A brand's history is a valuable asset. The most powerful ideas for future growth are often rooted in the brand's 'archaeology.' Reviving timeless concepts, like the Pepsi Taste Challenge, and making them culturally relevant today is often more effective than chasing novelty.

Enduring 'stay-up' brands don't need to fundamentally reinvent their core product. Instead, they should focus on creating opportunities for consumers to 'reappraise' the brand in a current context. The goal is to make the familiar feel fresh and relevant again, connecting it to modern culture.

Companies like Nintendo and bands like Radiohead achieved longevity by pursuing their own vision, even when it contradicted what their fans wanted. This willingness to alienate the current audience is a key, albeit risky, path to true innovation and creating cult classics.

To grow an established product, introduce new formats (e.g., Instagram Stories, Google AI Mode) as separate but integrated experiences. This allows you to tap into new user behaviors without disrupting the expectations and mental models users have for the core product, avoiding confusion and accelerating adoption.

Effective creation is not a linear process but a continuous cycle. Start with chaotic ideas, apply strategic constraints to create a tangible asset, and then use the feedback and new questions from your audience—the 'new chaos'—to fuel the next iteration or creation.

Frito-Lay's Flamin' Hot brand moves beyond simple influencer marketing by studying and collaborating with obsessed subcultures. This approach informs not only marketing campaigns, like a song with Megan Thee Stallion, but also its core product innovation pipeline, making marketing a byproduct of deep cultural integration.

Lego fuels its extensive innovation pipeline by linking it directly to operational efficiency. A global "Partner for Productivity" program systematically generates significant annual savings. This creates a powerful cultural understanding that cost discipline is not an obstacle to creativity but the very engine that pays for it.

LEGO doesn't just co-brand products. Its partnerships with franchises like Star Wars are deeply integrated into its business model, spanning museum exhibits, video games, and special collections, offering a lesson in holistic collaboration that becomes central to the company's strategy.

Countering the anti-plastic narrative, Lego champions its product as a "best use" of plastic due to extreme durability. The promise of backward compatibility—that today's bricks fit with those from 40 years ago—reinforces a core brand message of longevity and multi-generational reuse over disposability.