Andrea Brimmer is the chief marketing and PR officer of Ally Financial and is responsible for leading all aspects of the company’s integrated marketing and brand transformation, driving unprecedented growth and disruptive consumer engagement.
Brimmer joined the company in 2006 and spearheaded the creation and launch of the Ally brand in 2009. Since becoming CMO in 2015, she has unified the brand under the company’s “Do It Right” mantra, and at her direction, Ally has established itself as a “different” kind of financial services company, dedicated to solving customer pain points that traditional institutions ignored.
Brimmer is widely recognized as one of the country’s most innovative and effective marketing leaders, known for being a dynamically disruptive and culturally astute trailblazer. The work of her team garnered recognition for Ally on many prominent industry lists and rankings, including the 2022 and 2023 Fast Company Brands that Matter lists. Her many honors include Forbes 2024 CMO Hall of Fame induction in recognition of her five times on the Forbes World’s Most Influential CMO list, 2023 Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO 50 and Fast Company’s 2023 Most Creative People in Business and the 2020 Adweek Brand Genius award.
Brimmer is passionate about advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, and using her platform to create good in the world. In 2022, she launched the marketing industry’s first 50/50 pledge with the goal of spending equal amounts in advertising for women’s and men’s sports. Her leadership in gender equity resulted in her being named to the 2022 Adweek Most Powerful Women in Sports list and as the 2022 WISE Woman of the Year.
Prior to joining Ally, Brimmer spent 20 years on the agency side in Detroit, where she led the Chevrolet account. She holds several board positions with organizations including eHealth, Ad Council, Effie Worldwide, American Advertising Federation, Mobile Marketing Association and Women’s Sports Foundation. She serves on Michigan State University’s Sports Management Advisory Board and is chair of the Professional Advisory Board for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, where she also played varsity soccer for four years.
- Forbes CMO Hall of Fame 2024
- Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs (2024, 2023, 2021, 2015 and 2014)
- Business Insider’s list of Most Innovative CMOs (2024, 2022)
- National Board Member, American Advertising Federation
- Vice Chair of the MMA North America Board of Directors
- Campaign US 2024 class of Inspiring Women for Breaking Brand Barriers
- Member of the Board of Directors for the Women’s Sports Foundation
- Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business for 2023
- Chair of Michigan State University’s Professional Advisory Board of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences
- Board member of Michigan State University’s Sports Management Advisory Board
- Board member of The Ad Council
- 2023 Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO 50
- 2022 WISE Woman of the Year
- Adweek Most Powerful Women in Sports (2022)
- Women’s International Champions Cup Best XI (2022)
- Board member of Effie Worldwide
- Brand Innovators Top 100 Women in Marketing Class of 2021
- Only three-time winner of the Financial Communication Society’s “Marketer of the Year” (2021, 2019 and 2017)
- Adweek Brand Genius Award (2020)
- 100 Leading Women list by Automotive News (2020 and 2015)
- Campaign US 2020 Female Frontier Awards for ‘Breaking Brand Barriers’
- The Internationalist list of “20 Inspiring Marketers of the First 20 Years of the 21st Century” (2020)
- MediaPost All-Star in Marketing (2020)
- Debuted at number seven in the annual AdAge “Marketers of the Year” roundup for her skillful use of brand as “a weapon of mass seduction” (2019)
- The CMO Club “CMO Innovation Award” (2019)
- AdAge’s list of “Women to Watch” (2018)
- Michigan State University College of Communications Arts and Sciences’ Outstanding Alumni Award (2018)
- ANA Business Marketing New York “Communicator of the Year – The Disruptor” (2018)
- Automotive News “All Star of Marketing” (2016)
Passion Points
As a top female executive, Brimmer believes in supporting the career growth and development of women both inside and outside of Ally.
She regularly mentors junior colleagues, as well as college students from various universities. She also participates in the Forbes CMO University Alumni Series, which brings successful marketing professionals to college campuses around the country to cultivate the next generation of marketing talent.
In her work with emerging professionals, Brimmer speaks honestly about the role of bravery in her career, particularly the role of bravery in taking risks that lead to personal and professional rewards.
A quote from Pablo Picasso is Brimmer’s mantra, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”