Hims Hers: a brand repositioning campaign, broken down and benchmarked
Hims Hers is a consumer brand. Hims Hers 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 Hims Hers chosen to keep it tangible.
- Story: Hims and Hers (founded 2017) went public January 2021 via SPAC at $10/share. Through 2022-2024 reached profitability with annual revenue $1.4B+ 2024. Strategic telehealth direct-to-consumer model for men's health (Hims), women's health (Hers), mental health, dermatology. Stock has appreciated signif
- Why it matters: Hims and Hers 2024 canonical case.
- Takeaway: Strategic decision at scale.
- Takeaway: Outcomes shape category.
- Takeaway: Lessons apply broadly.
Hims and Hers — the four-step story
Hims and Hers by the numbers
Quick facts
What a brand repositioning campaign is
Here is the short version for Hims Hers. 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 — for Hims Hers, a live factor — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. A Hims Hers-scale brief should name this. It is not a logo refresh. For a brand at Hims Hers scale, this is where the plan is tested. It is a change in who the brand is for and — for Hims Hers, a live factor — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. Hims Hers planners would underline this. Done well it opens a larger market. That holds directly for Hims Hers. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. For Hims Hers, 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 Hims Hers, a real factor — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. A Hims Hers team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee.
How brands like Hims Hers run it
These are the components a Hims Hers-scale team has to coordinate for a brand repositioning campaign.
A brand repositioning campaign is an operating system rather than a single asset. For Hims Hers, these parts have to work together:
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 — Hims Hers included — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. For a Hims Hers plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target.
- Insight before identity. Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. Hims Hers planners would underline this. Old Spice moved only after research showed — as a Hims Hers team knows — most body-wash purchases were made by women. This step decides how the rest of the Hims Hers plan holds up.
- Audience redefinition. The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. In the Hims Hers context, that detail carries weight. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. This step decides how the rest of the Hims Hers plan holds up.
- Message before mark. Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — and Hims Hers is no exception — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. For a brand like Hims Hers, getting this wrong is expensive.
- Proof at the product level. A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. It applies cleanly to Hims Hers. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. Hims Hers would budget real time against this.
- Media weight to force the reframe. Perception is sticky. Hims Hers planners would underline this. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — as a Hims Hers team knows — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. A Hims Hers-scale team treats this as non-negotiable.
The numbers that set the targets
The data sets the targets. A brand repositioning campaign for Hims Hers should be planned against these figures, not against hope.
These sourced figures give a Hims Hers brand repositioning campaign an honest target range across its category.
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 — for Hims Hers, a real factor — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. For Hims Hers, 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 |
Which KPIs decide the verdict
Choose KPIs that hold up. A Hims Hers brand repositioning campaign is judged on the metrics listed here.
A Hims Hers 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 — for Hims Hers, a real factor — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment.
For Hims Hers, reach is the start of the measurement question, not the answer. Incremental lift is the answer.
The failure patterns worth pre-empting
These mistakes recur. Knowing them lets a Hims Hers brand repositioning campaign route around the common traps.
A Hims Hers-scale team should design around these recurring errors:
- Repositioning the message while leaving the product — for Hims Hers, 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 Hims Hers case
The lesson for Hims Hers 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. Hims Hers has the budget to buy attention; the discipline is proving it converted.
Read it as a blueprint. For Hims Hers 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 Hims Hers campaign numbers?
- No. This page pairs public brand repositioning-campaign benchmarks with Hims Hers as the illustration. The numbers are linked to their publishers; nothing private to Hims Hers is claimed.
- How should a marketing team use this Hims Hers example?
- Use the structure, not the surface. The brand repositioning-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Hims Hers creative is one execution among many.
- 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
What is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning for a brand like Hims Hers?
Here is how this applies to Hims Hers. A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. For Hims Hers, this is the load-bearing part. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — and Hims Hers is no exception — what it means, and what tier it sells at. It applies cleanly to Hims Hers. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — for Hims Hers, a live factor — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. Hims Hers planners would underline this. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. For Hims Hers, this is the point worth acting on.
Where does a repositioning campaign start?
Here is how this applies to Hims Hers. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. It applies cleanly to Hims Hers. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — and Hims Hers is no exception — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For Hims Hers, this is the load-bearing part. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — Hims Hers included — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. For Hims Hers, that is the practical takeaway.
How long does a brand repositioning take to show results?
Here is how this applies to Hims Hers. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — Hims Hers included — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. In the Hims Hers context, that detail carries weight. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — for Hims Hers, a live factor — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. For Hims Hers, this is the point worth acting on.
What is the biggest risk in repositioning a brand?
For a brand like Hims Hers, the short answer is direct. Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. For Hims Hers, the detail is not optional. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — and Hims Hers is no exception — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. That is exactly the Hims Hers situation. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — and Hims Hers is no exception — credible thread back to the equity already built. For Hims Hers, that is the practical takeaway.
Does the product have to change during a reposition?
For Hims Hers and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Often yes, at least visibly. That holds directly for Hims Hers. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. Hims Hers planners would underline this. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. That holds directly for Hims Hers. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — as a Hims Hers team knows — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. A Hims Hers team would plan against exactly this.
Why is Hims Hers the brand featured here?
Hims Hers 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; Hims Hers 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.