Umpqua Bank Messaging

Banking is one of those categories where the copy often sounds like it was written by the legal department. Umpqua Bank was built on the opposite instinct: warm, community-first, with a wink and a nod. They needed their writing to show that at every touchpoint.

Working at Thread Creative, I developed copy across advertising, in-branch environmental installations, and neighborhood narratives for locations across the West Coast. The ad campaign brought their voice to print and OOH with lines like "Feeling a little flabby around the mortgage?" and "Honey, does my HELOC look big to you?" Copy that treated financial products like something a real person might actually care about.

The Neighborhood Narratives project went further, giving each branch location custom editorial content rooted in the specific character of its community: local history, texture, people, place. And the environmental work translated that voice into physical space, with large-scale copy installations and brand statements designed to show up at a distance and still fee personal.

Role: Sr. Copywriter