How a brand repositioning campaign works, with Trello as the example
Trello is a consumer brand. This case study uses Trello 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. Everything below applies to comparable brands in its category, with Trello chosen to keep it tangible.
- Story: Trello anchors a practical walk-through of the brand repositioning campaign type and the data behind it.
- Why it matters: A brand repositioning campaign rewards teams that plan against category data instead of guessing.
- Takeaway: The mechanics of a brand repositioning campaign transfer to any brand in its category.
- Takeaway: For Trello, 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 Trello
The math behind a Trello brand repositioning campaign
Quick facts
What a brand repositioning campaign is
First principles, then Trello. 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 Trello team knows — — its audience, its meaning, its price tier — without abandoning the equity already built. That is exactly the Trello situation. It is not a logo refresh. That is exactly the Trello situation. It is a change in who the brand is for and — and Trello is no exception — what it stands for, executed across product, message, pricing, and media. For Trello, the detail is not optional. Done well it opens a larger market. A Trello-scale brief should name this. Done carelessly it confuses the customers a brand already has. This page applies that definition to Trello.
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 — for Trello, a real factor — after research found women bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. It is the sort of benchmark a Trello brief should cite.
How a brand repositioning campaign is run
Look at the moving parts. A brand repositioning campaign at Trello scale is assembled, not improvised.
Below are the parts of a brand repositioning campaign that a brand like Trello has to line up:
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 Trello is no exception — Mailchimp from an email tool to a small-business marketing platform. For a Trello plan, it is the kind of figure that anchors a target.
- Insight before identity. Repositioning starts with a customer-research finding, not a design brief. For Trello, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice moved only after research showed — as a Trello team knows — most body-wash purchases were made by women. Skipping this is the most common Trello-scale error.
- Audience redefinition. The campaign names a new target and a new occasion. That holds directly for Trello. The visual system follows that decision — it does not lead it. A Trello-scale team treats this as non-negotiable.
- Message before mark. Mailchimp's repositioning began by changing the homepage line from 'Easy Email Newsletters' to — and Trello is no exception — 'Build Your Brand, Sell More Stuff' — the words shifted before the identity did. This is the part Trello cannot afford to improvise.
- Proof at the product level. A reposition is only credible if the product backs the claim. It applies cleanly to Trello. New positioning with an unchanged product reads as spin. Trello planners flag this as a make-or-break detail.
- Media weight to force the reframe. Perception is sticky. For Trello, this is the load-bearing part. The new position needs sustained paid weight, often anchored — Trello included — by one high-reach moment, to overwrite the old association. This is the part Trello cannot afford to improvise.
The numbers that set the targets
Start with the category numbers. They frame what a brand repositioning campaign means for Trello.
A Trello 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 — for Trello, a real factor — a single hero spot, to overwrite an entrenched perception. For Trello, this number sets expectations before the work starts.
| 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 |
KPIs that actually matter
Pick the right scoreboard for Trello. The metrics below separate a campaign that moved the business from one that moved a dashboard.
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 — Trello included — new customers, price realisation versus the old tier, and revenue growth attributable to the repositioned segment.
Reach and impressions are inputs. They count who the campaign touched, not whether it changed anything for Trello.
Where these campaigns go wrong
Most failures repeat. The four errors below sink a large share of brand repositioning campaigns, and each one is avoidable for Trello.
A Trello-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 Trello is no exception — untouched, so the new claim has no proof.
How RGM reads the Trello example
For Trello, the value is the model. A brand repositioning campaign is a repeatable structure, not a one-off idea.
Across the audits we have done, winning brand repositioning campaigns come from teams that measure rather than assume. Trello has the budget to buy attention; the discipline is proving it converted.
Read it as a blueprint. For Trello and for its category, a brand repositioning campaign becomes an investment once baseline, benchmark, and incremental result are in place.
Quick answers
- Does this page report private Trello campaign numbers?
- No. The figures are public industry benchmarks for brand repositioning campaigns, each sourced and linked. They show how the campaign type works, set against the Trello context. Any number that is not publicly sourceable is left out or marked as RGM analysis.
- How should a marketing team use this Trello example?
- Read it as a model, not a recipe. The mechanics and benchmarks transfer; the exact creative does not. Use it to pressure-test a brand repositioning plan against how the discipline actually works.
- What sources back the numbers on this page?
- 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
Trello case: what is the difference between a rebrand and brand repositioning?
A rebrand changes identity assets — logo, colour, typography. For Trello, the detail is not optional. Repositioning changes strategy: who the brand is for, — for Trello, a live factor — what it means, and what tier it sells at. For a brand at Trello scale, this is where the plan is tested. A reposition usually drives a rebrand, but — and Trello is no exception — a rebrand without a strategy shift is decoration. For Trello, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice and Mailchimp both repositioned first, then let the identity follow.
Where does a repositioning campaign start?
Taking Trello as the example: It starts with a customer-research insight, not a design brief. For Trello, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice repositioned after finding that women — for Trello, a live factor — bought roughly 60% of men's body wash. In the Trello context, that detail carries weight. The insight names the new audience and occasion, and every — Trello included — later decision — message, product, media — serves that finding. For Trello, this is the point worth acting on.
Trello case: how long does a brand repositioning take to show results?
Here is how this applies to Trello. Perception is sticky, so a reposition needs sustained media — and Trello is no exception — weight over months, often anchored by one high-reach moment. For Trello, this is the load-bearing part. Old Spice saw unit sales move within a single quarter, but durable perception — and Trello is no exception — shift on brand-tracker attributes typically takes a year or more of consistent investment. For Trello, that is the practical takeaway.
What is the biggest risk in repositioning Trello?
Taking Trello as the example: Losing the existing base faster than the new audience arrives. Trello planners would underline this. A reposition that swings too hard can confuse loyal — and Trello is no exception — customers before it attracts new ones, creating a revenue trough. That is exactly the Trello situation. The safer path moves deliberately and keeps a — for Trello, a live factor — credible thread back to the equity already built. For Trello, this is the point worth acting on.
Does the product have to change during a reposition?
Here is how this applies to Trello. Often yes, at least visibly. For a brand at Trello scale, this is where the plan is tested. A new position is only credible if the product backs the claim. A Trello team reads this closely. Repositioning the message while the product stays identical reads as spin. Trello planners would underline this. The strongest repositions pair the new story with — Trello included — a real, demonstrable product change customers can verify. For Trello, this is the point worth acting on.
What makes Trello a useful example for this campaign type?
Trello 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; Trello 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.