The Future of RadioShack

The other day I heard RadioShack was hosting an agency review...only to find out that I was a day late and a dollar short as they'd already chosen the agencies to participate. Honestly, I think the size of my shop would have kept us out anyways (people being how they are good ideas can only come from international agencies) but I was pissed at myself for not even having the chance to be told no.

Today, as our planning director and I were grabbing lunch it occurred to me that I really shouldn't give a crap whether we got in or not if my real goal is to share the idea that RadioShack could be something more than it currently is. Money or no money in my pocket, what really excited me about the chance to work for them is the fact that they are in need of some directional realignment. I personally remember RadioShack as an 80s wunderhaven of tinkering and RC cars. Somewhere along the way, that was lost as Terri and Howie began slinging TVs at me. It might have been successful for a bit (same-store-sales wise) but it NEVER MADE SENSE. RadioShack should be known again for what it is: a tinkerers paradise. The store is about the opportunity to take things to the next level. Set up that 40 speaker surround sound system with 8 miles of cable. Mount your TV to the ceiling for in-bed viewing pleasure. Teach your kids to fix stuff AND become a little smarter by buying them a home electronics kit and let them make a robot.

When you mix this tinker/hacker mentality with the value-driven trend we are in as a society, RS has a huge opportunity to be the fix-it place. Don't toss that remote/TV/monitor/keyboard/etc. Make it work again...and make it better!

And with the US lagging far behind in engineering, why not take the opportunity to rebrand RS as the place to get excited about science. RS has the opportunity to not only be the purveyor of product but the source of instruction. Which in turn will lead to more purveying and more instructing and so on and so forth. Websites for TV tinkerers. Links to Lifehacker and Hack-a-day. Promo videos of cicuit bending bands that show how to use basic EE skills to your advantage musically and get people thinking about what else can be done with a soldering iron and a potentiometer.

Honestly, I think RS has made a step in this direction with their latest campaign "Do stuff." But, they have a chance to differentiate themselves further and they should take it. DON'T try to be a smaller Best Buy. DO be the store next to the Best Buy that's going to have a cadre of geeky employees to show you how to really make stuff cool. DON'T focus on selling commodities. DO focus on selling the potential to make commodities unique to the consumer. DON'T let yourself be known as the place that sells audio wire. DO be known as the place that sells gold-tipped, Swiss engineered hi-fi audio wire that only 1% of people know about. DON'T be everything to everyone. DO be the best resource to a group of willing evangelists.

RadioShack. Wire your world.

(Or some other great tagline ;)