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This book is a compilation of our history, strategy, and brand positioning. This reference guide will answer the questions: Who is United Community? How do our culture, brand, and strategy intersect? As we journey together toward becoming a legendary bank, our strategies will continue to adapt to market factors, our capabilities, and our customers’ needs. Regardless of outside factors, the heart of our brand will always remain true—a safe and secure bank built on the foundation of exceptional service delivered by people who care.
“At United Community, we are focused on building what we call a legendary bank—a bank that not only has strong performance, but also one that employees believe in, customers love, and communities value.”
Lynn Harton, Chairman and CEO, United Community
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Table of Contents Our Foundation and History I. Our Foundation and History ........................................................................................ 6 II. People are the Heart the United Community Brand .......................................... 8 III. Our Values Guide Us .................................................................................................... 10 IV. The United Community Creed ................................................................................ 12 V. Our Guidelines for Success ....................................................................................... 14
Brand Strategy Overview I. Brand Strategy Overview ............................................................................................. 18 II. Elements of the United Brand .................................................................................. 20 III. Audiences ....................................................................................................................... 22 IV. Tracking our Success .................................................................................................. 23
Appendix ................................................................................. 24
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Our Foundation and History 5
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Our Foundation and History Since 1950, United Community has been dedicated to service—to our communities, to our customers, and to one another. We believe in coming together for positive progress, in knowing our customers personally, and in leaving our world better than we found it. We’re not just here to bank—we’re here to make lives richer and places better. From our beginning in Blairsville, Georgia as Union County Bank in 1950, exceptional customer service has been a core tenet of our success. For more than 70 years, we maintained our small-town, personal feel, while growing our ability to serve both large and small customers with increasingly complex product and service needs.
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United’s commitment to providing customers with a secure and safe place to bank is another core tenet of our success. Since 2002, when United went public, we have increased in size, footprint, and capabilities through both organic growth and acquisitions. As we have grown, we have kept our focus on safety and soundness, and will continue to protect our customers and their investments. Our growth, strength, and stability over time is the result of our relentless focus on becoming a legendary bank. A deep focus on and commitment to our values has consistently steered us through the often-volatile environment and challenging economic times.
In 2020, we established the United Community Bank Foundation. We believe in the power of people coming together for good, and through the foundation, we seek to inspire, lead, and strengthen our communities. We think ‘United’ and act local. The organizations that we support through the foundation align with employee interests and volunteer efforts including economic empowerment, artistic expression, housing strategies, and youth development. In 2023, we modernized the look of our brand, adjusted our customer-facing name to United Community, and developed a new logo mark. This updated visual identity expresses who United is and differentiates us from others in the market. This adjustment aligns with our purpose of building communities and showcases our commitment to providing unparalleled banking service while caring deeply for the communities in which we live and work.
Creation of the Logo Mark
Our refreshed logo mark features a symbol combining the letters U and C. The mark is representative of our commitment to our communities and how we come together to achieve success. The refreshed color palette is more vibrant and energetic, a reflection of who we are as an organization. United Community is well-positioned– both geographically and strategically– to continue serving new and existing customers for many years into the future. Our core tenants and our values will guide us as we grow and welcome new team members and customers.
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People are the Heart of the United Community Brand Our brand is the story of people. For more than 70 years, the people of United Community have been serving one another, our customers, and our communities. All those people— whether a long-since retired employee, a team member who has been at the bank for decades, or a brand-new team member—are for making the world a better place.
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We are for serving others. We are for building businesses. We are for improving our communities. We are for inviting others who share our values to be a part of our community. We are for being legendary in all that we do.
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Our Values Guide Us Team, Truth, Trust, and Caring
Team We play to win together as a team.
Truth We see things as they are, not as we want them to be. Trust We trust in people. Caring Golden Rule of Banking: We treat our customers the way that we would want to be treated. 10
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The United Community Creed
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Because the customer has a need, we have an opportunity to serve. • Because the customer has a choice, we must earn their trust. • Because the customer is unique, we must listen well. • Because the customer has urgency, we must be responsive. • Because the customer has high expectations, we must excel. • Because the customer has influence, we have the potential of more customers. • Because of the customer, we exist.
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Our Guidelines for Success Vision, Purpose, Goals, Measures
Vision – We Want to be a Legendary Bank Built on service, driven by performance. Purpose – We Build Communities We help customers realize their financial goals, expand their businesses, and plan for their futures. We know that financial health leads to happier lives. We use our skills to improve the financial health and well-being of our customers and ultimately our communities.
