- 2 months ago
From the brink of disaster to industry dominance! Join us as we explore the most incredible corporate comebacks of all time. These companies didn't just survive - they reinvented themselves completely. Our countdown features tech giants, entertainment moguls, and even a pizza chain that admitted their product was terrible... then fixed it!
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00:00Move over Apple, there's a new corporate king for Wall Street.
00:04Microsoft took over the crown and the title Friday as the world's most valuable company on the stock market.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for companies that bounced back from the brink,
00:14reinvented themselves, and proved that a great comeback is always possible.
00:18Years ago, Apple was synonymous with the home computer.
00:21But these days, the company is hurting, laying off workers, and scaling back production.
00:27Number 10. Burberry.
00:28Our founder Thomas Burberry once said,
00:31For safety on land, in the air, or afloat, there's nothing to equal the Burberry coat.
00:36For more than a century, the trench coat has been a cornerstone of the house.
00:40It is a design born from function, originally created to protect the military during the First World War.
00:47This classic British fashion brand once found itself in a serious style rut.
00:51By the late 1990s, Burberry's signature check pattern was everywhere, and not in a good way.
00:55The label became synonymous with chav culture in the UK.
00:58Losing its exclusive high-end image.
01:00I remember there was a mate of mine who did the whole of his flat out with Burberry's check carpet.
01:07Which might sound really nasty now, but Burberry's check didn't have the kind of associations that it has now, then.
01:17And he was one of Burberry's best customers.
01:20But everything changed when a new CEO and creative director pumped badly needed new life into its aesthetic.
01:25I loved Burberry's history.
01:27I loved where it was, but I loved where it wasn't.
01:32I loved what they were doing, but I saw such opportunity for so many more things that we could be doing.
01:37What was the challenge, and what was the vision you had that you could do with this company?
01:40Fresh designs and high-profile celebrity endorsements catapulted the brand back into elite fashion circles, reclaiming its status as a symbol of sophistication and luxury.
01:49Burberry's dramatic return to prominence proves that it's possible to shed an outdated image and start anew.
01:53Number 9. Disney
01:55My whole life turned around.
01:58When Walt died, the people who took over didn't have the vision that Walt had.
02:05And I ceased to be very interested in what was happening at the studio at that time.
02:11Few entertainment giants have experienced highs as high, and lows as abysmally low as this iconic company.
02:17After Walt Disney's death in 1966, the studio struggled creatively.
02:21Turning out box office flops and facing an uncertain future by the 70s and early 80s.
02:25The Black Cauldron.
02:28So that's it.
02:30The Black Cauldron?
02:32An awesome weapon, Darren.
02:34It's been hidden for centuries, but if the Horned King should find it and unleash its power, nothing could stand against him.
02:44But a magical turnaround was just around the corner.
02:46The so-called Disney Renaissance revitalized the brand with hits like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.
02:51Oh, I just can't wait to be king.
02:55Oh, I just can't wait to be king.
03:00Disney later doubled down, acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, totally transforming itself into a pop culture powerhouse.
03:08When it comes to bouncing back, Disney truly makes the impossible seem possible.
03:12It means no worries for the rest of your days.
03:18Number 8.
03:19T-Mobile, U.S.
03:19I blog about these things.
03:21Oh, okay.
03:22YouTube is fast.
03:24And with T-Mobile's 4G network, you can watch whenever you want.
03:27Wow, so much live TV.
03:28And it's even preloaded with Inception.
03:31This phone is a dream.
03:32Within a dream.
03:34Samsung's new Galaxy S4G.
03:36The fastest phone running on America's largest 4G network.
03:38By the early 2010s, T-Mobile was struggling, trailing far behind Verizon and AT&T.
03:43That changed in 2012 with the arrival of John Ledger, a brash, magenta-clad CEO who tossed out the rulebook.
03:49Under his leadership, T-Mobile branded itself the un-carrier, killing long-term contracts, ditching overage fees, and letting customers upgrade early.
