Reviving Relevance: How Legacy Brands Can Disrupt the Present to Secure the Future

Once upon a time, heritage was a competitive advantage.

A brand with a history was also a brand of expertise, authority, trust & reliability.

But today, a brand’s past can feel more like an impediment to its future. What there was once a symbol of authority, has become increasingly seen as a relic. Made of and for different times; no longer relevant to today’s needs.

We see this in particular with categories that have been disrupted through technological innovation. The taxi, the hotel, the bank - once our reliable go-tos, now usurped by ride-shares, air bnb’s, and fin-techs.

These new insurgents have redefined the categories they exist in, in their own image. Making bold proclamations about the future, recasting legacy brands as no longer fit for purpose.

More often than not, legacy brands have been left exposed. And even when their product propositions catch-up, their brand remains tarnished.

In short, in a world that fetishises the insurgent, how do legacy brands stay relevant? 

The answer lies in Disruption®.

Because, believe it or not, Disruption® is not the preserve of angry upstarts and chippy challenger brands.

In fact, Disruption® is a necessity for all brands, especially those looking to regain relevance.

In the case of legacy bands, Disruption® comes in two forms:

• A future-facing brand platform, rooted in a disruptive vision 

• Creativity that expresses the brand in a way that reflects the world we live in today

When it comes to the brand platform, the temptation is to double down on the past. It’s what makes a legacy brand unique, does it not? Well yes, unique, but not necessary.​

The key therefore is to reframe past strengths in a new light, one that disrupts the conventions of the category and culture and defines a new vision for the brand, rooted in the difference the brand wants to make today, and the world it wants to create tomorrow.
In short, a vision supported by the past, but not defined by it.

Take Hilton, a brand with a strong awareness, but once lacking relevance in today’s cultural context. At best, a brand with heritage, at worst, isolated experiences of old airport hotels. They needed a brand to reflect the reality of their modern business and experience, not outdated notions of the past.

So rather than look backwards, they bucked the category’s convention & obsession with the destination. ‘For The Stay’ re-claimed the category and Hilton's position as a hospitality pioneer - painting a picture of how it mattered where you stayed, not just where you’re travelling, driving $$$ in incremental revenue.

Or consider McVitie's, who chose to reframe their heritage as a marker of authenticity through their ‘True Originals’ platform, a modern symbol of what’s real in an increasingly artificial world.

The second tool in any legacy brand’s armour is creativity. The most powerful force we have when looking to create a radical redefinition and reappraisal of your brand.

A creative idea, rooted in the today, expressed with modernity, can instantly ground a brand in today’s conversation & culture, not yesterday’s memories. Not just what they say, but the tone, look, style & choice of partners in which they say it.

Gatorade embodies this philosophy to a tee. Through their latest ‘Is It In You’ campaign - which highlights how in today’s sports its external forces you have to resist - they were able to unlock a torrent of new, culturally-impactful activity, from coloured sweat to Caitlin Clark.

Meeting football fans in their world through their Heisman House sponsorship & campaign, authentically embedding a Japanese car brand into the heart of America, contributing to US college football fan culture, and beyond.

So does a brand’s legacy have to hold it back?

The good news is that it doesn’t have to. In the age of insurgents, a powerful past does not need to relegate a brand to the history books.

But only if they allow themselves not to be constrained by their legacy - and use it instead as an ingredient to disrupt today - it can become, once again, a brand’s greatest strength.