How a brand repositioning campaign works, with Lacoste as the example
Lacoste is a consumer brand. Here Lacoste is the lens for examining the brand repositioning campaign type. It covers what the campaign type is, how brands run it, the public benchmarks that frame it, and the mistakes that derail it. The Lacoste example grounds a model that any brand in its category can apply.
- 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
The math behind a Lacoste brand repositioning campaign
Quick facts
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]. 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]. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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]. 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.
| 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.
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.
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 — 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.