(Radio) SHACK: A Lesson in Branding
Is Radio Shack really changing its 80 year old name to THE SHACK? Hard to tell from their press release: They say this in their headline: RadioShack Invites Consumers to Rediscover 'THE SHACK' Through New Brand Creative Platform. Followed with this subhead: Integrated Media Campaign to Contemporize the Brand and Reinforce RadioShack's Authority in Innovative Products, Leading Brands and Knowledgeable Associates. Their Chief Marketing Officer explains: People trust friends, not corporations. And when a brand becomes a friend, it often gets a nickname, like Fed-Ex and Coke. So Radio Shack gets a nickname from its creative agency. I say, "Dude!"
Is there truth to this marketingspeak? Maybe. But I think this whole SHACK thing is really about a newfound fear of becoming obselete. Is radio suddenly no longer leading edge technology? I thought that happened when TV came on the scene over 50 years ago. They say they need consumers to "understand the role that we play in keeping people connected in this highly mobile world." If they really want a contemporary image that sells the wires and cables they are best known for, and the innovative new technologies that connect people that they want to be known for, why not "Contemporize the Brand" (see their subhead above) with this branding: "Hook Up at Radio Shack." That would get attention.
(What if AT&T got rid of the second T that stands for telegraph. Then they'd be AT. Or maybe just @. Hmm.) FYI - see Harry McCracken's anti-name change blog on THE SHACK for more examples.
Here's the thing: Branding Radio Shack as THE SHACK does not strengthen their positioning as a leading technology retailer. In my informal survey of people who know and like Radio Shack, THE SHACK conjures up these associations: 1) Shaquille O'Neal, 2) the song "Love Shack," 3) the pub down the street, 4) my first apartment in college, and 5) a second-hand store that sells used VCRs and... old radios! 6) Or a hip hangout like this: 
So Radio Shack, don't throw away years of familiarity and trust and millions of PR dollars on a brand platform that makes people think of bar nuts and outhouses. Saying you're hip doesn't make it so. If you need to do something, go back to your late 1980s positioning strategy: America's Technology Store. And stick with your old red and white colors. Lose the mustard yellow and whatever green in the your ad at the top of this blog that pronounces how it's all about me. Like, whatever!
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