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Goals 1. Keep our customers 2. Gain new customers 3. Deepen relationships with customers 4. Celebrate our employees living United 5. Become more efficient while doing so Measures 1. Being a great place to work for great people 2. Providing legendary customer service across all our delivery channels 3. Top quartile financial performance relative to peers 4. Making a difference in our communities 15
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Brand Strategy Overview 17
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Brand Strategy Overview We strive to position ourselves as an active partner in the communities where we live and work and to be different than our competitors. We aim to be where our customers want us to be and where we know we can deliver on our commitments, products, and services. United Community’s brand strategy is people centric. We are a bank that puts people first, in both our approach to service as well as in our messaging. We work hard to make our customers’ lives easy.
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Our messaging is personal because we are people talking with people. Our imagery is people oriented because people are at the heart of our brand and at the heart of every community. We focus on our customer service instead of exclusively advertising our products and services. As a bank, we personalize engagement with people who appreciate United’s commitment to service. This individualized approach defines us as a brand. We remember that we are people connecting with and helping people. We continue to see our customers as members of a community that we can support with our time, talent, and resources.
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Elements of the United Brand The elements of the United brand (pictured right) capture messaging that is foundational to the brand and build inward until we get to our purpose and the heart of the brand–we build communities. They are the tools we use to help tell the United story. The outside ring, that holds everything together, is our history of service. “Built on service since 1950.” The remaining elements of our brand would not be possible without the foundation of personalized and high-quality service. Our goals, tactics, and even our attributes may change, but that never will. The next layer contains our key differentiators. They anchor our foundation of service. These attributes are the specific ways we choose to serve our customers and the unique things we have to offer compared to others in the banking industry. Inside our key differentiators are our belief and our promise. The Belief is our inward statement of truth, while the Promise is our outward-facing statement of value and purpose to consumers. We believe that our differentiators combine to deliver a legendary banking experience, and it is our promise that the service we provide will improve the financial health and well-being of our customers and communities overall. At the center is our purpose. Above all else, we seek to convey through all our brand communications that United Community contributes to building healthy, thriving communities. Each step of our brand elements works toward this purpose statement, which embodies the essence of our team and the value they bring to the communities and customers we exist to serve. 20
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Audiences
Who are the communities of people we want to connect with and what are we trying to do? 1. Employees and potential employees: Support our bankers in doing legendary work 2. Customers and prospective customers: Acquire and deepen customer relationships, and highlight the success that our customers and bankers achieve together 3. Shareholders and investors: Inform and assure our shareholders that United Community is safe, sound, and achieving high performance relative to our competitors
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Tracking our Success We’ll know we’ve succeeded when:
• More people are hearing about the bank • Our employees have the tools they need to engage with customers and form deeper relationships • Our customers feel informed about their banking options and opportunities, and they are engaged and satisfied with the bank • Our web traffic and conversions driven by owned and paid media are incrementally increasing year over year (YOY) • Our brand reputation and credibility are high
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Appendix History details United Community began as Union County Bank in 1950. These humble roots ground us in our foundation of service. In more than 70 years of banking, we have maintained our small-town, personal feel, but have grown to provide a robust set of personal and business banking services.
Some highlights along the way include: 2002: Parent company, UCBI, goes public and grows to $5 billion in assets 2008-2010: Strong leadership and culture pull United through the Great Recession and bring to light the need for change in order to scale and succeed in the future 2010: The bank received its first J.D. Power award for Customer Satisfaction in Retail Banking in the Southeast – we would go on to receive eight more over the next 12 years 2012: United begins its expansion strategy that has remained a consistent mechanism of growth through 2023. • 2012: Expanded to offices in Atlanta and Savannah, GA • 2014: Expanded to Greenville, SC; Acquired BCI in Columbia • 2015: Acquired First National Bank in TN • 2016: Acquired Palmetto Bank in the Upstate of SC; Acquired Tidelands bank in key coastal SC markets • 2017: Acquired Horry County State Bank, continuing expansion in coastal SC • 2018: Acquired Four Oaks Bank in central NC, Added national lending capabilities with Navitas • 2019: Acquired First Madison Bank in Athens, GA • 2020: Expanded into Florida with acquisition of Seaside National Bank and Trust • 2021: Expanded into Charlotte, NC market with Aquesta acquisition; Acquired FinTrust, the largest independent wealth management firm in the state • 2022: Expanded into Middle Tennessee with acquisition of Reliant • 2023: Expanded into Alabama and Florida panhandle with acquisition of Progress Bank 2020: • United helped nearly 12,000 new and existing customers secure over $1.3 billion in PPP loans to help weather Covid shutdowns • United Community Bank Foundation established 2023: United well-positioned in key markets across the Southeast to tap into commercial growth opportunities.
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Built on service. Focused on being legendary. Building communities one customer at a time.
Member FDIC. © 2023 United Community Bank | ucbi.com
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