Forget Britney Spears and Floyd Mayweather. The most impressive comebacks of recent years have come courtesy of these big-name brands that went from boom to bust back to boom again. Click or scroll through to discover what went wrong and how they were able to bounce back.

In the late 2000s, Old Spice was looking decidedly dated and seriously uncool. The classic Procter & Gamble brand was being shunned by younger people and losing its market share to upstarts like Unilever's Axe (known as Lynx in the UK, Australia and New Zealand).

Alarmed by decreasing sales and negative feedback, Procter & Gamble set itself the near-impossible task of making Old Spice cool, relevant and desirable for young men – no mean feat by any stretch of the imagination.

The conglomerate got the ball rolling by bringing in top ad agency Wieden+Kennedy to shake things up. In 2008, the agency set about rebranding the flagging Glacial Falls deodorant as Swagger, and created a witty interactive ad campaign to market it.

Sales of the deodorant soared. In 2010, Wieden+Kennedy was hired by Procter & Gamble yet again and came up with the 'Smell like a Man' campaign, another resounding success that boosted sales of the Old Spice bodywash range. Since then, Procter & Gamble has commissioned a series of surreal viral marketing campaigns that have further cemented the brand's appeal among millennials. No longer a failing brand, Old Spice has regained its market share, and then some.

Smartphone cameras almost spelled the end for Polaroid as a brand. The original instant photography company, which was founded in 1938, went bankrupt in 2001. It was resurrected that same year, then declared bankruptcy again in 2008. During the latter part of this period, the firm went through six CEOs.

When the last Polaroid factory closed in 2008, a group of Dutch instant photography enthusiasts bought the production facility from the company and began producing instant film, calling their endeavour the Impossible Project. A new incarnation of Polaroid was created in 2010. Staying true to its heritage while embracing the latest tech, the company roped in Lady Gaga as creative director and licensed an increasing number of digital products such as action cameras and iPhone-compatible portable printers. Things were looking up...

Then in 2012, the Impossible Project teamed up with the new Polaroid to launch Polaroid Originals, a range of heritage-inspired cameras and film that hark back to the glory days of the brand. Serendipitously, millennial hipsters were embracing instant photography around this time and sales surged.

In 2018, Polaroid marked its 80th anniversary with the launch of the OneStep 2. The analogue instant camera with 21st-century tweaks has been selling like hot cakes since its release and Polaroid is finally back on top. Not bad for a brand that was close to death 10 years ago.

The 2000s was a nightmare decade for General Motors. By 2005, the firm, which dates back to 1908, was losing $10.6 billion a year, and went on to report record losses of $38.7 billion in 2007. Then the financial crisis of 2008 pretty much finished off the company. In a nutshell, GM had lost its vision and reputation, and was being dragged down by underperforming marques such as Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn. As a result, sales of the firm's vehicles had plummeted.

At rock bottom, GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009 and laid off thousands of workers. Concerned about the loss of even more American jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue should the company go under, the US Government came to the rescue.

The Obama Administration provided a total of $66.7 billion (£51.2bn) in bailout money to save GM. The reorganised company got rid of its under-performing marques to focus on bestsellers such as Chevrolet and Buick, sold Saab to Dutch automaker Spyker and went public to raise cash.

Within a year GM had returned to profitability. Since then, the firm has posted record profits despite a number of scandals, including the massive recall of faulty ignition switches in 2014. The company's future was looking rosy until the coronavirus pandemic hit, which threw the entire auto industry into disarray. That said, GM is still in a much better position than it was in the 2000s.

Established in 1856, venerable British brand Burberry had all but lost its exclusive cachet by the early 2000s. Cheap licensed products and rip-offs of the brand's signature check were everywhere. Burberry became increasingly downmarket and synonymous with soccer hooligans, loutish behaviour and gangs.

Desperate to regain the brand's luxe image and woo back the fashion pack, creative director Christopher Bailey (pictured) stepped in and took action. Bailey ditched the ubiquitous check from 95% of the clothing, and pulled the infamous checked baseball cap, taking the brand back to its heritage roots.

