--- title: Home Chef: a brand repositioning campaign, broken down and benchmarked | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/home-chef-brand-repositioning-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/home-chef-brand-repositioning-campaign/ --- - **Story:** Using Home Chef as the example, this page unpacks how a brand repositioning campaign is built and measured. - **Why it matters:** Treated well, a brand repositioning campaign is a planning discipline first and a creative exercise second. - **Takeaway:** Most brand repositioning-campaign failures are planning failures, not creative failures. - **Takeaway:** The mechanics of a brand repositioning campaign transfer to any brand in its category. - **Takeaway:** For Home Chef, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure. ## How a brand repositioning campaign plays out for Home Chef S Situation The opportunity A brand repositioning campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Home Chef business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task What had to happen Turn attention into measurable demand for Home Chef: plan the mechanics, set targets against category benchmarks, and build in the measurement. A Action The execution 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 Home Chef, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The scoreboard On incremental lift against a baseline for Home Chef, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a brand repositioning campaign. ## The math behind a Home Chef brand repositioning campaign 0% A planning anchor for Home Chef 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% A reference point for Home Chef forecasting 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% Benchmark a Home Chef plan should cite 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 Benchmark a Home Chef plan should cite 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 BrandHome Chef 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 Home Chef, so the depth here comes from the brand repositioning-campaign discipline itself, with sourced benchmarks and named example campaigns. No Home Chef figure is fabricated. ## Defining the brand repositioning campaign The core idea, before the Home Chef 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 — Home Chef included — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. Home Chef planners would underline this. It is not a logo refresh. That holds directly for Home Chef. It is a change in who the brand is for and — and Home Chef is no exception — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. That holds directly for Home Chef. Done well it opens a larger market. For Home Chef, this is the load-bearing part. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. This page applies that definition to Home Chef. **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 — and Home Chef is no exception — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For a Home Chef plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. ## Running a brand repositioning campaign, step by step A brand repositioning campaign has working parts. For Home Chef, they all have to mesh. For Home Chef, a brand repositioning campaign is less one ad and more a set of connected decisions: **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 — and Home Chef is no exception — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. It is the sort of benchmark a Home Chef brief should cite. 1. **Audience redefinition.** The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. A Home Chef team reads this closely. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. Skipping this is the most common Home Chef-scale error. 2. **Message before mark.** Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — for Home Chef, a real factor — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. Skipping this is the most common Home Chef-scale error. 3. **Proof at the product level.** A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. That holds directly for Home Chef. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. This step decides how the rest of the Home Chef plan holds up. 4. **Media weight to force the reframe.** Perception is sticky. In the Home Chef context, that detail carries weight. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — Home Chef included — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. For Home Chef, this is where most of the planning effort lands. 5. **Insight before identity.** Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. Home Chef planners would underline this. Old Spice moved only after research showed — and Home Chef is no exception — most body-wash purchases were made by women. This step decides how the rest of the Home Chef plan holds up. ## The benchmarks that frame the work Read the numbers first. Public benchmarks set the realistic range for a brand repositioning campaign at Home Chef before any creative work. Planning a brand repositioning campaign for Home Chef without category benchmarks is guessing. The figures here are public, sourced, and apply 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]](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 — Home Chef included — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. It is the sort of benchmark a Home Chef brief should cite. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Home Chef brand repositioning campaign is judged honestly. | 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 Choose KPIs that hold up. A Home Chef brand repositioning campaign is judged on the metrics listed here. A Home Chef 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 Home Chef, a real factor — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment. For Home Chef, reach is the start of the measurement question, not the answer. Incremental lift is the answer. ## Common mistakes and how to avoid them Failure has a shape. For Home Chef, the four errors below are the ones worth pre-empting. These failure patterns recur across brand repositioning campaigns: - Repositioning the message while leaving the product — Home Chef 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. **The pattern**Notice the shape. None of these is a creative failure. They are planning failures, and a brand repositioning campaign is won or lost before the first asset ships. ## What RGM takes from the Home Chef case The lesson for Home Chef is structural. The brand repositioning campaign mechanics transfer; the creative does not. The audit pattern is clear. A brand repositioning campaign rewards the Home Chef-style team that builds measurement in from the start. The point is transfer. A brand repositioning campaign for Home Chef or any its category brand is defensible only when the numbers are planned and proven. ## Quick answers on this case study Is this brand repositioning case study based on Home Chef's own reported results? : No. The figures are public industry benchmarks for brand repositioning campaigns, each sourced and linked. They show how the campaign type works, set against the Home Chef context. Any number that is not publicly sourceable is left out or marked as RGM analysis. How should a marketing team use this Home Chef example? : Use the structure, not the surface. The brand repositioning-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Home Chef creative is one execution among many. 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 Where does a repositioning campaign start for a brand like Home Chef? For a brand like Home Chef, the short answer is direct. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. In the Home Chef context, that detail carries weight. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — for Home Chef, a live factor — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. In the Home Chef context, that detail carries weight. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — Home Chef included — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. For Home Chef, that is the practical takeaway. Home Chef case: how long does a brand repositioning take to show results? Here is how this applies to Home Chef. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — as a Home Chef team knows — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. That holds directly for Home Chef. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — Home Chef included — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. For Home Chef, that is the practical takeaway. Home Chef case: what is the biggest risk in repositioning a brand? For a brand like Home Chef, the short answer is direct. Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. Home Chef planners would underline this. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — and Home Chef is no exception — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. That is exactly the Home Chef situation. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — and Home Chef is no exception — credible thread back to the equity already built. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Home Chef included. Does the product have to change during a reposition? For Home Chef and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Often yes, at least visibly. A Home Chef-scale brief should name this. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. For a brand at Home Chef scale, this is where the plan is tested. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. A Home Chef team reads this closely. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — for Home Chef, a live factor — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. A Home Chef team would plan against exactly this. Home Chef case: what is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning? A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. A Home Chef team reads this closely. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — as a Home Chef team knows — what it means, and what tier it sells at. It applies cleanly to Home Chef. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — as a Home Chef team knows — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. That holds directly for Home Chef. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. Why does this case study use Home Chef as the example? Home Chef 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; Home Chef 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/)