03:57Unbelievable high prices.
03:58How the hell can that cost that much unless you're going to drive it?
04:02I mean, come on, that nasty guy on the end, that's Sprint, and you gotta see that.
04:07The day you go in that store, they love you.
04:10It's like, you know, oh, you gotta have this phone.
04:12We're gonna be so good to you.
04:14Here's a free T-shirt, some balloons.
04:16Ledger's unfiltered personality in aggressive marketing, like mocking competitors, and crashing their events gave the brand a rebellious edge.
04:23We're unleashing everything.
04:25We're gonna talk about this today, but please stop the bullsh**.
04:29Sorry, I promised myself I wasn't gonna swear today.
04:32Elizabeth, wherever you are, your father didn't mean that.
04:34Subscribers flocked, and T-Mobile went from industry punchline to powerhouse, doubling its customer base in a few short years.
04:40This turnaround wasn't about flashy ads.
04:42It was a full-scale cultural shift that forced rivals to follow suit, demonstrating that bold moves and consumer-first policies could shake up an entire industry.
04:50And they're coming, you know, they're coming from all of the other carriers, mainly because we're doing my philosophy of business, we're listening to our employees and listening to our customers, and shutting up and doing what they tell us.
05:04And so far, the un-carrier is resonating with customers in a big way.
05:08Number seven, Domino's.
05:10Researchers at the Domino's Pizza Institute announced yesterday that they are nearing completion of their 30-year study, testing the limits of what human beings will eat.
05:18People willingly ate everything our lab created.
05:21In fact, they pay money for it.
05:23The results continue to surprise me.
05:25Once upon a time, Domino's had a reputation that was, well, anything but appetizing.
05:29Many customers complained about soggy crusts and cheese that tasted more like plastic than cheddar.
05:34The Domino's scientists now believe that a certain percentage of human beings may have a genetic predisposition to eat unhealthy foods made from other, even unhealthier foods.
05:43But a few years after going public and just in time for the company's 50th anniversary in 2010, Domino's did something radical.
05:50They listened.
05:50We did a lot of research, talking to our customers, asking them what it was that, you know, they really wanted in terms of the taste of the pizza.
05:58We spent about two years reformulating the pizza and then launched it almost exactly a year ago now.
06:05And we've just been overwhelmed with the response that we've gotten from our customers.
06:10So we couldn't be happier.
06:13The company overhauled its recipes, revamped its branding, and owned up to its past mistakes in a viral marketing blitz.
06:18The result?
06:19A dramatic leap in sales, a reputation for transparency, and a pizza renaissance that left the competition scrambling.
06:25You can either use negative comments to get you down, or you can use them to excite you and energize your process of making a better pizza.
06:32We did the latter.
06:34Most companies hide the criticism that they're getting, and we actually faced it head on.
06:41Some people didn't give us credit for the taste of our product.
06:44That's what we're fixing.
06:45Number six, Netflix.
06:46A few months ago, when we looked forward at our business, we realized over time, DVD and streaming were becoming more and more different,
06:56and that we could do a better job for both services if we separated them.
07:00It's almost hard to imagine that the king of streaming once found itself up a creek sans paddle.
07:04When Netflix was founded, it focused on mailing DVDs.
07:07Remember those little red envelopes?
07:09Trouble started brewing in 2011 when an ill-fated attempt to spin off its DVD rentals as Quickster
07:14left users feeling confused and abandoned.
07:17Netflix says it was just too quick with its plan for Quickster.
07:20Less than a month after the company said it would rebrand its DVD by mail service as Quickster
07:24and keep its streaming service on a separate site,
07:27and Netflix is doing a quick 180.
07:29Netflix spokesman says the company underestimated the appeal of a single website and single service,
07:35and it's scrapping the Quickster deal.
07:37But from the ashes of that PR disaster, Netflix rose up.
07:40Investing heavily in original content, embracing new streaming technologies,
07:44and capturing worldwide audiences with hits like House of Cards and Stranger Things
07:48turned the former blockbuster competitor into a global entertainment juggernaut.
