Why Ally Financial Banks On A Mix Of Brand And Performance Marketing
CMOs hate being asked if they are left or right brained.
It's a "boring question," Andrea Bremmer, chief financial officer at Ally Financial, said at a potential conference in Miami last week because the answer is "both."
Brand marketing is often seen as "mysterious" because it isn't directly related to sales or conversions, but it isn't, Bremer says.
Advertisers must rely on a combination of product marketing and performance marketing to get results. Marketers know this intuitively, but there is no concrete evidence.
However, without hard numbers, marketers can't justify spending on so-called conservative tactics, especially during a recession when the CFO urges cuts.
brand as a partner
In 2021, Ali shot the largest branding campaign in company history, which included national TV ads, over 700 out of home placements, and a variety of home effects.
The goal was to establish Ally as a "partner" in someone's life when they need help managing their finances, renovating their home, getting married, or just staying.
Last year, Ali began a long-term BaP (Brand as Performance) study with MMA to ensure his brand campaign was a key performance driver.
Ally's thesis was that heavy investment in brands combined with performance strategies like paid search and paid social media would lead to account signup.
For nine months, Bremmer and his team worked with TransUnion and researcher Dinata to conduct surveys and measure the brand campaign's impact on choice, including people's perception of Ally as an easy-to-use product. .
Those affected by the campaign had higher interest rates than others and were six times more likely to open one or more accounts with Ali. Over time, 73% of Favorites converted, compared to only 13% of people who didn't see a product ad.
Bremer said the result is clear. The more people support, the more likely they are to act.
Ali witnessed a 7 percent increase in sign-up from people who had never dealt with Ali before after being exposed to the creative campaign.
"Think of it as an annuity that grows over time," Brimmer said. “Just introducing people to a brand over and over again creates empathy and growth.”
transformation
Performance strategies also play an important role. The point, Bremmer says, is that performance marketing is most effective when it's integrated into a broader strategy and includes branding efforts.
For example, reaching people who are already using the brand with a simple call-to-action can help reduce your total customer acquisition cost (CAC).
Ally saw her CAC drop by 87% when she targeted people who already know and support her brand.
By analyzing multi-touch referral data, which involves recognizing the percentage across all touch points in the customer journey, Ali found that brand strategies play a role in the majority of referral purchases, roughly 70%.
This is why Ali is playing "the long game," Bremer says.
"A lot of our growth has come from brand transfer to physical purchases," he said. "You need short-term strategies, but developing a long-term investment plan is extremely important."
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