While the new “Barbie” movie has become a box office phenomenon, I’m incredibly impressed with the longevity and ever-growing popularity of the world’s most famous doll.

Of course, Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the toy company Mattel, Barbie was launched in 1959 and it was created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler.

Incredibly, Barbie has been around for six decades – and it continues to be at the forefront of our culture.

In fact, Barbie is like fine wine which keeps getting better with age. I have difficulty identifying other similar iconic brands that have continued to be highly relevant for so long and have also flourished over time.

Regardless of your views about Barbie, there’s a lot that legal and business professionals can learn from Barbie and Mattel about how to sustain and grow your brand over a very long horizon.

So, here’s some lessons learned from Barbie:

🎀 Constantly Reinvent Yourself: Barbie is no longer just a doll with clothes and accessories. Barbie has adapted over time to include a wide range of branded goods such as books, apparel, cosmetics, video games and audiovisual content – and there are many other areas where we see Barbie.

🎀 Constantly Market Yourself: The Barbie “Marketing Machine” is currently on full display with the rollout of the new Barbie movie. “Barbiecore” and “Barbiemania” are unavoidable nowadays!

🎀 Be Relevant to Everyone: There seems to be a Barbie doll that almost every kid and adult can appreciate and identify with. For instance, there’s even a New York Yankees Barbie (picture above) that I adore as a lifelong Yankees and baseball fan.

🎀 Grow Your Total Addressable Market (TAM): Whether it’s my 6 year old niece or my 103 year old Grandma who both love Barbie, there’s no doubt that Barbie’s TAM of customers, partners and vendors have grown across generations and geographies across the globe.

🎀 Stay Strong & Resilient: Like lots of brands, Barbie has had her ups and downs over the years. She has been involved in lawsuits, parodies, tough competition, years of slow sales, etc…However, Barbie remains persistent and keeps driving forward with strength and resiliency.

🎀 Remain True to Yourself: While there’s no doubt that Barbie has transformed over a long period of time, at Barbie’s core she is very much the same doll from her early days – manufactured to approximately 1/6 scale and 11.5 inches tall.

What else can we learn from Barbie which is relevant in Corporate America?