07:52Their success story lends significant weight to the idea that embracing change is often the only way forward.
07:58The campaign took two weeks to plan.
08:00How was I supposed to know it was going to take ten hours?
08:02You've been playing for ten hours?
08:06Dad, don't you think there's one more...
08:08I think you should listen to your mother.
08:10Number 5. Nintendo
08:11We'll make this quick.
08:12The only time is dropping fast, people.
08:16Boom!
08:17Time to upgrade to...
08:19Wii U.
08:21With Wii U, we can play Super Mario 3D World.
08:24Find secrets with the Wii U Gamepad.
08:27And did we mention togetherness?
08:29Just check out the simulation.
08:30After the Wii's meteoric success, Nintendo's 2012 follow-up, the Wii U, was a disaster.
08:36Confusing branding, awkward hardware, and a barren game library made it one of gaming's biggest flops.
08:41But in 2017, Nintendo flipped the script with a Switch, a sleek hybrid console that worked both docked and handheld.
08:47Play the games you want.
08:48Wherever you are.
08:50However you like.
08:51With the Nintendo Switch system, you can play on your TV.
08:55Or game on the go.
08:57It's your call.
08:59Hey!
08:59It's easy to share the fun.
09:04To play together.
09:06Simply hand over one of your Joy-Con controllers.
09:08Launching alongside The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, it set the tone for a golden era of exclusives and indie gems.
09:15By 2023, the Switch had outsold the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, restoring Nintendo's dominance.
09:20From failure to phenomenon, this redemption arc made it clear that the company wasn't out of lives yet.
09:26And in gaming, there's no better feeling than pressing start again.
09:29A system is only as great as its games.
09:32Get cozy with the ones you love.
09:34Expand your horizons.
09:36And before long, you'll feel right at home.
09:39Now let's have some fun.
09:41Nintendo Switch.
09:43And if you're dedicated to handheld play, well so is the sleek, lightweight Nintendo Switch Lite system.
09:48Number 4.
09:50Marvel.
09:51By the 1990s, this comic book heavyweight was facing bankruptcy.
09:54Crushed by mounting debts and the collapse of the speculator market.
09:57What happened next could have been lifted straight from the pages of a superhero origin story.
10:01The truth is...
10:09I am Iron Man.
10:10Marvel began licensing its characters for movies, betting big on heroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men.
10:20This allowed for the real breakthrough, which arrived with the launch of Marvel Studios and the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe.
10:25I am Iron Man.
10:28You think you're the only superhero in the world?
10:31Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe.
10:34You just don't know it yet.
10:37Who the hell are you?
10:39Nick Fury.
10:40Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
10:42Oh.
10:43I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.
10:46That began with director Joe Favreau's sleeper hit Iron Man in 2008, which also launched Robert Downey Jr.'s career to never-before-seen heights.
10:54Now, Marvel is a household name and pop culture phenomenon, living proof that a blockbuster comeback is well within reach for those willing to take a risk.
11:02Your eyes are red.
11:04A few tears for your long-lost boss.
11:05Tears of joy.
11:07I hate job hunting.
11:09Yeah, vacation's over.
11:10Number 3.
11:11LEGO.
11:12Good evening.
11:12Here is a special report.
11:15Legoland Windsor opens with new castle.
11:19Torture chamber discovered.
11:20We have the pictures.
11:24Children come face to face with fire-breathing dragon.
11:28Screaming family leaves castle in a hurry.
11:31All in all, a hair-raising day in Legoland.
11:33At the outset of the new millennium, the beloved brick-building brand from Denmark was struggling under a mountain of debt and mounting irrelevance in the digital age.
11:41Kids were moving on to video games and in the process leaving LEGO's colorful blocks behind.
11:45The company turned itself around by refocusing on its core product and forming creative partnerships.
11:50Think Star Wars sets and 2014's smash hit LEGO movie.