In the meantime, the Burberry bigwigs clamped down on fakes and began reviewing its myriad licensing deals. In 2010 Bailey also launched the Burberry beauty brand, a product line that's highly regarded for its top-notch cosmetics.

The big turnaround came in 2006 after the hiring of Angela Ahrendts as CEO. Ahrendts perfected the supply chain and oversaw the buyout of franchises that were diluting the brand. Appealing to the millennial market, she transformed Burberry into a digital and social media trailblazer. With Bailey reaffirming the brand's prestige with fashionista-friendly collections, lavish celebrity-studded shows and sophisticated ad campaigns, turnover surged and the company's share price tripled within seven years. The business is currently valued at £6.3 billion ($8.1bn).

Marvel was in dire straits by the 1990s. Broke and drowning in debt, the comic book company had released just one movie with Universal Pictures, Howard the Duck, which was a total flop in 1986. Potential money-spinners such as Spider-Man were stuck in development.

The comic book crash of 1993 plunged the firm into even more debt. In December 1996, Marvel filed for bankruptcy and merged with toy company ToyBiz. A series of failed ventures followed, including an ill-fated themed restaurant, Marvel Mania, which intensified the crisis.

Marvel responded by licensing out its characters to the major movie studios. New Line Cinema snapped up the rights for Blade, Fox secured X-Men and Sony opted for Spider-Man, but Marvel made a pittance from these deals, including a paltry $25,000 (£19.2k) for the first Blade movie. Let down by Hollywood, Marvel made the risky decision to go it alone. In 2005, the board arranged $525 million (£403m) in funding from Merrill Lynch, using the rights to its characters as collateral, and Marvel Studios was born.

Marvel's first in-house movie, 2008's Iron Man, was a box office success, grossing $585 million, and the company was acquired by Disney in 2009 for $4 billion. Since then, Marvel has released 23 films, including the 2018 box office smashes Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. Both Captain Marvel and Avengers: End Game broke box office records last year, and while new releases including Black Widow have been postponed because of coronavirus, it's safe to say Marvel has well and truly bounced back. 

Danish toy giant Lego was up against an almost insurmountable brick wall during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Sales had slumped by 40% and the company was nearly $1 billion in debt. Losing market share to rivals like Hasbro and Mattel, the firm simply wasn't profitable and its over-complicated kits were selling at a loss.

Lego had responded to the downturn with a failed attempt at diversifying – think theme parks that cost a fortune to build but provided little revenue, a moneypit video games company and a litany of doomed ventures that included a tacky jewellery range aimed at girls.

In 2004, new CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp made it his mission to rebuild the brand, brick by brick. The dynamic executive took Lego back to basics, slashing the number of bricks by half to 6,500, and sold off the Legoland theme parks, video games company and just about everything that wasn't 100% integral to the core of the business. The new boss even hired child psychologists to work with younger enthusiasts to develop new toys and brought in adult fans of Lego (known as AFOLs) as consultants. This pared-down, customer-centred approach resulted in cool new Lego lines such as Ninjago and Lego Architecture.

Sales began to flourish. Lego's profits tripled in the late 2000s and, buoyed on by the awesomely successful Lego Movie franchise, turnover increased by an impressive 50% from 2013 to 2016 to hit $5.1 billion (£3.92bn), making Lego the world's largest toy manufacturer. A truly remarkable comeback. 

Back in 1996, Apple was rotten to the core and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Poorly managed, the tech company had a severe cash shortage, an overabundance of substandard, lacklustre products and an operating system that had seen better days.

That same year, unsung hero Gil Amelio was appointed CEO. The new boss cut costs, developed a killer OS and brought back Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who had been fired by the Apple board in 1985. Jobs took over as CEO in 1997.

Jobs secured a $150 million investment from arch-rival Microsoft, which returned the company to liquidity. He went high-end, slimmed down the product line and hired industrial designer Jonathan Ive, who developed the iconic minimal Apple look. Suddenly everyone wanted to own an Apple product.

With Steve Jobs at the helm, Apple cemented its reputation as a beacon of innovation, introducing game-changers such as iTunes, the iPod and iPhone, and garnering legions of fans. Needless to say, the company's revenues skyrocketed. By 2011, the year of Jobs' untimely death, Apple, which had become the world's most valuable firm at this point, was turning over an eye-watering $108.2 billion (£83.1bn). Fast forward to August of this year, and the publicly-traded company became the first in the US to hit a market value of $2 trillion (£1.56tn). 

