--- title: Cann: a brand repositioning campaign, broken down and benchmarked | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/cann-brand-repositioning-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/cann-brand-repositioning-campaign/ --- - **Story:** This case study runs a brand repositioning campaign through the Cann lens, from mechanics to public benchmarks. - **Why it matters:** Treated well, a brand repositioning campaign is a planning discipline first and a creative exercise second. - **Takeaway:** The mechanics of a brand repositioning campaign transfer to any brand in its category. - **Takeaway:** For Cann, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure. - **Takeaway:** Most brand repositioning-campaign failures are planning failures, not creative failures. ## How a brand repositioning campaign plays out for Cann S Situation Where it starts A brand repositioning campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Cann business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The objective Turn attention into measurable demand for Cann: plan the mechanics, set targets against category benchmarks, and build in the measurement. A Action The work Insight before identity. Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. Old Spice moved only after research showed most body-wash purchases were made by women. For Cann, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The verdict On incremental lift against a baseline for Cann, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a brand repositioning campaign. ## The math behind a Cann brand repositioning campaign 0% Benchmark a Cann plan should cite Old Spice's 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' repositioning lifted Red Zone body-wash unit sales 60% year over year Source: [Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing](https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/classic-case-study-old-spice/) 0% Category figure relevant to Cann Mailchimp reported a 200% increase in user engagement within a year of its 2018 brand refresh Source: [COLLINS](https://wearecollins.com/case-studies/mailchimp/) 0% Category figure relevant to Cann Integrated campaigns running across four or more channels deliver about 26% stronger overall contribution than those u Source: [AdMonsters](https://www.admonsters.com/the-super-bowl-lix-ad-playbook-data-dollars-and-the-shifting-rules-of-engagement/) Linked What the public data tells a Cann team Every figure on this page links to its publisher. Source: [Old Spice repositioning case study](https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/classic-case-study-old-spice/) #### Quick facts BrandCann IndustryIts Category Campaign typeBrand Repositioning Primary channelsPaid, owned, earned Planning horizonMonths ahead of launch Core measureIncremental lift, not reach Source basisPublic benchmarks, linked RGM useWorked example, not a recipe **Honest note** There is limited public campaign detail specific to Cann, so the depth here comes from the brand repositioning-campaign discipline itself, with sourced benchmarks and named example campaigns. No Cann figure is fabricated. ## What a brand repositioning campaign is The core idea, before the Cann detail. 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 — Cann included — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. In the Cann context, that detail carries weight. It is not a logo refresh. In the Cann context, that detail carries weight. It is a change in who the brand is for and — and Cann is no exception — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. It applies cleanly to Cann. Done well it opens a larger market. For Cann, the detail is not optional. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. This page applies that definition to Cann. **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]](https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/classic-case-study-old-spice/). **Context:** The campaign reached its audience by targeting the female purchaser — for Cann, a real factor — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For a Cann plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. ## How brands like Cann run it These are the components a Cann-scale team has to coordinate for a brand repositioning campaign. Below are the parts of a brand repositioning campaign that a brand like Cann 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]](https://wearecollins.com/case-studies/mailchimp/). **Context:** The refresh, built with the design agency COLLINS, repositioned — Cann included — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. A Cann forecast should start from a figure like this. 1. **Media weight to force the reframe.** Perception is sticky. It applies cleanly to Cann. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — as a Cann team knows — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. For a brand like Cann, getting this wrong is expensive. 2. **Insight before identity.** Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. For Cann, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice moved only after research showed — and Cann is no exception — most body-wash purchases were made by women. Skipping this is the most common Cann-scale error. 3. **Audience redefinition.** The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. For Cann, the detail is not optional. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. A Cann-scale team treats this as non-negotiable. 4. **Message before mark.** Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — for Cann, a real factor — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. Cann would budget real time against this. 5. **Proof at the product level.** A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. For a brand at Cann scale, this is where the plan is tested. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. A Cann-scale team treats this as non-negotiable. ## The numbers that set the targets The data sets the targets. A brand repositioning campaign for Cann should be planned against these figures, not against hope. A Cann team setting brand repositioning campaign targets needs the category data first. The numbers below are public and linked. **Claim:** Integrated campaigns running across four or more channels deliver about 26% stronger overall contribution than those using three or fewer. **Source:** [[AdMonsters]](https://www.admonsters.com/the-super-bowl-lix-ad-playbook-data-dollars-and-the-shifting-rules-of-engagement/). **Context:** A reposition needs coordinated weight across channels, not — for Cann, a real factor — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. For Cann, this number sets expectations before the work starts. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Cann brand repositioning campaign is judged honestly. | What to measure | Why it matters | | Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven | | Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one | | Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked | ## KPIs that actually matter The scoreboard decides the verdict. For Cann, weigh these measures over vanity numbers. For a brand repositioning campaign, the metrics that matter are these. Unaided brand awareness against the new positioning, perception-tracker shifts on the target attributes, audience-mix change in — Cann included — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment. For Cann, reach is the start of the measurement question, not the answer. Incremental lift is the answer. ## Common mistakes and how to avoid them Most failures repeat. The four errors below sink a large share of brand repositioning campaigns, and each one is avoidable for Cann. The brand repositioning campaign mistakes worth naming for Cann: - Repositioning the message while leaving the product — Cann included — 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 to notice**These are upstream failures. A brand repositioning campaign for Cann is mostly decided before any ad runs. ## How RGM reads the Cann example One takeaway for Cann: treat the brand repositioning story as a model of the discipline, and copy the structure, not the creative. What we see in audits: a brand repositioning campaign succeeds when a team like Cann's plans it as engineering, with baselines and targets, not as a habit. The point is transfer. A brand repositioning campaign for Cann or any its category brand is defensible only when the numbers are planned and proven. ## Quick answers Does this page report private Cann campaign numbers? : No. This page pairs public brand repositioning-campaign benchmarks with Cann as the illustration. The numbers are linked to their publishers; nothing private to Cann is claimed. What is the practical takeaway from the Cann brand repositioning write-up? : Treat it as a structural template. Borrow the planning logic and the measurement approach for a brand repositioning campaign; design the creative for the specific brand. How are the benchmarks here verified? : Each figure carries a fact-atom linking its publisher. Sources include Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the Association of National Advertisers, and major business press, so every claim can be checked. **Keep reading** Foundational concepts and channels behind this case: - [what growth marketing is](/learn/what-is-growth-marketing/) - [marketing attribution](/learn/marketing-attribution/) - [audience arbitrage](/learn/audience-arbitrage/) - [growth marketing services](/services/) - [advertising platforms](/platforms/) ## Frequently asked questions Does the product have to change during a reposition? For Cann and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Often yes, at least visibly. It applies cleanly to Cann. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. A Cann team reads this closely. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. For Cann, this is the load-bearing part. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — and Cann is no exception — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. A Cann team would plan against exactly this. What is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning? Taking Cann as the example: A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. For Cann, this is the load-bearing part. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — and Cann is no exception — what it means, and what tier it sells at. It applies cleanly to Cann. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — as a Cann team knows — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. That holds directly for Cann. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. For Cann, this is the point worth acting on. Where does a repositioning campaign start? For Cann and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. For Cann, the detail is not optional. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — for Cann, a live factor — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For a brand at Cann scale, this is where the plan is tested. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — for Cann, a live factor — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. Cann case: how long does a brand repositioning take to show results? For Cann and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — and Cann is no exception — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. That is exactly the Cann situation. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — as a Cann team knows — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. A Cann team would plan against exactly this. What is the biggest risk in repositioning Cann? Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. For Cann, the detail is not optional. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — for Cann, a live factor — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. For a brand at Cann scale, this is where the plan is tested. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — and Cann is no exception — credible thread back to the equity already built. What makes Cann a useful example for this campaign type? Cann 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; Cann is the lens, not the limit. The sourced figures hold for any comparable brand. ### Sources & references - [Old Spice repositioning case study](https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/classic-case-study-old-spice/) — Documents the Old Spice unit-sales lift and the female-purchaser insight. - [COLLINS — Mailchimp rebrand case study](https://wearecollins.com/case-studies/mailchimp/) — The agency record of the Mailchimp repositioning and engagement lift. - [Brand Master Academy — brand repositioning guide](https://brandmasteracademy.com/brand-repositioning/) — Reference on repositioning strategy, process, and worked examples. - [AdMonsters — integrated campaign contribution data](https://www.admonsters.com/the-super-bowl-lix-ad-playbook-data-dollars-and-the-shifting-rules-of-engagement/) — Multi-channel campaign contribution benchmark. ## Related [#### All case studies The full RGM case-study library.](/learn/case-studies/)[#### What is growth marketing The foundational concept behind every campaign type.](/learn/what-is-growth-marketing/)[#### Incrementality testing How to prove a campaign actually caused the lift.](/learn/incrementality-testing/)