The name "Wachovia" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Nor is it all that well known outside the bank's southeast U.S. home turf. So how did it beat out "First Union," a bigger bank with a seemingly better-known brand, as the name that will survive last month's announced merger of the two North Carolina-based banks into the nation's fourth-largest bank holding company?

Politics and a bit of marketing history, according to Ken Thompson, CEO of First Union, who cut the low-premium deal with Bud Baker, his Wachovia counterpart. "The Wachovia name was very important to Bud. Having the headquarters in Charlotte was very important to me. So there was a trade-off." People may also remember First Union's offbeat "Come to the Mountain" ad campaign, which featured cartoon figures amid space-age settings. It turns out that the bank, which spent $150 million on the ads, would like people to forget them. Even Thompson grew to hate the spots: "The Mountain campaign had to stop. I wanted something more friendly, with real-life people." And maybe another name.