Radio (The) Shack

We all know that anyone who comes up with their own nickname, and then asserts ‘My friends call me (fill in the blank)’ is decidedly un-cool, and probably desperate for acceptance. I guess Radio “The” Shack missed the memo. Just a case of well-meant corporate branding strategies gone horribly awry.

In an attempt to expand their brand, and compete more aggressively against Wal-Mart and Best Buy, Radio Shack came up with an idea for new brand positioning. “Nicknames are cool. Let’s have one. No, not a new brand name. Just something to call ourselves in addition to our real name”. So, no new logo, no new brand, no new creative advertising. Just some stunts to glean publicity, and a new typeface on the website. They will, however, offer a wider range of products, both national brands and the store brand, such as  Mp3 players and T-Mobile devices.

This may have seemed exciting, but don’t get your hopes up. Clicking on the “Portable Music” tab on their website will still display the option for Boomboxes. Yes, Boomboxes. As far as categorization goes…Music? Yes. Portable? Not so much. Does anyone really consider a Boombox a great option for music on the go? And they were worried about the word “Radio” in their name being old-fashioned (Read the article here).

To me, it seems like a great time to re-brand, and embrace the coolness of such a ‘vintage’ and ‘retro’ term as “Radio”. But instead, they went with “The Shack”, conjuring up images of some derelict (maybe haunted?) old structure. Then there’s the issue of price. Has anyone read this article from The Consumerist?  If your key demographic is the frazzled consumer who will pay any price for that USB cable because doesn’t have time to wait for the FedEx man, it seems like you have an issue that a new nickname won’t fix.

All of this happened over the summer, and I wonder how it’s worked for them? If the YouTube videos of their The Shack commercials were removed,  I wonder if they’re beginning to change their minds about it? If anyone knows, let me know.

-JD Morley

Follow me on Twitter! @sensorybranding

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