Are You Thinking What We’re Thinking?

Ruby Tuesday, Inc., which owns and operates 596 casual dining restaurants, went private following an acquisition by NRD Capital in December 2017, and hired a new CEO Ray Blanchette in January 2018 to embark on a turnaround strategy. With these big changes well under way, Ruby Tuesday might be ripe for a creative assessment.

Hyatt Hotels, based in Chicago, Illinois is one of the leading global luxury hotel chains in the world, with almost $4.68B of revenue and over 45,000 employees globally as of 2017. Hyatt has a long history of acquisitions that have driven continuous growth since the first Hyatt House opened in 1954 at Los Angeles airport, but remains only a strong #3 in the industry behind Marriott Corporation and Hilton Worldwide.

Under Armour is an athletic wear and digital health brand, known for diverse line extensions and celebrity endorsements, that has joined the ranks of Nike and ADIDAS as an iconic sports gear brand. CEO Kevin Plank has his eyes on overtaking Nike as the forerunner  of the industry. "In May, Plank told NBC Sports his 10-year-plan is still for Under Armour to become the No. 1 sports brand in the world" wrote Yahoo Finance.

When it comes to brands known for evoking nostalgia that have also managed to transform over time to adapt to cultural and social changes, Mattel and its flagship Barbie are among the best recognized.

Surfing, mountain climbing, skiing, kayaking in the wilderness - the Patagonia brand lives and breaths passion for the outdoors. Not surprisingly, so do its customers. Patagonia isn't one of those brands that pays lip-service to the outdoors while actually selling to plaid-clad hipsters. Their customers really are the people who are scaling scaling mountain sides or tearing down slopes at 100 miles per hour.