England, as well as one on Long Island, over the last few years and now has nearly 400 branches in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.

With $28 billion of assets, People's United is now the largest banking company headquartered in New England.

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