“Powering Your Dreams” Helps Communicate Bank’s New Strategy

New York, NY – February 26, 2009 – First Tennessee Bank, a subsidiary of First Horizon National Corp., has refocused its corporate strategy to reflect the strength of its regional banking and capital markets businesses. It is a leading provider of retail and commercial banking, in addition to offering financial advisory and investment management products and services. 

To help communicate this strategic shift and emphasize its viability as a major regional banking provider, First Tennessee engaged Dragon Rouge, the independent brand and design consultancy, to develop a new brand positioning and tagline.

Through market research, stakeholder analysis, and consumer validation, Dragon Rouge identified ‘Powering Your Dreams’ as the optimal tagline that addressed the needs of four key target customer groups.  The tagline reflects a core brand idea built around the customer’s core needs and how First Tennessee provides convenient everyday interactions and objective advice for long term needs.

“Going through this process with Dragon Rouge gave us a clearer understanding of how to communicate with our core customers based on their needs and where First Tennessee is most credible as a financial services provider,” said Dan Marks, chief marketing officer for First Tennessee.

“The new positioning resulted from a rigorous, comprehensive process that engaged both executive management and key customers,” said Eric Zeitoun, President of Dragon Rouge USA.  “Through this holistic approach to corporate branding, we were able to align customer needs with the core strengths of First Tennessee.”

Marks said the tagline is one element of a broad strategic realignment that reflects a new brand personality and tone of voice that will be translated across all First Tennessee communications channels and touch points.  “We have been Tennessee’s bank for 145 years, and now more than ever, we want the people of this wonderful state to know that we are a strong bank, that we care about what’s important to them and are optimistic about the future.” 

First Tennessee launched its new positioning in early February with a new ad campaign, developed by Memphis-based Thompson & Company.

“Our goal with the advertising was to create the images and stories that capture the ‘Powering Your Dreams’ positioning on a very personal basis,” said Michael Thompson, chairman of Thompson & Company.

About First Horizon
The 6,000 employees of First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN) provide financial services through more than 200 bank locations in and around Tennessee and 14 capital markets offices in the U.S. and abroad. First Tennessee has the leading combined deposit market share in the 17 counties where it does business and one of the highest customer retention rates of any bank in the country. FTN Financial is an industry leader in fixed income sales, trading and strategies for institutional clients in the U.S. and abroad. FHN has been recognized as one of the nation’s best employers by AARP and Working Mother magazines. More information can be found at www.fhnc.com.

Dragon Rouge is the largest independent brand and design consultancy with offices in New York, Dubai, Hamburg, London, Paris and Warsaw. The firm shapes brands along their entire life cycle (from innovation to creation) by applying its philosophy of entrepreneurial branding. Entrepreneurial branding is a mindset that recognizes that marketers need to challenge the status quo in order to create long-standing value creation.To find out more visit our website at www.dragonrouge-usa.com