In January 2003, McDonald’s announced its first quarterly loss, a $344 million deficit for the final three months of 2002. Restructuring charges accounted for much of the loss, but the warning signs were already visible in the restaurants. Comparable sales were falling, service was inconsistent, and customers had fewer reasons to choose a brand that had once felt indispensable.
In 2022, Proterra looked like a company that had already won. It had delivered more than 1,000 electric buses, held contracts with 135 transit agencies, and grew revenue 24% to $309 million. The White House championed it. The U.S. electric bus market grew 66% that year, and federal infrastructure money was flowing toward exactly what Proterra made. In August 2023, Proterra filed for Chapter 11.
The teddy bear is more than 120 years old. Soft toys are one of the oldest, most crowded, and most price-driven categories in consumer goods, full of cheap lookalikes and characters licensed from film franchises. Asked to name a category where brand power goes to die, plush would be a reasonable answer.
Albertsons, the grocery chain, is in trouble. In December 2024, federal and Washington state court rulings blocked its proposed $24.6 billion merger with Kroger, leaving Albertsons to compete on its own in a highly competitive, volatile business. Nearly two years later, the problems have not disappeared. In its October 13, 2026 earnings release, Albertsons reported a 0.8% decline in identical sales, $52 million in quarterly net income and a comprehensive business review intended to accelerate...
The clearest sign a company may need to rebrand isn’t an outdated identity. It is a growing distance between what the business has become and what the market still believes it to be.
