Happy Holidays! We’ve shared lots of learning this year on current hot topics – retail media, influencer / brand content mix, and of course AI.

But before we’re all bombarded by ’25 and ’26 trend and prediction lists, we thought it’s a perfect time to step out of the noise and focus on getting the fundamentals right. 

So we’re sharing three stories related to positioning and storytelling, and setting the right goals to maximize the incrementality of your marketing investments:

• Same positioning, new storytelling = big impact
• Yes, you might want to lower that ROAS
• Re-platforming a brand story for growth

Same Brand Positioning, New Storytelling Platform = Faster Growth

It’s tough to make a strategy or campaign change when what you’ve been doing has worked for many years. Cameron’s Specialty Coffee chose to lean into the risk of change, and in less than a year was rewarded with accelerating sales.

The brand invested for almost a decade in remarkably consistent, classic challenger-brand marketing. Sales roughly tripled over that time, thanks to all the pieces working as they should: a remarkable product, disciplined growth in physical availability – including a full embrace of the ecommerce growth tailwind – and expanding mental availability through consistent communications and growing investment.

A taste positioning articulated as “Always Smooth, Never Bitter,” we freshened executions periodically over 7+ years, while keeping the core storytelling formula and messaging the same. Then in 2024, the Cameron’s team noticed a sales growth slowdown. We stepped back, kicked off a rapid yet robust dive into consumer and cultural trends, fielded proprietary research, and applied those learnings to make a change.

We learned that taste as a positioning, and even the “Always Smooth, Never Bitter” articulation of it, still resonated. But younger generations were especially fond of their coffee shop routines, and the milkshake-like coffees concocted there. The humor, and our foil, had run its course.

But those same generations were super curious about what made our coffee taste smooth. Was it just marketing jargon, or was there something authentically unique to Cameron’s? They sparked to the roasting process itself, and the extra care taken to never burn a bean. And because any process reason-to-believe can sound pretty boring, we found a fun way to bring it to life. We were especially inspired by Progressive Insurance storytelling, and other brands that have created lovable characters to deliver rational information in an entertaining way.

The revamped campaign had an unusually immediate impact on sales, and we’ll continue to refresh it.

Timeless lessons here: stick to what’s working until it’s not, be accountable as marketers for incremental growth, and proactively reassess and freshen your positioning and storytelling platform in the current cultural context.

Decrease that ROAS

Pretty good way to get fired, right? Well, not if you’re putting true incremental brand growth ahead of what can be the shiny fake news of some high ROAS numbers.

When we began partnering with JOLLY TIME popcorn this summer, it came time to establish targets for the iBotta, Instacart, Walmart Connect and other investments in our plan.

By elevating the importance of Household Penetration growth to our number one marketing priority, we were able to have a richer ROAS target-setting discussion than simply “higher is better.” High ROAS in the past had been primarily driven by prioritizing past brand purchasers. With that approach, too much of the budget can be spent rewarding people who would have bought without an incentive, or with a much lower offer value. Re-prioritizing to new buyers meant our ROAS would likely be lower, but with the right targeting our new household acquisition would be much more significant. Which we ended up seeing in the form of a noticeable sales uplift.

The Household Penetration focus also helped us experiment with conquesting in adjacent snack categories. And as we continue to explore other trending need states relevant to the Jolly Time value proposition, we see more and more potential brand growth over time.

The key step: align marketing and broader leadership on the value of new buyers to your brand. Set ROAS targets to break even against that number. As long as your repeat rate is healthy, you’ll be increasing your incremental growth potential.

Story Re-Platforming

Big Tree Farms began in 2003 with a couple working in sustainable agriculture in Indonesia. Their mission to find better-for-you foods led them to nira, a super-ingredient nectar tapped from coconut blossoms. That sweet, umami-rich discovery became the base for a leading lineup of coco aminos, sauces and sugars.

But after twenty years of growth, the brand needed to evolve to meet the moment. While many successful brands cling to the safety of the status quo, Big Tree Farms was ready to take a leap.

We partnered to bring the brand’s untapped but authentic, vibrant energy to life. Expressed as “Bali Delicious,” the new storytelling platform is a high-octane celebration of the brand’s origin, channeling the magic and madness, colors, motion and social vibe of Indonesian culture. We swapped earthy brown for electric purple, traded polished photos for messy, real-life imagery, and sharpened the voice to be more gregarious and fun.

From packaging and sales materials to the website and social media, the “Bali Delicious” brand is infused in everything Big Tree Farms does. The result is a revitalized brand and product set that turns heads on the shelf and sparks genuine excitement with shoppers.

Timeless lessons: There’s always a time to refresh your brand story platform to unlock growth. Done well, a refresh should enhance and amp up your authentic brand story, not undermine or lose touch with it.

What storytelling updates might help your brand break through and grow faster?

For more fundamentals conversation, reach out to kim@modernstorytellers.com

Watch this space in 2026 as we learn, de-hype and evolve together.

See you next year!