How a brand repositioning campaign works, with Mars as the example
Mars is a consumer brand. This case study uses Mars as the worked example for a brand repositioning campaign. It covers what the campaign type is, how brands run it, the public benchmarks that frame it, and the mistakes that derail it. The Mars example grounds a model that any brand in its category can apply.
- Story: Mars Inc. (private snacks giant) announced acquisition of Kellanova August 2024 for $35.9B. Major CPG acquisition combining Mars (M&Ms, Snickers) with Kellanova (Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Cheez-It, Rice Krispies, Eggo). Strategic CPG consolidation case. Closes 2025. Largest food acquisition since 2015 Kr
- Why it matters: Mars 2024 canonical case.
- Takeaway: Strategic decision at scale.
- Takeaway: Outcomes shape category.
- Takeaway: Lessons apply broadly.
Mars — the four-step story
Mars by the numbers
Quick facts
The brand repositioning campaign, defined
The core idea, before the Mars 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 — as a Mars team knows — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. It applies cleanly to Mars. It is not a logo refresh. A Mars team reads this closely. It is a change in who the brand is for and — Mars included — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. Done well it opens a larger market. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. With Mars as the example, the rest of the page makes it concrete.
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 — Mars included — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. It is the sort of benchmark a Mars brief should cite.
How brands like Mars run it
Look at the moving parts. A brand repositioning campaign at Mars scale is assembled, not improvised.
A brand repositioning campaign is an operating system rather than a single asset. For Mars, 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 — Mars included — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. It is the sort of benchmark a Mars brief should cite.
- Insight before identity. Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. Old Spice moved only after research showed — and Mars is no exception — most body-wash purchases were made by women. Skipping this is the most common Mars-scale error.
- Audience redefinition. The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. For Mars, the detail is not optional. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. For a brand like Mars, getting this wrong is expensive.
- Message before mark. Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — for Mars, a real factor — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. For Mars, this is where most of the planning effort lands.
- Proof at the product level. A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. Mars planners flag this as a make-or-break detail.
- Media weight to force the reframe. Perception is sticky. It applies cleanly to Mars. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — Mars included — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. For Mars, this is where most of the planning effort lands.
The numbers that set the targets
Start with the category numbers. They frame what a brand repositioning campaign means for Mars.
A Mars team setting brand repositioning campaign targets needs the category data first. The numbers below are public and linked.
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 — and Mars is no exception — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. For a Mars plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target.
| 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
Pick the right scoreboard for Mars. The metrics below separate a campaign that moved the business from one that moved a dashboard.
A Mars 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 — and Mars is no exception — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment.
For Mars, reach is the start of the measurement question, not the answer. Incremental lift is the answer.
Where these campaigns go wrong
The failure patterns are predictable. A Mars team can design each of them out in advance.
A Mars-scale team should design around these recurring errors:
- 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 — and Mars is no exception — untouched, so the new claim has no proof.
How RGM reads the Mars example
If a Mars 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 Mars's plans it as engineering, with baselines and targets, not as a habit.
The point is transfer. A brand repositioning campaign for Mars or any its category brand is defensible only when the numbers are planned and proven.
Fast answers
- Are the figures here taken from Mars's internal data?
- No. Every statistic is a public, linked benchmark for the brand repositioning campaign type, applied to Mars as the example. Where a figure cannot be sourced publicly, it is omitted rather than guessed.
- What should a team take from this Mars brand repositioning case study?
- Treat it as a structural template. Borrow the planning logic and the measurement approach for a brand repositioning campaign; design the creative for the specific brand.
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning?
For a brand like Mars, the short answer is direct. A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. A Mars team reads this closely. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — Mars included — what it means, and what tier it sells at. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — for Mars, a live factor — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. For Mars, that is the practical takeaway.
Mars case: where does a repositioning campaign start?
For a brand like Mars, the short answer is direct. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. That holds directly for Mars. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — Mars included — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — for Mars, a live factor — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Mars included.
Mars case: how long does a brand repositioning take to show results?
For a brand like Mars, the short answer is direct. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — for Mars, a live factor — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. For a brand at Mars scale, this is where the plan is tested. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — for Mars, a live factor — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Mars included.
Mars case: what is the biggest risk in repositioning a brand?
For Mars and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — and Mars is no exception — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. It applies cleanly to Mars. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — for Mars, a live factor — credible thread back to the equity already built. A Mars team would plan against exactly this.
Mars case: does the product have to change during a reposition?
For Mars and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Often yes, at least visibly. That holds directly for Mars. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. For Mars, this is the load-bearing part. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. In the Mars context, that detail carries weight. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — Mars included — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. A Mars team would plan against exactly this.
What makes Mars a useful example for this campaign type?
Mars 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; Mars 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.