The power of women

The GIST: Prominent women’s sports sponsor Ally activated at the 2024 NWSL Championship in Kansas City this weekend as the financial brand continues investing in the women’s game. Ally is working hard to close the sports sponsorship gender gap, which has helped the brand stand out among competitors.

• Ally CMO Andrea Brimmer spoke with The GIST on Friday about how its investment in women’s soccer continues to pay off. Let’s get into the key updates.

⚖️ Ally will end the year with around 48% of its investments committed to women’s sports. This brings the bank close to achieving its 50/50 Pledge of an even split of investment in men’s and women’s sports by 2027.

📊 The bank’s sports sponsorships spurred boosts across several KPIs. Brand valuation is up 31% YoY, marking its biggest jump over the last five years. “Literally every single one of our KPIs is at historic highs: Our awareness, our consideration, our trust, our likability, and our sentiment,” Brimmer explained.

• This is uniquely high for a bank — Brimmer noted positive sentiment in the banking category is usually in the 30% to 35% range, but Ally generates 95% positive sentiment, 3x higher than any other bank. On top of the world.

☀️ Ally is doubling down on its latest partnerships. The brand intends to focus on its collaborations with the USGA, Las Vegas Aces, and Unrivaled, as well as content production with Hello Sunshine.

💼 The company is putting on a clinic for women’s sports sponsorship. CarMax CMO Sarah Lane cited Ally as a brand that inspires its investment strategy, and Brimmer also noted execs at Lumen, State Farm, Delta, Chase, and Morgan Stanley are “really starting to come into the space,” which is critical considering only 6% of Fortune 500 companies are investing in women’s sports.

• “Brands that you would think would never be bedfellows, that are technically competitors, getting together and saying, ‘What can we do to advance what's happening in women's sports.’ It's unlike anything I've ever been a part of in my 30-plus year career,” Brimmer said. “The power of women.”

The GIST: Following last week’s podcast interview with WNBA star and OPill brand ambassador Napheesa Collier, The GIST spoke with Perrigo’s U.S. women’s health brand lead Leila Bahbah on how the innovative birth control brand’s WNBA sponsorship is paying off. The truth? Not so hard to swallow.

The brand: Launched in March, OPill is the first over-the-counter (OTC) birth control pill in the U.S. By removing the prescription barrier, OPill represents a convenient contraceptive option and is crucial for the one in nine women of reproductive age who are uninsured, which is more common among communities of color.

• As the first OTC birth control pill, it can make a dent with its key demo early. The U.S. prescription birth control pill industry is worth an estimated $3B annually and more than 65% of women of reproductive age use contraception.

The sponsorship: In April, OPill announced a multiyear partnership with the WNBA. As part of this, OPill and the W will team up to reach college students and launch a health equity collaboration to address health disparities in communities of color. Bahbah mentioned the idea was pitched by the WNBA and is unlike anything the league has done before.

The alignment: Both companies believe in championing women’s health and reproductive rights, but OPill also wants to get in with the WNBA’s young, diverse audience. The league reported 259% YoY growth in viewership among Gen Z and millennial women, and OPill is already benefitting from that boost — it reached 1.4M fans through branded content on WNBA socials, according to Bahbah.

Zooming out: Health partnerships are on trend in the WNBA, like Kaiser Permanente’s Golden State Valkyries partnership or Eli Lilly’s sponsorship of the Indiana Fever. While the W supplies the perfect demographic, medications like OPill can power women’s sports teams and leagues with the pharmaceutical industry’s $1.1B annual ad spend. Healthcare for everyone.