An investment case study on Ally

The GIST: The connection between Ally and women’s sports sponsorships may not seem obvious, but its support has been a slam dunk thanks to its innovative CMO, Andrea Brimmer. After a year of landmark wins, companies can learn from Ally’s approach to understand how true allies show up for the women’s game.

The background: Brimmer, a former Michigan State soccer player who lobbied to expand Big Ten women’s soccer, now uses her C-suite platform to champion women athletes. She’s done everything from pushing CBS to air the 2022 NWSL Championship in primetime to promising a 50/50 split in sponsorship dollars between men’s and women’s sports by 2027.

• A year after announcing its 50/50 Pledge, Ally reported growth in brand preference (27%), likeability (12%), and consideration (40%) among consumers. Now that’s how you bank goodwill.

Ally’s wins:

📈 Brimmer said that since Ally started heavily investing in women’s sports, the company has seen brand awareness, likability, sentiment, consideration, and trust at historic highs. She also noted Ally is one of only four U.S. banks that grew in trust in 2023 while it declined among competitors, especially following the fall of Silicon Valley Bank.

✅ The trademark loyalty of women’s sports fans reaps dividends for invested sponsors. Now, 65% of everyone coming to Ally’s storefront are women, and customers who are women’s sports fans are 10x more likely to keep banking with Ally, according to Brimmer.

Ally’s impact:

🏀 At Ally Tipoff, North Carolina saw the largest crowd for women’s college basketball in state history while viewers nationwide enjoyed a primetime ESPN2 slot. Iowa and Virginia Tech (VT) each earned a $150K payout, ranking among the highest ever for two college teams.

👀 Ally’s multimillion ESPN investment also facilitated a year of groundbreaking content. ESPN saw record viewership for primetime NCAA volleyball and basketball games, including Nebraska-Stanford and Iowa-South Carolina. Ally was also the title sponsor for the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament that drew 62K fans, its largest crowd since 2010.

💼 To further address media and sponsor disparity in women’s sports, Ally kicked off the Women’s Sports Club (WSC) in March. Brimmer stated about 30 to 40 brands have committed to women’s sports sponsorship thanks to WSC. It’s no coincidence that in women’s sports, media coverage is now 15% and sponsorship increased 20% YoY in 2022. Time for everyone to join the club.