Andrea Brimmer, CMO and Public Relations, Ally Financial
Brimmer has been instrumental in growing Ally Financial's brand while pioneering new approaches to marketing and sponsorships that drive the industry forward.
Brimmer has been driving positive change in brand investments in women's sports overall since 2022. This year marks the second anniversary of Ally's 50/50 Pledge, which aims to invest equally in women's and men's sports by 2027. She continues this commitment in 2023, signing first-of-its-kind media deals with Disney and ESPN to spend over 90% on women's sports. In 2024, Ally will become the official banking partner of the USGA and the U.S. Open golf tournament, sponsor several female-funded and female-owned media sports properties, and partnered with the Sports Innovation Lab to create the largest women's sports networking group.
According to the company, the Arai logo is recognized by about three-quarters of sports fans, and female sports fans in particular have a 71% higher favorability rating for the Arai brand and an 82% higher preference rating.
Brimmer has also led Ally's streaming strategy, including the March launch of “Side Hustlers,” a reality show highlighting female entrepreneurs and successful investors. The show on the Roku channel exceeded viewership projections and drove up to a 17% increase in visits to Ally.com. Ally also aired a streaming-only Super Bowl ad this year; the 30-second linear TV spot cost more than $7 million to highlight the brand's money-saving marketing message.
Brimmer's marketing team is also testing generative AI to improve marketing productivity and reduce costs: By using the Ally.AI platform's large-scale language model chat and prompts capabilities, the company's group of marketers reduced the time required for content creation by up to 2-3 weeks, reporting an average time savings of up to 34%.
Ally says its brand value, as measured by Brand Finance, has increased 30 percent overall this year, and its trust score has also increased 10 percent, a testament to Brimmer's efforts.