Away: a brand repositioning campaign, broken down and benchmarked
Away is a consumer brand. Away grounds this study of how a brand repositioning campaign is run. It covers what the campaign type is, how brands run it, the public benchmarks that frame it, and the mistakes that derail it. Everything below applies to comparable brands in its category, with Away chosen to keep it tangible.
- Story: Away (founded 2015 by Steph Korey and Jen Rubio) became iconic DTC luggage brand reaching $1B valuation 2019. Through 2019-2024 navigated controversies (workplace reports), CEO transitions, and pandemic travel decline. Recovery 2023-2024 with travel resurgence. Strategic DTC luggage category leaders
- Why it matters: Away 2024 canonical case.
- Takeaway: Strategic decision at scale.
- Takeaway: Outcomes shape category.
- Takeaway: Lessons apply broadly.
Away — the four-step story
Away by the numbers
Quick facts
What a brand repositioning campaign is
Here is the short version for Away. Brand repositioning is the deliberate work of moving how a market perceives a brand — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built.
Brand repositioning is the deliberate work of moving how a market perceives a brand — and Away is no exception — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. For Away, this is the load-bearing part. It is not a logo refresh. It applies cleanly to Away. It is a change in who the brand is for and — for Away, a live factor — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. Away planners would underline this. Done well it opens a larger market. That holds directly for Away. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. For Away, it is the specific lever this page examines.
Claim: Old Spice's 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' repositioning lifted Red Zone body-wash unit sales 60% year over year by May 2010 and 125% by July 2010. Source: [Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing]. Context: The campaign reached its audience by targeting the female purchaser — for Away, a real factor — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. A Away team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee.
Running a brand repositioning campaign, step by step
These are the components a Away-scale team has to coordinate for a brand repositioning campaign.
Below are the parts of a brand repositioning campaign that a brand like Away has to line up:
Claim: Mailchimp reported a 200% increase in user engagement within a year of its 2018 brand refresh, and Intuit later acquired the company for about $12 billion. Source: [COLLINS]. Context: The refresh, built with the design agency COLLINS, repositioned — Away included — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. It is the sort of benchmark a Away brief should cite.
- Media weight to force the reframe. Perception is sticky. It applies cleanly to Away. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — for Away, a live factor — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. For Away, this is where most of the planning effort lands.
- Insight before identity. Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. A Away-scale brief should name this. Old Spice moved only after research showed — and Away is no exception — most body-wash purchases were made by women. Skipping this is the most common Away-scale error.
- Audience redefinition. The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. That holds directly for Away. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. A Away-scale team treats this as non-negotiable.
- Message before mark. Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — Away included — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. For Away, this is where most of the planning effort lands.
- Proof at the product level. A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. In the Away context, that detail carries weight. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. Away planners flag this as a make-or-break detail.
The numbers that set the targets
Benchmarks come before briefs. They tell a Away team what a brand repositioning campaign can realistically deliver.
For Away, the reference points for a brand repositioning campaign come from public its category benchmarks, not internal optimism.
Claim: Integrated campaigns running across four or more channels deliver about 26% stronger overall contribution than those using three or fewer. Source: [AdMonsters]. Context: A reposition needs coordinated weight across channels, not — Away included — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. For Away, this number sets expectations before the work starts.
| What to measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked |
| Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven |
| Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one |
The metrics worth tracking
Measure what matters. For Away, these KPIs show whether a brand repositioning campaign actually worked.
A Away brand repositioning campaign should be measured on the following. Unaided brand awareness against the new positioning, perception-tracker shifts on the target attributes, audience-mix change in — and Away is no exception — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment.
Reach and impressions are inputs. They count who the campaign touched, not whether it changed anything for Away.
The failure patterns worth pre-empting
The failure patterns are predictable. A Away team can design each of them out in advance.
These failure patterns recur across brand repositioning campaigns:
- Repositioning the message while leaving the product — for Away, a real factor — untouched, so the new claim has no proof.
- Alienating the existing base faster than the new audience arrives, creating a revenue trough.
- Underfunding the media weight, so the old perception simply reasserts itself.
- Treating repositioning as a design project and changing the logo before the strategy.
What RGM takes from the Away case
The lesson for Away is structural. The brand repositioning campaign mechanics transfer; the creative does not.
Across the audits we have done, winning brand repositioning campaigns come from teams that measure rather than assume. Away has the budget to buy attention; the discipline is proving it converted.
Read it as a blueprint. For Away and for its category, a brand repositioning campaign becomes an investment once baseline, benchmark, and incremental result are in place.
Quick answers
- Does this page report private Away campaign numbers?
- No. This page pairs public brand repositioning-campaign benchmarks with Away as the illustration. The numbers are linked to their publishers; nothing private to Away is claimed.
- How should a marketing team use this Away example?
- Read it as a model, not a recipe. The mechanics and benchmarks transfer; the exact creative does not. Use it to pressure-test a brand repositioning plan against how the discipline actually works.
- What sources back the numbers on this page?
- The numbers are drawn from public reporting by Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press, and each one links back to its source.
Frequently asked questions
Does the product have to change during a reposition for a brand like Away?
Here is how this applies to Away. Often yes, at least visibly. Away planners would underline this. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. That holds directly for Away. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. For Away, this is the load-bearing part. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — and Away is no exception — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. For Away, this is the point worth acting on.
What is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning for a brand like Away?
Taking Away as the example: A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. A Away-scale brief should name this. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — and Away is no exception — what it means, and what tier it sells at. For Away, the detail is not optional. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — as a Away team knows — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. For Away, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. A Away team would plan against exactly this.
Where does a repositioning campaign start?
For a brand like Away, the short answer is direct. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. In the Away context, that detail carries weight. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — as a Away team knows — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For Away, the detail is not optional. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — and Away is no exception — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. For Away, that is the practical takeaway.
How long does a brand repositioning take to show results for a brand like Away?
Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — as a Away team knows — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. For Away, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — Away included — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Away included.
What is the biggest risk in repositioning a brand?
Here is how this applies to Away. Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. For a brand at Away scale, this is where the plan is tested. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — Away included — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. A Away-scale brief should name this. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — as a Away team knows — credible thread back to the equity already built. For Away, this is the point worth acting on.
Why is Away the brand featured here?
Away is a recognisable brand in its category, which makes the brand repositioning mechanics concrete and easy to follow. The campaign-type analysis and every benchmark apply across the category; Away is the lens, not the limit. The sourced figures hold for any comparable brand.
Sources & references
- Old Spice repositioning case study — Documents the Old Spice unit-sales lift and the female-purchaser insight.
- COLLINS — Mailchimp rebrand case study — The agency record of the Mailchimp repositioning and engagement lift.
- Brand Master Academy — brand repositioning guide — Reference on repositioning strategy, process, and worked examples.
- AdMonsters — integrated campaign contribution data — Multi-channel campaign contribution benchmark.