Dr. No - Is Your Legal Department the Pepsi or the Apple of Your Company?

"In a crowded world, fitting in is failing. In a busy organization, not standing out is the same as being invisible." – Seth Godin

John Sculley may not be the first name you associate with Apple, but he’s the marketing genius and former Apple CEO who helped take the brand from niche tech to global powerhouse. Before Apple, Sculley was the architect of Pepsi's "Pepsi Challenge"—a marketing coup that dethroned Coca-Cola as the cool kid of beverages.

Then came Steve Jobs, who famously attracted Sculley to Apple with a single question: “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?”

John Sculley’s book Odyssey is more than a corporate memoir—it’s a playbook for positioning your department as indispensable. His genius? Turning brands into movements. The same principles apply to transforming your legal department from an invisible support act into a value creator act.

Here’s the core idea: Don’t just deliver services; build your department’s brand. Sculley’s marketing ethos taught Apple to focus not on products, which change, but on identity—who they are and why they matter.

Marketing the Legal Department

Think about how your department is perceived internally. Are you just the “contract fixers” or the “risk managers”? That’s second-wave thinking—efficient but transactional. The third wave of leadership flips the script:

• Position Your Department: Who are you as a team? What’s your narrative? Apple wasn’t just selling tech; they were “empowering creativity.” Your department could become “the strategic problem-solvers who fuel business growth.”

• Highlight Impact, Not Outputs: Sculley taught Apple to sell the why of their products. Similarly, instead of showcasing the number of contracts closed, emphasize how those deals drove key company goals.

Managerial Waves

Sculley saw businesses moving from the second wave (efficiency-focused management) to the third wave (purpose-driven leadership). Legal teams need to follow suit. Instead of managing tasks, create a vision for your department’s future role in the company:

• Build Share of Mind: Like Pepsi outmaneuvering Coke, your department needs a seat at the strategic table. Launch internal campaigns to educate teams on why involving legal early accelerates business goals and why you NEED to be in excomm meetings and AI & tech global committees.

• Create a Culture of Anticipation: Don’t wait for issues—lead with ideas that solve problems before they surface.

Ideas to Try Today:

1. Host a quarterly “Legal Insights” session for department heads to showcase how legal drives business strategy to your organization.

2. Reframe your metrics: Swap “contracts reviewed” for “projects accelerated” or “risks mitigated pre-launch.”

3. Develop a tagline for your team. (Yes, really.) Think: “Legal: Your business allies in every deal.”

4. Assign a “legal disruptor” role in your team to explore emerging tech and trends.

Check out the book Odyssey here.

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Two final questions for you:

What’s the one “sugar water” task in your department that you’re ready to ditch to start changing the world?

What’s your department’s brand promise, and how would you market it to the C-suite tomorrow?

See you next week!

Best,

Rosa & Manuel