--- title: Larabar and the brand repositioning playbook: how the campaign type works | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/larabar-brand-repositioning-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/larabar-brand-repositioning-campaign/ --- - **Story:** Larabar is the worked example here for a brand repositioning campaign: what it is, how it runs, and what the numbers say. - **Why it matters:** The value of a brand repositioning campaign comes from rigour: clear targets, real benchmarks, built-in measurement. - **Takeaway:** The mechanics of a brand repositioning campaign transfer to any brand in its category. - **Takeaway:** For Larabar, 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 Larabar S Situation The opportunity A brand repositioning campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Larabar business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The job Turn attention into measurable demand for Larabar: 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 Larabar, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The scoreboard On incremental lift against a baseline for Larabar, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a brand repositioning campaign. ## The math behind a Larabar brand repositioning campaign 0% Benchmark a Larabar 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% Benchmark a Larabar plan should cite 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 Larabar 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 Larabar 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 BrandLarabar 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** Public, brand-specific detail on Larabar is limited, so this page leans on the brand repositioning campaign discipline: real mechanics, real sourced benchmarks, and the named example campaigns that define the type. Nothing about Larabar is invented; where a fact is not public, it is left out. ## What a brand repositioning campaign is Start with the definition, then apply it to Larabar. 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 — and Larabar is no exception — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. For Larabar, this is the load-bearing part. It is not a logo refresh. It applies cleanly to Larabar. It is a change in who the brand is for and — as a Larabar team knows — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. That holds directly for Larabar. Done well it opens a larger market. Larabar planners would underline this. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. This page applies that definition to Larabar. **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 Larabar, a real factor — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. For Larabar, this number sets expectations before the work starts. ## How brands like Larabar run it These are the components a Larabar-scale team has to coordinate for a brand repositioning campaign. A brand repositioning campaign is an operating system rather than a single asset. For Larabar, 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 Larabar is no exception — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. A Larabar team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee. 1. **Insight before identity.** Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. A Larabar team reads this closely. Old Spice moved only after research showed — for Larabar, a live factor — most body-wash purchases were made by women. For Larabar, this is where most of the planning effort lands. 2. **Audience redefinition.** The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. For a brand at Larabar scale, this is where the plan is tested. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. Larabar planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. 3. **Message before mark.** Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — for Larabar, a real factor — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. A Larabar-scale team treats this as non-negotiable. 4. **Proof at the product level.** A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. A Larabar team reads this closely. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. Larabar would budget real time against this. 5. **Media weight to force the reframe.** Perception is sticky. A Larabar-scale brief should name this. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — Larabar included — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. For Larabar, this is where most of the planning effort lands. ## Public benchmarks for this campaign type Read the numbers first. Public benchmarks set the realistic range for a brand repositioning campaign at Larabar before any creative work. For Larabar, the reference points for a brand repositioning campaign come from public its category benchmarks, not internal optimism. **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 — and Larabar is no exception — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. A Larabar forecast should start from a figure like this. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Larabar 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 | ## Which KPIs decide the verdict The scoreboard decides the verdict. For Larabar, weigh these measures over vanity numbers. The KPIs that count for a brand repositioning campaign are listed here. Unaided brand awareness against the new positioning, perception-tracker shifts on the target attributes, audience-mix change in — and Larabar is no exception — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment. A Larabar brand repositioning campaign that reports only reach hides whether the spend worked. Lift is the honest figure. ## Common mistakes and how to avoid them These mistakes recur. Knowing them lets a Larabar brand repositioning campaign route around the common traps. The brand repositioning campaign mistakes worth naming for Larabar: - Treating repositioning as a design project and changing the logo before the strategy. - Repositioning the message while leaving the product — and Larabar is no exception — 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. **What to notice**Each failure traces to planning, not to the work itself. A Larabar brand repositioning campaign is set up to win, or not, in advance. ## How RGM reads the Larabar example One takeaway for Larabar: treat the brand repositioning story as a model of the discipline, and copy the structure, not the creative. From the audits we run, the brands that get brand repositioning campaigns right share one habit: they treat the work as measurable demand engineering, not a seasonal ritual. So the worked example is structural. The mechanics carry to any brand in its category, the benchmarks set honest targets, and the measurement plan turns a brand repositioning campaign from a cost into a defensible investment. ## Quick answers Is this brand repositioning case study based on Larabar's own reported results? : No. Every statistic is a public, linked benchmark for the brand repositioning campaign type, applied to Larabar as the example. Where a figure cannot be sourced publicly, it is omitted rather than guessed. What is the practical takeaway from the Larabar brand repositioning write-up? : Use the structure, not the surface. The brand repositioning-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Larabar creative is one execution among many. How are the benchmarks here verified? : 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. **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 Larabar case: what is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning? For Larabar and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. A Larabar-scale brief should name this. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — as a Larabar team knows — what it means, and what tier it sells at. That is exactly the Larabar situation. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — for Larabar, a live factor — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. A Larabar team reads this closely. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. A Larabar team would plan against exactly this. Where does a repositioning campaign start? For Larabar and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. A Larabar team reads this closely. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — as a Larabar team knows — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. It applies cleanly to Larabar. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — for Larabar, a live factor — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. How long does a brand repositioning take to show results? For Larabar and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — for Larabar, a live factor — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. A Larabar team reads this closely. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — and Larabar is no exception — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. What is the biggest risk in repositioning a brand for a brand like Larabar? Here is how this applies to Larabar. Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. That is exactly the Larabar situation. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — as a Larabar team knows — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. That is exactly the Larabar situation. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — as a Larabar team knows — credible thread back to the equity already built. For Larabar, this is the point worth acting on. Does the product have to change during a reposition for a brand like Larabar? Often yes, at least visibly. That holds directly for Larabar. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. Larabar planners would underline this. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. That holds directly for Larabar. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — Larabar included — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Larabar included. What makes Larabar a useful example for this campaign type? Larabar 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; Larabar 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/)