Elite savings at Peoples Bank
The Challenge
At Peoples Trust and Savings Bank, we were tasked with a clear organizational goal: grow deposit accounts. But a solution to that problem is only successful when it can appeal to both customers and the bank. So before building anything, I dug into what was missing — reviewing competitor offerings and taking a close look at our existing customer base to understand where the gaps were.
What I found was an opportunity to bridge the two: a product that would satisfy the bank’s need for deposit growth while giving customers something genuinely more valuable than what they already had.
The Solution
Working closely with the Chief Operating Officer, we created the Elite Savings Account — a high-yield savings product designed around new money deposits. We positioned it as an account that earned unlimited interest for customers, provided they brought in a minimum balance from outside their existing accounts at the bank.
That last detail mattered. It wasn’t just a new savings product , but a product created to directly serve the department’s deposit growth goal while giving customers a compelling reason to consolidate more of their money with us. One product, two problems solved.
The Implementation
Building the product was only half the work. I took ownership of the full go-to-market process, coordinating across teams to make sure Elite launched successfully and stayed successful:
Cross-Functional Development - I partnered with banking operations, compliance, and leadership to shape the product and get it market-ready. We had to develop the details of the product offering and make sure each portion was approved by the organization and the strict regulations that apply to financial institutions.
Brand and Positioning — We built the name and brand plan that would define how customers understood and connected with Elite. It needed to deliver a positive outcome and be perceived as a high end product for high end, and high net worth, customers.
Marketing Execution — I created marketing materials spanning both traditional and digital advertising to drive awareness and adoption. This included traditional and digital advertising, in branch marketing, and website content. This was lead with strong messaging to drive deposits.
Sales Enablement — We coached front-line staff on how to upsell Elite and proactively call current customers, making sure the team on the ground was equipped to turn interest into new accounts.
The Outcome
By aligning a departmental growth target with an unmet customer need — and then personally leading the launch across marketing and sales — Elite didn’t just meet its goal. It became the bank’s top-performing asset account, proof that the best products come from solving for both the business and the customer at once.