INTRO

I’m Liane Dowling, a creative strategist who has spent 16 years inside global agencies watching good work miss the mark for reasons that never showed up in the brief. My work sits at the intersection of culture, behaviour and commercial strategy, with a focus on how inherited assumptions about women and other undervalued groups shape decisions long after markets have shifted.

THE PATH

I’ve worked across the UK and Australia with agencies including Leo Burnett, M&C Saatchi, Special Group, FCB, TBWA and 72andSunny, for brands spanning sport, tech, transport, beauty, insurance and food. Across that time I kept seeing the same pattern: organisations had “modern” campaigns but were still operating on old assumptions about who held value and agency.

Why Legacy Lag exists

Legacy Lag is the diagnostic methodology I’ve developed to translate cultural theory into an operational audit that organisations can use to update their assumptions and strategy.

Legacy Lag came out of frustration with surface‑level fixes: diversity campaigns, sponsorships and “female empowerment” work that looked right but left the underlying assumptions untouched. I wanted a way to trace those inherited assumptions structurally—through products, processes and narratives—and link them directly to commercial risk and opportunity.

What working together feels like

  • Clear, direct language grounded in evidence, not vibes.

  • Willingness to name the structural problems shaping briefs, not just “optimise” the work.​

  • Collaboration with internal teams and partners rather than parachuting in with a deck.

  • rigorous but plain‑language translation of cultural theory into practical decisions.

If you’re trying to make sense of work that feels “off” despite solid metrics, or you suspect inherited assumptions are limiting what’s possible, I’d be happy to talk. Use the contact form to share a few lines about your organisation and what you’re seeing.