Leaning In When Others Pulled Back: KinderCare’s Counter-Market Strategy
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CLIENT
KinderCare
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TIMELINE
1 Year
Turning a Pandemic Pullback Into a Growth Run
During the height of the pandemic, KinderCare—the nation’s largest childcare provider and a leader in early childhood education—faced unprecedented disruption. After an initial pullback in media investment to manage economic uncertainty, it became clear that a cautious approach would not sustain lead flow or enrollment demand. Partnering with Theo, KinderCare shifted to a bold counter-market strategy: aggressively increase visibility while competitors reduced spend. The result was a transformative period of growth, culminating in record occupancy levels, significant revenue acceleration, and momentum that supported KinderCare’s path toward IPO readiness.
A Volatile Market and a Collapsing Demand Signal
With families nationwide reconsidering childcare needs and local restrictions changing week by week, KinderCare faced declining lead flow and limited platform learning due to prolonged underinvestment. Minimal budgets kept campaigns alive but not competitive, preventing KinderCare from capturing emerging demand or rebuilding enrollment pipelines. The challenge was clear: develop a growth strategy capable of restoring market share and driving demand during one of the most unpredictable periods in the category’s history.
How does KinderCare turn a pandemic slowdown into a growth opportunity?
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SOLUTIONS
A Counter-Market Bet Fueled by Search + Social Scale
KinderCare and Theo aligned on a decisive pivot: instead of continuing to pull back, the organization would run toward the opportunity. Beginning in July 2021, KinderCare increased media investment by more than 300% year over year, enabling the brand to fully re-enter competitive auctions and rebuild platform intelligence.
To operationalize the shift, Theo rebuilt KinderCare’s paid search foundation—expanding beyond branded terms, improving geographic coverage, and optimizing account architecture for scale. High-intent queries became the backbone of the strategy, ensuring KinderCare captured demand the moment parents began evaluating childcare options.
Paid social was rebuilt in parallel to restore top- and mid-funnel presence. Theo introduced refreshed creative themes, targeted segmentation, and rapid experimentation designed to reconnect with families navigating new routines. This created a steady pipeline of new prospects that fed directly into search and enrollment pathways.
As spend increased, Theo implemented a dynamic pacing model that aligned budgets with evolving demand patterns across markets. Combined with improved landing experiences, full-funnel measurement, and accelerated creative testing, KinderCare regained competitive visibility and unlocked a compounding growth effect across channels.
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RESULTS
Record Performance and $91M in New Revenue
The outcome of the counter-market strategy was dramatic. Lead volume surged by 397%, enrollments rose by 189%, and KinderCare generated $91M in incremental revenue year over year attributable to media. Beyond short-term gains, the strategy rebuilt KinderCare’s competitive edge, contributed to record occupancy levels, and helped position the organization for a strong IPO trajectory. By investing when others retreated, KinderCare turned disruption into one of the most successful growth periods in its history.
397%
Increase in Lead Volume
189%
Increase in Enrollments
$91M
Attributable Incremental Revenue
"Theo is an important strategic and technical partner for KinderCare Education. Among other initiatives, their forward-thinking approach has enabled the creation of a dynamic, integrated pipeline between our CRM, email marketing platform, and Meta audiences."
Morgan Gould
SR. MARKETING DIRECTOR, KINDERCARE