11:53By listening to fans and embracing innovation, LEGO went from the verge of obscurity to one of the world's most valuable toy brands.
12:00Imagination really is the key.
12:03LEGO and Star Wars join forces so you can build authentic LEGO Episode 1 pod racers.
12:09Command Gungan Sops.
12:11Pilot Naboo Fighters.
12:13Battle Darth Maul Sith Infiltrator.
12:16You've got what it takes to win the day.
12:18If you win, we split the 50-50.
12:21Number 2.
12:22Microsoft.
12:22Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that sales of Windows Vista have indeed been disappointing, and he says piracy is the reason.
12:31See, now I would have thought the problem lay with the multiple confusing editions of Windows Vista, the incredibly high price of the new operating system, coupled with the cost of the new hardware you'll need in order to run it.
12:42Once seen as the world's top software company, Microsoft started to stumble in the age of smartphones and cloud computing.
12:47The disastrous launch of Windows Vista and Windows 8 certainly didn't help, and the company's failed mobile ventures nearly cemented its has-been status.
12:55Need we even mention the Zune?
12:57The Microsoft Zune came out this week, and you know, this thing got terrible press before it came out, and apparently there was almost no interest in it whatsoever once it actually hit the shelves.
13:06But with the arrival of Satya Nadella as CEO, Microsoft got a much-needed refresh.
13:11The pivot to cloud services, successful products like Surface, and a revitalized Xbox division catapulted Microsoft to new heights, even surpassing Apple to briefly become the world's most valuable company.
13:21No blue screen of death here, just a major reboot.
13:25Apple shares are up roughly 11% year-to-date, but that pales in comparison to Microsoft's 47% gain so far this year.
13:34Microsoft is riding high on its booming cloud business Azure, boosted by solid demand during the health crisis.
13:41Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
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13:56Number 1. Apple
13:58In fact, just today, Apple took out full-page ads in newspapers across the country, explaining its problems and asking customers to be patient.
14:06What does all this mean for someone in the market for a computer?
14:09In tonight's Focus 5 report, a look at Apple's problems and why some are saying, don't count them out just yet.
14:16Nowadays, Apple is ubiquitous, dominating the smartphone market and revolutionizing Hollywood by creating high-quality original streaming content via Apple TV+.
14:24Throughout the 1990s, though, a series of increasingly unwise business decisions caused Apple to hemorrhage money, resulting in costly flops that threaten to permanently jeopardize its reputation and profitability.
14:35I've always grown up around IBM compatibles.
14:37My dad had one.
14:38IBM, I was familiar with it.
14:40I knew how to move it.
14:42You could expand on it a little bit more.
14:46Many see buying Apple's Macintosh as too limiting.
14:49In a sea of software at most stores, only a few titles will run on a Mac.
14:53Steve Jobs' return to the company in 1997 heralded a bold, game-changing new era, introducing the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad before his death in 2011.
15:02How many times have you gone on the road with a CD player and said, oh, God, the CD, I didn't bring the CD I wanted to listen to.
15:08To have your whole music library with you at all times is a quantum leap in listening to music.
15:16Each revolutionary device not only saved Apple, but irrevocably altered how we interact with technology.
15:22Now, the tech titan is an unstoppable force in both design and tech innovation.
15:27Sometimes a business doesn't merely recover from a fall, it soars.
15:30The iPhone lineup will change forever on September 9th.
15:34Apple's big, awe-dropping iPhone 17 reveal event is almost here.
15:38And we are expecting it to be a breath of fresh air with an iPhone Air, or at least that's the nickname everyone's giving,
15:46the new rumored super-thin iPhone that Apple is said to be releasing.
15:50Which of these legendary rebounds inspired you the most?
15:53Do you think we missed any business phoenixes on this list?
15:55Tell us down in the comments.
15:56The two companies have waffled back and forth in a top spot on the stock market
16:00since Apple overtook Microsoft back in 2010 thanks to the global popularity of the iPhone.
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