POSITIONING BRANDS FOR CONTEXT 111 desktop, Microsoft changed the way the world thought about computers and technology. In recent years, it has increasingly distanced itself from its past. Smart dowagers embrace the part of their past that demonstrates how unique experience and a cultural legacy leads to a better future. When Lou Gerstner arrived at IBM in 1993, IBM was a dowager. It was losing billions of dollars, and it was cementing a reputation as the last of a dying species. I find the story behind Gerstner's historic turnaround of the IBM brand interesting because his strategy relied on two critical as- sumptions. First, Gerstner realized that IBM had to become relevant again. "Customers wanted solutions. They didn't want to know what their equip- ment ran on." 2 Yet he also realized that IBM's legacy and reputation were linked to its culture, which was the root of why it became a giant in the first place. When IBM revived its brand, it didn't ignore this brand equity. In fact, it reminded customers that it was the most natural place to find smarter solutions because of its track record and because of the culture it attracted. In recent years, the New York Times was a dowager brand that has em- braced digital media to reinstate its relevance. The New York Times faced the same fate as many newspapers--declining subscription revenue and declin- ing interest in print advertising. When most newspapers were merely using the Web to repurpose print edition content, the New York Times invested in its online presence to reemerge as one of the most important sources for news on the Internet. In fact, it won numerous design awards for its thoughtful information architecture and reader-friendly display options. It also received renewed interest by being one of the first publications to develop formats specifically for the iPhone and iPad. The New York Times leveraged new media to reestablish the relevance of its dowager equity. Challenger Brands Challenger brands don't care if you're an imperialist, a parity brand, or a dowager. They just want to unseat you. A challenger brand is on a mission to take down the establishment. Ever since Adam Morgan popularized the American Management Association · www.amanet.org