2010 Rising Stars in Banking: Lesly Couper

Connection is an important theme in Lesly Couper's career. A casual connection to the soccer team her husband used to coach gave Couper the pivotal job lead that got her out of ad agencies, where she worked as a graphic designer, and into the marketing department of a bank. Her current mission is to make customers feel connected to a bank they "can actually like" – Rockford, Ill.-based Alpine Bank. She has spent a large part of her nearly four years at the company connecting that ambitious mission to the customer- and community-service habits and standards of the bank's 370 employees..Couper is the senior vice president of marketing and communications for the $1billion, 15-branch Alpine Bank, which is known throughout Winnebago and Boone counties in northwest Illinois for its sharp, sometimes hilarious radio and television ads—and for its memorable motto: "A bank you can actually like.".The motto predated the financial crisis but seemed tailor-made for a situation in which so many consumers expressed outrage and distrust for the "big banks." It predated Couper for that matter, but that didn't stop her from launching a thoroughgoing branding campaign soon after she joined the bank in August 2006.."When I started we decided to be very aggressive in building our brand," Couper said. Since then the bank has surveyed customers repeatedly to see whether they think of Alpine the way Alpine thinks it should be thought of. "We had very high marks for this last survey," she said..Marketing messages don't resonate as well as Alpine's if customers perceive a disconnection between brand promises and fact. So Couper and her three-person marketing team have spent a lot of time helping employees stay connected to the bank's expectations, approach and strategic priorities. They created a companywide brand standards guide that covers everything from when and how to answer the telephone, to what an Alpine Bank business letter should look like, to when and how the company's logo and motto can be used, to what employees should or should not wear. They also enlisted brand ambassadors in each of the bank's locations, to convey important information about branding initiatives and to meet monthly to discuss new topics related to brand standards.."A lot of people think your brand is your logo, but it's so much more than that. It's how you interact every day, not only with customers but with your fellow employees," Couper said..If anyone understands the limitations of logos and the potential for brand connection it's Couper, the trained graphic designer who left ad agency work behind because she "wanted to do a little bit more than sit at a computer and design all day.".After seven years of agency work, Couper heard about a role in the marketing department of Amcore Bank, a Rockford fixture until it was closed by regulators this April and sold to Chicago-based Harris Bank. Couper worked for Amcore for four years, then moved briefly to National Bank and Trust, Sycamore, Ill., before joining Alpine Bank..Alpine was second only to Amcore in Rockford market share before Amcore ran into trouble. Couper said Amcore's demise, while poignant for a former employee, nevertheless opens opportunities for Alpine.."Rockford is what I like to call the world's largest [small] town," Couper said. "People in this town like to work with people in this town…[and] we have the opportunity to show that we are the community bank that cares about Rockford. We have a long history of helping people, businesses and our communities. We're going to keep doing what we've always done.".Outside the bank Couper serves on the board for The Carpenter's Place, an organization that helps homeless people, and also on the board for the Friends of the Rockford Art Museum. She is the president of the home and school board at her children's school and serves on the planned giving committee for Crusader Clinic, which provides medical services to underprivileged people..She has earned the Certified Financial Marketing Professional credential and graduated from the ABA Bank Marketing program. She is working on an MBA at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.Other 2010 Rising Stars in Banking include:Todd Means, MidWestOne Bank, Iowa City, IowaAndrew Sexton, Readlyn Savings Bank, Readlyn, IowaPatrick Artz, State Bank of Bottineau, N.D.Daniel Padilla, First National Bank of Omaha, Neb.Bryan Bruns, Annandale State Bank, Annandale, Minn.Annette Russell, Security Federal Savings Bank, Logansport, Ind.