From Bleeding ROAS to 3x AOV with One Positioning Flip

Strategic Case Study: Shades of Earth
Ritesh - founder, Porcellia & Manzuri
March 15, 2025
5 min read

Most founders come to us thinking they have a ROAS problem.
In reality, they almost always have a positioning problem.

This is the story of a sustainable fashion brand that was doing everything “right” — but still couldn’t scale.

Until we rewrote the narrative.

📌 Background

What is the business?

Shades of Earth is a fashion brand built on the values of sustainability, slow fashion, and timeless design. It had a loyal base, a beautiful aesthetic, and two years of existence behind it.

What category is it playing in?

Sustainable fashion, with a focus on conscious consumption.

What was the situation?

  • They were stuck at a 2x ROAS,
  • Their breakeven ROAS was over 3x,
  • Their AOV was ₹1500,
  • And most of their orders came from Tier 2 India.

For over a year, they had tried everything — new ad creatives, agencies, landing pages — but couldn’t crack profitability at scale.

We stepped in and asked the most painful question a founder can hear:

“What if the problem isn’t performance?
"What if the problem is what you stand for?”

🧠 Strategy Argument

What’s the status quo of the category?

Every second new-age brand today is “sustainable.”

Eco-friendly. Ethical. Responsible.
The buzzwords are endless.

But you know what we found?

After surveying over 200 customers,
90% didn’t care about sustainability.

Worse — they weren’t willing to pay a premium for it.

Why does this suck?

Because when your entire brand promise is built on something people don’t value enough to pay for — your CAC goes up, your margins go down, and scale becomes impossible.

The secret we realised?

People didn’t buy Shades of Earth because of sustainability.

They bought it because they wanted something that actually fit them.

India is not a “standard size” country. Most women struggle with sizing — especially in Tier 2 cities where mall brands don’t fit, and tailors don’t do modern silhouettes.

So we repositioned the brand around a new, sharper promise:

“Custom sizing — premium fashion, tailor-fit for your body.”

What did this allow us to do?

✅ Increase perceived value
✅ Raise AOV from ₹1500 to ₹4600
✅ Make 1 product feel like 3
✅ Justify a premium price
✅ Reduce returns
✅ Boost conversion rates
✅ Achieve a ROAS that shattered every previous metric

What was the benefit to the customer?

She didn’t need to settle anymore.

She didn’t have to “adjust” to a size chart.

She got something built for her.
Her body. Her proportions. Her shape.

And in that — she found love. Loyalty. Repeat.

💥 Strategy Statement

We are the only
premium fashion brand
who offer
tailor-fit, made-for-you styles in a modern silhouette
by
combining made-to-order sizing with design-first collections built for Indian bodies.

Sexy shorthand: “Custom sizing meets premium fashion”

🚀 The Inelastic Framework in Action

Here’s the part most people miss:

We didn’t just fix ROAS.

We redesigned the unit economics of the business.

By raising AOV to ₹4600 and building emotional relatability around body-fit (not sustainability), Shades of Earth moved from a cash-burning ad account…
to a profitable, high-margin, inelastic brand.

And once the positioning was clear,
Organic ROI went up.
Email strategy started converting.
Social content became less fluffy.
PR made more sense.
→ The entire marketing machine found direction.

That’s the real power of a sharp positioning:
It reduces noise. It increases clarity.

And clarity = growth.

📈 Where They Are Now

  • From ₹1500 to ₹4600 AOV
  • From 2x to consistent 3–4x+ ROAS
  • Repeat rates increasing MoM
  • Marketing channel synergy across paid, organic, and retention
  • All with the same team, same product, just a different story.

🎯 Final Word

Sustainable fashion wasn’t a lie.
It just wasn’t the reason people bought.

So we ditched the moral high ground, and picked the practical, emotional truth.

That’s what your brand needs too.

Don’t hide behind your founder philosophy.

Go find what your customers actually value.
Then build the entire business around it.

And if you’re stuck at breakeven or worse…

📞 Book a free strategy call with our team.
We’ll help you get profitable, not with hacks — but with clarity.

You don’t need to spend more.
You need to think sharper.

Let’s build a brand that doesn’t just survive performance marketing.
Let’s build one that doesn’t need it to survive at all.

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