IBM has a long and varied legacy. Founded in 1911, IBM weathered many economic and cultural changes, including the Great Depression and World War II. Over time, the company became known for its massive mainframe computers. By the 1990s, it faced stiff competition from Apple and Microsoft, which had developed more user-friendly personal computers. By 1993, the organization posted $8 billion in losses and cut 60,000 jobs, forcing leaders to rethink its direction. IBM chose to invest in software, IT consulting services, and research and development, including Deep Blue, its groundbreaking supercomputer. This reinvention returned the company to profitability and prominence. Today, IBM focuses on AI, but at the same time continues to rely on its complex and storied corporate legacy to guide its brand, marketing, and culture.
Defining the Corporate Legacy
The past is part of any corporation’s story, and it is often an overlooked resource for marketing and sales strategy. A corporate legacy is a strategic narrative that captures a company’s founding, evolution, challenges, milestones, strategic shifts, brand identity and vision for the future. As a structured, business-focused memoir, a corporate legacy aligns and informs internal teams, preserves institutional knowledge, and enriches external storytelling. A corporate legacy builds trust with a company’s internal and external prospects and customers, positions a company as a marketplace leader, and reinforces corporate culture to produce long-term growth.
Benefits of a Corporate Legacy for Marketing and Sales Teams
Creating a corporate legacy provides significant benefits throughout the organization and makes the sales and marketing job easier. Advantages include:
Strengthens trust and boosts brand credibility – The corporate legacy builds trust by showcasing a company’s track record. This is important when creating a unique selling proposition or corporate differential. It helps prospects make a positive buying decision, knowing that the seller has well-established credentials. History is proof of expertise, and sharing a company’s successes and innovations spreads the word. For example, GE shares its story by highlighting unique milestones throughout its 130-year history, such as the first completely automatic clothes washer in 1947, the first routine CT scanner in 1978, and its recent aerospace spin-off, Vernova, in 2024.
Guides strategy – Levi is an iconic American brand that uses its 160-plus-year history to guide its marketing strategy and company culture. Its extensive Levi Strauss & Co. Archives houses more than 135,000 digital assets that chronicle the brand’s history and impact on culture. The company’s use of its archives ensures every marketing effort draws from a deep well of tradition, driving both consumer trust and internal pride in its ongoing story.
Preserves culture for the future – As founders retire, leaders transition, or teams grow institutional knowledge can fade. A corporate legacy preserves that crucial information for the next generation. Coca-Cola is an excellent example of a company that looked to the past to inform its brand marketing and company culture. By documenting more than 130 years of brand milestones, innovations, and social impact, the company reinforces continuity by linking past achievements to current purpose and vision for the future.
“Building a corporate legacy creates enduring value that resonates with customers, employees, and stakeholders for years to come,” says Laura Patterson, president of VisionEdge Marketing. “To create a meaningful legacy, companies need to intentionally weave it into their business value proposition, positioning and strategy.” She adds that a corporate legacy delivers its full value only when leaders treat it as part of daily decision-making, she adds. “To bring it life, leaders need to transform every touchpoint into an opportunity to reinforce the organization’s purpose, differentiate the brand, and foster lasting trust. This alignment supports long-term growth by connecting with customers through shared values and meaningful outcomes.”
Essential Elements of a Corporate Legacy Document
A strong legacy should capture not only the facts of the corporate history but the meaning behind them as well. The most effective legacies combine practical detail with personal perspective. Consider including these key components:
- Company’s origins, vision, values and principles: Start at the beginning. Tell the story of who founded the company and why. Explain what problem the founders were trying to solve and how they achieved success in their industry. Gather documents that support the corporation’s narrative including testimonials, graphics, videos, press releases or articles.
- Lessons learned: Whether it’s economic shifts or poor leadership decisions, every company has its ups and downs. Show audiences that the company has faced challenges and overcome them. Explaining how company leaders learned from past mistakes demonstrates authenticity and builds trust.
- Timeline of the company’s evolution and milestones: Create a visual or narrative timeline that shows how the business model, leadership and brand have evolved. Showcase significant milestones and successes, such as product launches, market expansions, personnel contributions, revenue breakthroughs or technological advances.
- Company culture: Highlight the company culture. Identify the shared values, policies, and beliefs that unite employees and company leaders. Provide examples of how those values guide behavior and decisions.
A comprehensive legacy weaves these elements into a clear narrative that shows how the company has grown, adapted, and stayed true to its purpose. With this foundation in place, organizations can shift their attention to putting the legacy into action across sales, marketing, and leadership initiatives.
Put Your Legacy to Work
Once a corporate legacy document has been created, it’s time to put it to work. It can serve as a tool for recruitment, onboarding, employee education, sales support, outside investors and leadership alignment. A corporate legacy also provides context for new leaders, helping them carry the company’s DNA into the future. Consider the following recommendations to ensure the document delivers maximum value:
Define the purpose. Establish why the legacy document exists and clarify its priority within the company’s broader marketing initiatives.
Give it widespread visibility. Post it on key platforms, integrate it into marketing resources, reference it in sales materials. Review it during corporate retreats, annual meetings, and training sessions to build community and alignment.
Maintain relevance. Update the legacy every five to10 years and add significant milestones as they occur to keep the document accurate and useful.
Enhance engagement. Present the legacy in a visually compelling way by including videos, graphics, testimonials, quotes and interviews with key personnel.
Every company has a story shaped by milestones, challenges and growth. Documenting that legacy isn’t about nostalgia. Instead, it’s about using history to inform strategy, strengthen culture, and give momentum to what comes next.
