Modern growth isn’t just about scale - it’s about strategic expansion. The brands outperforming today are the ones that can welcome new audiences without signaling to loyal customers that they’re being replaced.
At Bernstein-Rein, we believe retail intelligence comes from consumer insights, a true brand purpose, and half a century of unrivaled experience. We put these beliefs together to accelerate growth. This approach is called Retailigent™ – it's what drives our work every day.
Modern growth isn’t just about scale - it’s about strategic expansion. The brands outperforming today are the ones that can welcome new audiences without signaling to loyal customers that they’re being replaced.
We are living in a consumer marketplace defined by three forces:
• Identity isn't fixed; loyalty isn’t static. Consumers expect brands to mature alongside them - evolving messaging, experiences, and meaning as life stages change.
• Accenture research shows that consumers expect brands to evolve alongside them - and they don’t hesitate to move on when a brand feels outdated.
• Implication: Modern brands don’t choose a generation - they build multi-generational value bridges and invite more people into the story.
• Consumers aren't simply “price sensitive.” They allocate spending across emotional, aspirational, functional, and convenience-based value buckets -changing day to day.
• According to Deloitte, relevance and shared values have surpassed price as the leading driver of customer loyalty.
• Implication: Winning brands balance function + emotion + meaning to earn share of wallet and heart.
• As economic control shifts, so do expectations. Gen X is moving into peak financial power, Boomers continue to influence spending, Millennials drive cultural buying behavior, and Gen Z accelerates valued-based decision making.
• McKinsey estimates that Gen X will oversee nearly $30 trillion in wealth transfer over the next ten years.
• Implication: Audience expansion isn't about chasing “the next generation” - it's about designing relevance across life stages, values, and identity drivers.
In this climate, Brands face a modern paradox: How do we evolve relevance and unlock incremental value - without alienating the audiences who built us?
The answer isn’t compromise. It’s architecting brand stretch without brand fracture. It’s honoring heritage while signaling what’s next.
And across fitness, home retail, financial services, QSR, and CPG, we’ve seen one powerful truth: They widen who they welcome because culture moves fast, and the brands that keep pace grow with the people who are changing around them.
Today’s marketplace rewards brands that move from:
• Mass reach to Relevant Resonance
• Demographics to Mindsets & Motivations
• Static Personas to Fluid Identity Ecosystems
• Audience Replacement to Audience Expansion
This isn’t about chasing trends - it’s about future-proofing trust, loyalty, and market share. So how does that look in practice?
Here’s how leading brands expanded audiences without alienation.
Consumers don’t age out of categories - they evolve within them..
Gold’s Gym - from strength culture to longevity culture
The shift: Muscle achievement to holistic fit-life identity
The risk: Alienating strength-core loyalists
What we did:
• Modeled the Fitness Gene mindset, not age brackets
• Identified lifestyle-driven frequency indicators
• Reframed fitness as confidence, vitality, and momentum
Why it worked: We elevated the narrative - without abandoning the core. Strength remained a truth. Longevity became an invitation.
Proof: +25% leads | +16% new members | −22% CPL
Consumers now manage multiple wallets - from practical to emotional to aspirational.
Havertys - from price messaging to style empowerment
The shift: Price cues to personal style expression
The risk: Losing value-driven shoppers
What we did:
• Identified the On-Trend Customer through Mindset Modeling
• Shifted creative to inspiration + customization
• Built a vision-driven content ecosystem
Why it worked: We didn’t “trade up” the audience - we expanded the permission set and invited in higher-value buyers.
Proof: +12% sales | +28% site engagement | +418% social mentions
Consumers don’t browse — they curate.
McDonald’s - from transactional loyalty to habit-based belonging
The shift: Drive-thru loyalty to digital-first utility
The risk: Leaving traditional patrons behind
What we did:
• Positioned app as everyday life optimizer (“Make Life ’Appen”)
• Designed loyalty loops tied to real life moments
• Built value behaviors across demographics
Why it worked: We didn’t launch an app. We built a habit engine.
Proof: +239% downloads | +198% monthly usage
Authenticity is no longer a virtue - it's a requirement.
American National MYGA - from industry trust to self-directed confidence
The shift: Advisor-first investing to hybrid guided autonomy
The risk: Diluting institutional trust pursuing DTC
What we did:
• Created key investor archetypes
• Built education-first confidence funnel
• Empowered digital action without abandoning advisor legacy
Why it worked: We didn’t disrupt trust - we scaled trust.
Proof: $1.7MM in 3 months | 108% ROAS
People join meaning, not messaging.
Hostess - from nostalgia to cultural fandom
The shift: Sentimentality to self-aware celebration
The risk: Feeling dated vs iconic
What we did:
• Kept Gen X nostalgia mom at the heart
• Tapped Millennial joy + C-store male snack culture
• Ignited #CakeFace movement and cultural buzz
Why it worked: We didn’t modernize for applause - we modernized for impact.
Proof: +185% sales | sell-outs in 24 hours | viral cultural moment
Across categories, one truth: Growth accelerates when brands evolve without abandoning their roots.
Our model:
1. Find future opportunities through data & mindset modeling
2. Map emotional & functional overlap with loyalists
3. Architect shared narrative & modular content system
4. Activate in context - not one-size-fits-all
5. Measure incrementality, not just impressions
This isn’t a new position. It’s a new invitation.
Audience expansion isn’t a tactic. It’s a leadership requirement. It demands respect for the brand’s foundation and responsibility for the brand’s future. Not a choice - a mandate. And when leaders get this right, growth becomes legacy.
