--- title: Memrise as a brand repositioning campaign case study: mechanics and numbers | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/memrise-brand-repositioning-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/memrise-brand-repositioning-campaign/ --- - **Story:** Memrise 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:** 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 Memrise, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure. ## How a brand repositioning campaign plays out for Memrise S Situation The opportunity A brand repositioning campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Memrise business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task The job Turn attention into measurable demand for Memrise: 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 Memrise, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result The scoreboard On incremental lift against a baseline for Memrise, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a brand repositioning campaign. ## The math behind a Memrise brand repositioning campaign 0% A reference point for Memrise 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% A planning anchor for Memrise 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% A reference point for Memrise forecasting 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 Memrise 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 BrandMemrise 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 Memrise, so the depth here comes from the brand repositioning-campaign discipline itself, with sourced benchmarks and named example campaigns. No Memrise figure is fabricated. ## What a brand repositioning campaign is Start with the definition, then apply it to Memrise. 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 Memrise is no exception — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. It applies cleanly to Memrise. It is not a logo refresh. For Memrise, the detail is not optional. It is a change in who the brand is for and — Memrise included — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. Memrise planners would underline this. Done well it opens a larger market. That holds directly for Memrise. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. For Memrise, 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 — Memrise included — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. It is the sort of benchmark a Memrise brief should cite. ## How brands like Memrise run it Look at the moving parts. A brand repositioning campaign at Memrise scale is assembled, not improvised. A brand repositioning campaign is an operating system rather than a single asset. For Memrise, 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 — for Memrise, a real factor — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. It is the sort of benchmark a Memrise brief should cite. 1. **Proof at the product level.** A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. A Memrise team reads this closely. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. Memrise would budget real time against this. 2. **Media weight to force the reframe.** Perception is sticky. A Memrise-scale brief should name this. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — as a Memrise team knows — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. Skipping this is the most common Memrise-scale error. 3. **Insight before identity.** Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. That is exactly the Memrise situation. Old Spice moved only after research showed — Memrise included — most body-wash purchases were made by women. For Memrise, this is where most of the planning effort lands. 4. **Audience redefinition.** The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. A Memrise team reads this closely. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. Memrise planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. 5. **Message before mark.** Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — for Memrise, a real factor — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. For a brand like Memrise, getting this wrong is expensive. ## Public benchmarks for this campaign type Start with the category numbers. They frame what a brand repositioning campaign means for Memrise. A Memrise 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]](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 — Memrise included — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. For a Memrise plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Memrise 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 | ## Which KPIs decide the verdict Choose KPIs that hold up. A Memrise brand repositioning campaign is judged on the metrics listed here. 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 Memrise is no exception — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment. Impressions describe scale, not effect. A Memrise team serious about a brand repositioning campaign reports lift against a baseline. ## Common mistakes and how to avoid them Failure has a shape. For Memrise, the four errors below are the ones worth pre-empting. A Memrise-scale team should design around these recurring errors: - 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 Memrise, a real factor — untouched, so the new claim has no proof. - Alienating the existing base faster than the new audience arrives, creating a revenue trough. **The common thread**These are upstream failures. A brand repositioning campaign for Memrise is mostly decided before any ad runs. ## What RGM takes from the Memrise case If a Memrise 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 Memrise's plans it as engineering, with baselines and targets, not as a habit. The Memrise 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 Is this brand repositioning case study based on Memrise's own reported results? : No. Every statistic is a public, linked benchmark for the brand repositioning campaign type, applied to Memrise as the example. Where a figure cannot be sourced publicly, it is omitted rather than guessed. What is the practical takeaway from the Memrise brand repositioning write-up? : Use the structure, not the surface. The brand repositioning-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Memrise 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 What is the biggest risk in repositioning Memrise? Here is how this applies to Memrise. Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. A Memrise team reads this closely. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — for Memrise, a live factor — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. A Memrise-scale brief should name this. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — for Memrise, a live factor — credible thread back to the equity already built. For Memrise, that is the practical takeaway. Does the product have to change during a reposition? Here is how this applies to Memrise. Often yes, at least visibly. That is exactly the Memrise situation. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. That is exactly the Memrise situation. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. That is exactly the Memrise situation. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — Memrise included — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. For Memrise, this is the point worth acting on. What is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning? Taking Memrise as the example: A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. That holds directly for Memrise. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — as a Memrise team knows — what it means, and what tier it sells at. It applies cleanly to Memrise. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — for Memrise, a live factor — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. Memrise planners would underline this. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow. A Memrise team would plan against exactly this. Where does a repositioning campaign start? Here is how this applies to Memrise. It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. It applies cleanly to Memrise. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — for Memrise, a live factor — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. Memrise planners would underline this. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — Memrise included — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. For Memrise, that is the practical takeaway. Memrise case: how long does a brand repositioning take to show results? For Memrise and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — as a Memrise team knows — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. For Memrise, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — Memrise included — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. A Memrise team would plan against exactly this. Why is Memrise the brand featured here? Memrise 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; Memrise 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/)