Shocked to see Converse on the list? Not many people know that the popular shoe brand filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Converse was worn by all major basketball players in the 1970s and 1980s, influencing teens and kids everywhere. Then came competition from rival brands and huge price increases, which saw the shoe start to fade from popularity. The Chuck Taylor logo was starting to wear thin.

It all went downhill for Converse from the 1990s onwards after new rivals from Adidas, Puma, Reebok and Nike were all introduced to the shoe market and worn by other up-and-coming popular sports stars. Converse, it would seem, had lost its footing. By 2000, the once popular brand had annual revenues of only $205 million and debts of over $200 million. Then, in 2001, the company filed for bankruptcy. It would take another two years before a solution was found. That solution was Nike. 

Nike paid $309 million for the brand in 2003 and a whole new marketing strategy was created. While in the past Converse was marketed towards those who played sports, Adidas and Reebok looked to make their shoes for everyone. So this was the pivot for Converse too: to sell to everyone, not just a select few, with new designs and new advertising. With this new strategy, things started to look up.

Converse was able to turn things around by creating new and exciting designs, colours, successful ad global campaigns and huge celebrity collaborations, including one with Snoop Dogg. In 2019 the company revenues were reported to be $1.9 billion (£1.5bn), up slightly on 2018's $1.8 billion (£1.4bn) figure. Back from the brink and debts paid off, Converse is sharp-shooting again. 

Delta Air Lines is one of America’s oldest airlines but is probably best known for going bankrupt in 2005. Rising fuel prices and cheaper airlines hit Delta where it hurt, and between 2001 and 2005 the airline lost $12.3 billion. But things were set to get worse: the airline began its restructuring plan in 2004, in a bid to avoid bankruptcy. Sadly it failed, and its debt was revealed to be an eye-watering $28.27 billion.

Delta had no choice but to file for bankruptcy in 2005 and cut 26% of its flights and lay off staff members, but while it looked like that would be the end, the company was busy with a new plan.

Big companies making the most lay-offs right now

A new restructuring plan was put in place during the 19-month bankruptcy period and this included reducing non-union workers' salaries by a 9% minimum (14% for pilots), laying off between 7,000 and 9,000 employees, rejecting US Airways Group’s proposed takeover and merger and cost cutting wherever it could. The plan was approved by a judge and Delta emerged from bankruptcy in 2007 before merging with Northwest Airlines in 2008, but keeping its name.

Despite the recession in 2008, which saw the airline lose $8.9 billion, Delta returned to its former glory and made a profit of $5.1 billion (£3.9bn) in 2018, down $137 million (£105m) from 2017. Compared to the $71 million (£54m) it made in 2007, this is proof that, with a little cost-cutting and merging, it is possible for a company to take flight once again. The airline has also been praised for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic – while air travel ground to a halt and is still very restricted, Delta was one of the first to implement rigorous safety measures and has been commended for its communication with passengers throughout.

Levi Strauss and Co. is living proof that business really is risky. Founded in 1853, the popular clothing brand retreated from the public stock market in 1985 after closing around 60 manufacturing outlets mainly due to poor sales and increased competition.

The company was also accused of turning a blind eye to sweatshop practices at some of its factories on the island of Saipan, a case which it ultimately won. By 2004 Levi’s had debt to the tune of $2.6 billion.

But despite all of this, Levi’s somehow managed to turn things around. By signing a business deal with Walmart from 2002 until 2006, focusing more on male products and cutting down on marketing costs, Levi’s had sales of over $4 billion by 2007. By 2016, after a successful deal with NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, a new CEO and more business deals, Levi’s reported its revenues were at $4.6 billion (£3.5bn).

Levi's is still high end but prices have decreased in recent years, which is another reason why the company is profitable again. In March 2019, after its successful debut back on the stock market, the once-struggling clothing brand was valued at $6.6 billion (£5.07bn).

Now read about the iconic ad campaigns that turned companies' fortunes around