Barbie just had a billion-dollar year. DeLorean is back in production — but in truth, it never really left, with decades of cultural presence, strong collectible car sales and ongoing IP licensing deals. Vintage Levi’s now sell for more than new pairs. Yet, nearly 88% of Fortune 500 companies from 1955 are no longer in existence. What separates the legacy brands that thrive from those that die? Why do some brands become cultural artifacts, while others reinvent themselves for every new era?
The answer is more than nostalgia. Brands that endure do so by turning legacy into leverage, blending cultural capital with innovation and infrastructure. Those that fail, like Blockbuster and Nokia, cling to what worked in the past, missing the signals of changing consumer behaviors and technological shifts.
For entrepreneurs, the lesson isn’t just to “innovate or die;” it’s to innovate with intention. Here’s how to make legacy work for you. Whether you’re reviving a classic or building a brand from scratch, there are valuable lessons from business’s greatest legacy revivals.
Related: Commitment to Innovation Is How Legacy Companies Stay Agile
Storytelling + change: The power of evolving relevance
Storytelling and cultural capital can spark powerful comebacks when paired with real innovation. Mattel’s 2023 Barbie film demonstrates this perfectly. While Barbie had always carried “proto feminist” messages, providing accessories for independent careers, the brand faced growing criticism for promoting unachievable beauty standards and materialism.
The movie deliberately confronted these criticisms head-on, transforming Barbie from a symbol of superficial perfection into a nuanced exploration of modern womanhood, addressing issues ranging from workplace contradictions to body image pressures. The result? A $1.4 billion global box office, a 14% spike in Barbie sales and a 25% surge in U.S. doll purchases, proving that authentic narrative evolution can drive both cultural relevance and measurable business results.
To replicate this success, company owners must first determine who the new audiences they want to connect with are and then candidly consider how their current brand narrative may be hindering that growth. The key is to retain the elements that make your brand stand out, while also adapting your narrative to appeal to today’s values and desires.
Related: How This CEO Breathed Life Into a 75-Year-Old California Ice Cream Brand Without Losing Its Nostalgic Identity
How legacy brands turn story into ongoing value
A compelling story alone won’t sustain legacy brands. Today’s consumers expect authenticity, transparency and the ability to do more with their purchases. This presents an opportunity for legacy brands due to their rich narrative foundations that newer brands often lack. When consumers buy into a legacy brand, they’re investing in decades or centuries of story, which creates endless possibilities for products that offer layered experiences, extended engagement and deeper meaning beyond the initial purchase.
For instance, Breitling now issues blockchain-based digital passports for every timepiece, enabling buyers to track the provenance and service history of their timepieces. This offers an inroad into a luxury resale market projected to hit $51.7 billion by 2026.
In the automotive world, DeLorean’s digital comeback isn’t just about reviving an iconic cinematic car. By utilizing blockchain to facilitate token-based reservations and a digital resale marketplace, DeLorean is transforming customers into long-term participants, rather than one-time buyers. This mirrors broader trends, such as Levi’s launching its SecondHand platform to attract new, younger audiences, 60% of whom are first-time Levi’s buyers.
Digital tools can also unlock new modes of community and engagement that weren’t possible in previous eras. What used to be a one-way relationship (brand to buyer) is evolving into a participatory ecosystem. Discord servers with tens of thousands of contributors, tradable digital assets and smart contract-enabled memberships are creating communities that don’t just consume — they co-create, speculate and advocate.
In the case of DeLorean, digital collectibles and token-based access have allowed a new generation, often discovering the brand through parents or pop culture references, to build their own version of brand affinity, grounded in real-time interaction and ownership.
Building for the future: When to lean in, when to break out
Alongside updating your story and creating layered product experiences, the final challenge is building infrastructure that can sustain your revival in the long term. This isn’t just about getting the latest tech; it’s about making strategic choices that position your legacy brand for decades, not just years.
The path forward is less about following a rigid playbook and more about making smart decisions at key junctures. If your brand evokes strong emotions or nostalgia, lean in: Reinforce your story, but update it for today’s channels and consumer behaviors. If your legacy models are holding you back from meeting new needs or adopting necessary technology, break from them: Pilot new products, channels or business models, as Levi’s did with its SecondHand platform.
The most successful revivals invest in flexible systems from the start. This means selecting technology platforms that can evolve, developing customer data capabilities that grow in tandem with your brand and establishing operational processes that scale without compromising the brand’s authenticity. It also means preparing for the next shift, whether that’s new social platforms, changing shopper behaviors or emerging technologies that could either threaten or enhance your relevance.
Related: Building on the Past, Leading into the Future: The Evolving Role of Legacy Business Leaders
Keep building
Legacy isn’t just something you inherit; it’s something you build every day. The brands that will define the next decade won’t be the ones with the best stories about their past; they’ll be the ones building the most authentic and engaging experiences for their future.
What unites all successful revivals is a simple truth: Culture pulls people in, but execution keeps them there. Whether you’re reviving a dormant icon or building from scratch, success comes from evolving your narrative for modern relevance, creating experiences that extend far beyond the initial transaction, and building infrastructure that can adapt and scale without losing what made you special in the first place.
In a world where legacy is both your greatest asset and your biggest liability, the question isn’t whether you can afford to evolve — it’s whether you can afford not to. The brands that understand this don’t just come back; they come back stronger, more relevant and better positioned for whatever comes next.
Barbie just had a billion-dollar year. DeLorean is back in production — but in truth, it never really left, with decades of cultural presence, strong collectible car sales and ongoing IP licensing deals. Vintage Levi’s now sell for more than new pairs. Yet, nearly 88% of Fortune 500 companies from 1955 are no longer in existence. What separates the legacy brands that thrive from those that die? Why do some brands become cultural artifacts, while others reinvent themselves for every new era?
The answer is more than nostalgia. Brands that endure do so by turning legacy into leverage, blending cultural capital with innovation and infrastructure. Those that fail, like Blockbuster and Nokia, cling to what worked in the past, missing the signals of changing consumer behaviors and technological shifts.
For entrepreneurs, the lesson isn’t just to “innovate or die;” it’s to innovate with intention. Here’s how to make legacy work for you. Whether you’re reviving a classic or building a brand from scratch, there are valuable lessons from business’s greatest legacy revivals.
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