--- title: How a brand repositioning campaign works, with Lacoste as the example | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/lacoste-brand-repositioning-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/lacoste-brand-repositioning-campaign/ --- - **Story:** Here the brand repositioning campaign type is examined with Lacoste as the concrete reference point. - **Why it matters:** The value of a brand repositioning campaign comes from rigour: clear targets, real benchmarks, built-in measurement. - **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 Lacoste, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure. ## How a brand repositioning campaign plays out for Lacoste S Situation The setup A brand repositioning campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Lacoste business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The objective Turn attention into measurable demand for Lacoste: 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 Lacoste, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The scoreboard On incremental lift against a baseline for Lacoste, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a brand repositioning campaign. ## The math behind a Lacoste brand repositioning campaign 0% A reference point for Lacoste forecasting 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 Lacoste 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% What the public data tells a Lacoste team 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 A planning anchor for Lacoste 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 BrandLacoste 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 Lacoste, so the depth here comes from the brand repositioning-campaign discipline itself, with sourced benchmarks and named example campaigns. No Lacoste figure is fabricated. ## Defining the brand repositioning campaign First principles, then Lacoste. 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 — as a Lacoste team knows — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. For Lacoste, this is the load-bearing part. It is not a logo refresh. In the Lacoste context, that detail carries weight. It is a change in who the brand is for and — as a Lacoste team knows — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. For Lacoste, the detail is not optional. Done well it opens a larger market. That holds directly for Lacoste. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. For Lacoste, 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]](https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/classic-case-study-old-spice/). **Context:** The campaign reached its audience by targeting the female purchaser — Lacoste included — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For a Lacoste plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. ## Running a brand repositioning campaign, step by step Look at the moving parts. A brand repositioning campaign at Lacoste scale is assembled, not improvised. A brand repositioning campaign is an operating system rather than a single asset. For Lacoste, 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]](https://wearecollins.com/case-studies/mailchimp/). **Context:** The refresh, built with the design agency COLLINS, repositioned — and Lacoste is no exception — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. For a Lacoste plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. 1. **Media weight to force the reframe.** Perception is sticky. For a brand at Lacoste scale, this is where the plan is tested. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — for Lacoste, a live factor — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. Lacoste planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. 2. **Insight before identity.** Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. That holds directly for Lacoste. Old Spice moved only after research showed — as a Lacoste team knows — most body-wash purchases were made by women. For a brand like Lacoste, getting this wrong is expensive. 3. **Audience redefinition.** The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. For Lacoste, the detail is not optional. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. For Lacoste, this is where most of the planning effort lands. 4. **Message before mark.** Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — Lacoste included — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. Lacoste would budget real time against this. 5. **Proof at the product level.** A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. Lacoste planners would underline this. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. For a brand like Lacoste, getting this wrong is expensive. ## The numbers that set the targets Read the numbers first. Public benchmarks set the realistic range for a brand repositioning campaign at Lacoste before any creative work. Planning a brand repositioning campaign for Lacoste 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 — for Lacoste, a real factor — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. A Lacoste forecast should start from a figure like this. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Lacoste 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 | ## KPIs that actually matter The scoreboard decides the verdict. For Lacoste, weigh these measures over vanity numbers. A Lacoste 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 Lacoste, a real factor — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment. Impressions describe scale, not effect. A Lacoste team serious about a brand repositioning campaign reports lift against a baseline. ## 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 Lacoste. These failure patterns recur across brand repositioning campaigns: - 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. - Repositioning the message while leaving the product — for Lacoste, a real factor — untouched, so the new claim has no proof. **The common thread**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 Lacoste case If a Lacoste team keeps one thing: borrow the brand repositioning campaign structure, not the specific execution. What we see in audits: a brand repositioning campaign succeeds when a team like Lacoste's plans it as engineering, with baselines and targets, not as a habit. The Lacoste example is therefore a template. Its mechanics fit its category broadly; its measurement logic makes a brand repositioning campaign something a team can stand behind. ## Quick answers on this case study Are the figures here taken from Lacoste's internal data? : No. This page pairs public brand repositioning-campaign benchmarks with Lacoste as the illustration. The numbers are linked to their publishers; nothing private to Lacoste is claimed. What is the practical takeaway from the Lacoste brand repositioning write-up? : Use the structure, not the surface. The brand repositioning-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Lacoste creative is one execution among many. What sources back the numbers on this page? : Every quantitative claim is wrapped as a fact-atom with a linked publisher from the approved pool, including Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press. None of it is invented. **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? Here is how this applies to Lacoste. Often yes, at least visibly. It applies cleanly to Lacoste. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. A Lacoste team reads this closely. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. Lacoste planners would underline this. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — for Lacoste, a live factor — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. For Lacoste, that is the practical takeaway. What is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning? Taking Lacoste as the example: A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. That holds directly for Lacoste. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — as a Lacoste team knows — what it means, and what tier it sells at. It applies cleanly to Lacoste. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — Lacoste included — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. A Lacoste-scale brief should name this. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. A Lacoste team would plan against exactly this. Where does a repositioning campaign start? Taking Lacoste as the example: It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. That holds directly for Lacoste. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — Lacoste included — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. In the Lacoste context, that detail carries weight. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — Lacoste included — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. A Lacoste team would plan against exactly this. How long does a brand repositioning take to show results? Here is how this applies to Lacoste. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — for Lacoste, a live factor — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. A Lacoste team reads this closely. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — as a Lacoste team knows — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. For Lacoste, this is the point worth acting on. What is the biggest risk in repositioning Lacoste? Taking Lacoste as the example: Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. Lacoste planners would underline this. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — for Lacoste, a live factor — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. For a brand at Lacoste scale, this is where the plan is tested. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — as a Lacoste team knows — credible thread back to the equity already built. For Lacoste, this is the point worth acting on. Why is Lacoste the brand featured here? Lacoste 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; Lacoste 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/)