{"id":4288769,"date":"2025-04-09T20:51:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/?post_type=article&p=4288769"},"modified":"2025-05-12T13:28:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:28:43","slug":"the-product-mindset-a-blueprint-for-legacy-brands-in-a-world-that-wont-wait","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/en-uki\/insight\/the-product-mindset-a-blueprint-for-legacy-brands-in-a-world-that-wont-wait\/","title":{"rendered":"The product mindset: a blueprint for legacy brands in a world that won\u2019t wait"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/mask><\/g><\/svg>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tInsights\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\tThe product mindset: a blueprint for legacy brands in a world that won\u2019t wait<\/h1>
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\n\t\tMark Wright\t\t
\n\t\tVP, Experience and Engingeering\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tDate\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tApril 9, 2025\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\tAnother month, another bankruptcy.\u00a0<\/h2>\n\tThis time, it\u2019s 23andMe: once a Silicon Valley darling, now the latest cautionary tale in a growing list of companies struggling to keep up.

And they\u2019re not alone. In 2024, there were 694 corporate bankruptcy filings, marking an 8% increase from the previous year and reaching the highest level since the global financial crisis. This trend has continued into 2025, with January alone witnessing a 13% increase in total bankruptcy filings compared to January 2024<\/a>.

These aren\u2019t just small players. They\u2019re brands with name recognition, funding, and in many cases, strong customer awareness. So, what\u2019s going wrong?

In short: legacy ways of working are colliding with modern market expectations.<\/strong> Teams are too slow to ship. Systems are too rigid to adapt. Marketing campaigns can\u2019t flex across global markets. And digital experiences\u2014once a differentiator\u2014now feel stale, standardised, or worse, forgotten.

For legacy brands, this is the wake-up call. Relevance isn’t maintained through size or reputation\u2014it\u2019s earned through adaptability. And the organisations that survive the next wave of disruption will think and operate like modern product companies.

Here\u2019s how to start making that shift.
<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tWhy the product mindset wins<\/h2>\n\tThe companies outpacing everyone else\u2014from fintech to fashion\u2014share a common trait: they think and operate like modern product organisations.

They don\u2019t chase perfection.

They test, learn, and iterate.

They\u2019re structured around the customer journey, not internal silos. And they build cultures where experimentation isn\u2019t just allowed\u2014it\u2019s expected.

This isn\u2019t just a tech play. It\u2019s an operating model. And for legacy brands, it requires rewiring how work gets done, from team structures and technology to leadership mindset.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tA blueprint for legacy brands<\/h2>\n\tLegacy brands don\u2019t need to become tech startups overnight, but they do need to adopt the operating principles of product-forward organisations. This means building for change, not just for scale. Below is a deeper look at what that transformation really entails:<\/p>\n1. Reorganise around customer value, not channels<\/h3>\n\nMost legacy organisations are structured by function or channel (e.g. marketing, IT, sales), leading to fragmented ownership of the customer experience. Instead, restructure teams around end-to-end customer journeys or specific use cases. Create cross-functional pods\u2014design, engineering, product, data, and operations\u2014that own outcomes, not just tasks.

Try this:<\/strong> Start with one flagship journey (e.g. digital onboarding or product discovery) and assign a dedicated team with autonomy and KPIs tied to customer success.<\/p>\n\n
2. Accelerate your decision loop<\/h3>\n\nLegacy brands often struggle with slow decision-making due to layers of approvals, risk aversion, or hierarchical governance. In contrast, product organisations empower teams to ship fast and own the results.

Try this: <\/strong>Shift from centralised approval committees to guardrails-based governance. Empower teams to make decisions within clearly defined boundaries (brand, security, compliance) and measure impact continuously.<\/p>\n\n
3. Modernise your tech stack with modularity in mind<\/h3>\n\nOutdated, monolithic systems make experimentation nearly impossible. Legacy brands need to shift to composable, API-first architectures that support rapid prototyping, modular updates, and personalised experiences at scale. But beyond speed, modern systems should also empower the teams closest to the customer (especially marketers) to launch, adapt, and optimise experiences without heavy reliance on centralised development teams<\/a>.

Try this: <\/strong>Prioritise developing a digital experience platform layer\u2014composed of best-in-class tools for content, experimentation, analytics, and personalisation\u2014that sits above your core systems.<\/p>\n\n
4. Measure progress through product-led metrics<\/h3>\n\nTraditional metrics such as campaign impressions or project completion dates don\u2019t tell you if you’re creating real value. Product-forward brands measure engagement, retention, NPS, feature adoption, and time to value.

Try this:<\/strong> Define a \u201cNorth Star Metric\u201d that reflects your brand\u2019s digital promise to customers (e.g. number of successful account activations, repeat transactions, personalised content consumption) and align teams around moving it.<\/p>\n\n
5. Make learning a competitive advantage<\/h3>\n\nIn high-velocity environments, learning is the only moat. But many legacy companies treat failure as a reputational risk rather than a growth lever. A product mindset embraces safe-to-fail experimentation with small bets, rapid feedback loops, and clear learnings.

Try this<\/strong>: Run \u201clearning sprints\u201d where teams test a hypothesis in 2\u20133 weeks using a prototype, no-code tool, or simulated environment. Share results org-wide, win or lose.<\/p>\n\n
6. Invest in culture change as much as tech change<\/h3>\n\nTooling and restructuring won\u2019t matter if the mindset doesn\u2019t shift. Leaders must model the behaviours they want to scale: curiosity over certainty, velocity over control, and experimentation over perfection.

Try this:<\/strong> Build rituals into the operating rhythm\u2014like monthly demo days, experiment retrospectives, and team-led \u201cstate of the product\u201d briefings\u2014to normalise iteration and reward progress, not polish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tThe path forward for legacy brands\u00a0<\/h2>\n\tLegacy brands aren\u2019t starting from zero. They have scale, trust, and deep institutional knowledge. But in a world where relevance is earned in real time, how you work is now just as important as what you offer.

Adopting a product mindset isn\u2019t a buzzword, it\u2019s a survival strategy. And for those willing to embrace it, it\u2019s also the clearest path to renewed growth, customer connection, and future-proof innovation.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n
\n\tON OUR<\/strong> Mind<\/span><\/h2>\n\tVIEW ALL INSIGHTS<\/a>\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t
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