Andrea Brimmer, CMO of Ally, joined The Brand Builder’s Playbook to tackle one of marketing’s longest-running false choices: brand versus performance. Her message was simple and sharp in that it should instead be brand times performance. The multiplier comes when demand generation and demand capture work as one system, owned by everyone from the CMO to the CFO.
The equation that works both ways
Brand and performance are often treated as rivals. One is seen as long-term and emotional, while the other is short-term and measurable. Brimmer rejects that split. At Ally, her team treats them as interdependent forces. “You can’t have one without the other,” she said. “It’s generation and capture.”
That framing wasn’t just theory. In a study with the MMA and TransUnion, Ally tested 850,000 consumers. One group received brand-led demand generation campaigns and the other got performance-heavy rate ads. Those who saw brand messages not only converted efficiently but also grew lifetime value faster. This was proof that lead generation and capture are harmonious.
The organizational design behind the math
Ally’s success comes from its structure. Brimmer led a six-month reorganization built to connect strategy, execution, and measurement. The model includes:
- Insights and innovation: Teams responsible for research, AI strategy, and MarTech feed thinking across the group.
- Execution: Media, audience strategy, and budget allocation teams own KPIs and channel plans.
- Creative expression: The content and social teams bring those plans to life in every format.
- Measurement: One independent team reports directly to her and tracks what actually works.
It’s not perfectly linear, she admits, but it keeps ownership clear and each part fuels the next.
Shared scorecards and real accountability
One of Brimmer’s most powerful moves was expanding accountability for brand health beyond marketing. Awareness and brand KPIs sit on the CEO, CFO, and business leader scorecards. That means when brand metrics dip, the entire leadership team meets to address it. It’s no longer marketing’s problem to justify, but instead a shared responsibility to solve.
That system shapes behavior across the company. From frontline employees to investor relations, everyone understands that brand is a financial asset. It shows up in everything from waived overdraft fees to customer interactions and community investments.
From crisis to culture
Ally’s brand mindset was born from necessity. The company emerged from the financial crisis, rebuilt from GMAC, and paid back a $17 billion TARP loan with interest. That origin story created an owner’s mentality that endures today. Every employee receives stock grants to reinforce that ownership. For some frontline workers, those shares are now worth more than $50,000.
That sense of collective stake makes the brand real inside the company before it ever reaches a customer. It’s one reason Ally’s initiatives, like its 50/50 investment in women’s sports and purpose-driven campaigns, translate directly into growth.
Practical moves to balance the equation
Brimmer’s playbook for getting brand and performance to work together is both strategic and pragmatic:
- Start with facts. Use data that proves brand drives return and show the lift in acquisition cost, efficiency, and lifetime value.
- Create a shared language. Replace “brand versus performance” with “generation and capture.”
- Build one scorecard. Tie brand health and business metrics to leadership compensation.
- Keep promotions brand-positive. Ally’s “Graduate Financially” campaign drove acquisition without discounts by using humor and cultural cues instead of price cuts.
- Stay aligned with the CEO. No model works without shared vision at the top.
The line to remember
Brand and performance are not separate tracks. They are the same road, paved at different speeds. The companies that stop choosing sides and start managing the system together build not just awareness or clicks, but enduring value.
