01 VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
01 VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01
BRAND OVERVIEW 08. Brand History 10. RadioShack Timeline 12. RadioShack Logo Timeline 14. Rebranding Objective 16. Our Mission
02
THE PAST 20. Previous Look 22. Current Competitors 24. Adjacent Competitors
03
THE FUTURE 08. Our New Look 14. Our Audience 16. Future Competitor 26. Aspirational Competitors
[ 02 / 03 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
BRAND OVERVIEW
01 BRAND OVERVIEW
[ 04 / 05 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
BRAND OVERVIEW RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is the trade name of an American retailer founded in 1921. Since 2017, General Wireless Operations, Inc. has leased the name from Kensington Capital Holdings and operates primarily as an e-commerce website, a network of approximately 425 independently-owned authorized dealer stores, and as a supplier of parts for HobbyTown. At its peak in 1999, it operated stores in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. On February 5, 2015, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection under United States bankruptcy law after 11 consecutive quarterly losses. By then, it was operating only in the United States and Mexico. The following month, General Wireless purchased the assets of the company, including the â&#x20AC;&#x153;RadioShackâ&#x20AC;? brand. General Wireless filed for bankruptcy in March 2017, after claiming its Sprint partnership was not as profitable as expected, and announced plans to close nearly all of their company-owned stores after Memorial Day Weekend of 2017, and shift its business primarily to online.
BRAND OVERVIEW
[ 06 / 07 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
BRAND HISTORY In an alternate universe, RadioShack would rule the world, supplying all of your electronics needs from computers to cellphones, and even making them. But in this world, RadioShack is almost bankrupt, having missed almost every opportunity to be the center of the technology revolution. The story of RadioShack begins with failure. The company, founded in 1921, sold radio parts and surplus supplies by outlet and catalog. But it was almost bankrupt when it was purchased in 1963 by Tandy Corporation, a leather retailer. RadioShack also knew how to ride a wave. During the CB radio craze of the 1970s (you had to be there to understand), RadioShack was the leading retailer of CBs. It was doing so well that at one point, it was opening about three stores a day. RadioShack entered the 1980s poised to be the center of the computer revolution. Indeed, in 1977, the company had introduced one of the first massproduced computers, the TRS-80, and initially outsold Apple using the power of its retail channel and its thousands of locations. Failures abounded. RadioShack phased out its computer business in 1993 along with its circuit board business. That year, too, the company sold its cellphone manufacturing business.
RadioShack had some initial successes with sales in kiosks in Sam’s Clubs, but when RadioShack became too successful, Sam’s Club’s owner, Walmart, took away the contract. And an attempt to sell phones at Target failed. The move to smartphones squeezed RadioShack’s margins, as did cellphone companies’ move to have their own stores. Now, RadioShack is trying again — it tried to rebrand itself in February with a slick $4 million Super Bowl commercial as not the store from the 1980s that you remember. But if RadioShack is not your 1980s store, what is it? In the mid-1990s, the company attempted to move out of small components and into more mainstream consumer markets, focusing on marketing wireless phones. This placed the chain, long accustomed to charging wide margins on specialized products not readily available from other local retailers, into direct competition against vendors such as Best Buy and Walmart. In May 2000, the company dropped the Tandy name altogether, becoming RadioShack Corporation. The leather operating assets were sold to The Leather Factory on November 30, 2000; that business remains profitable.
BRAND OVERVIEW
[ 08 / 09 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
HISTORY TIMELINE
1947 1985 Radio Shack opens the first audio showroom to feature speakers, amplifiers, turntables and phonograph cartridges. Also that year, Charles D. Tandy joins the family business and would soon begin to chart a new direction for the company’s expansion.
1919 Two friends start the Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company in Fort Worth, Texas, supplying leather shoe parts and supplies to repair shops.
Two brothers open the first “Radio Shack” in Boston. The small retail and mail-order business supplied ship radio equipment and “ham” radios, and was named for the small wooden structure onboard ships that housed the radio equipment.
Begins selling satellite TV systems and service.
1972 Sells its first all-electronic calculator.
Tandy acquires Radio Shack.
1963
Radio Shack introduces the first mass-marketed, fully assembled personal computer, the TRS-80, with an operating system built by Bill Gates.
1977 1921
Launches Incredible Universe, its doomed big-box chain.
1992
[ 10 / 11 ] >>
BRAND OVERVIEW
2014 1999
2011
Fast-food veteran Len Roberts named CEO; develops cellular, Internet and satellite subscription services and branded in-store shops.
Tandy changes its name to RadioShack, drops privatelabel Realistic and Optimus brands.
2000
2004 Launches in-store wireless kiosk service for big-box retailers.
Verizon rejoins RadioShack’s wireless ranks, adding to its over-reliance on cellular. Day retires, succeeded by president/chief financial officer Jim Gooch.
Roberts’ successor David Edmondson resigns for misstating college background. Replaced by longtime McDonald’s exec Claire Babrowski, who in turn is succeeded by Kmart veteran Julian Day, a turnaround specialist known for aggressive cost-cutting.
2006
Chain mounts a notable comeback campaign during Super Bowl XLVIII that pokes fun at its stodgy image, but sales remain soft and losses widen. Repeated requests by Magnacca to close 1,100 underperforming stores are nixed by term lender Salus.
Walgreens exec Joe Magnacca named CEO; develops turnaround plan that includes new store design, re-merchandised assortment and fresh marketing.
2013
Company receives second default notice from Salus following poor holiday season; trading suspended on New York Stock Exchange; files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
2015
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
LOGO TIMELINE
1921
1951
1940
1960
1955
1970
1963
1973
[ 12 / 13 ] >>
BRAND OVERVIEW
1983
2001
1995
2006
2001
2013
2011
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
REBRANDING OBJECTIVE Give customers a brand new brand by strengthening or rebuilding RadioShack. We need to strengthen communication and interaction with customers and recalibrate attitudes. Customers, as well as organic relationships, advance our business goals. To build consumer value and benefit of the products or value building of products is the other objective of branding. Rebranding radio shack should concentrate his efforts on promoting special quality and advantage of the products of a certain brand name. This also should promote the value of the products to the consumers.
BRAND OVERVIEW
[ 14 / 15 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
THE MISSION OF RADIOSHACK IS TO GIVE INNOVATORS A CREATIVE PL ACE THAT MAKING TECHNOLOGIES AND IDEAS AVAIL ABLE INSPIRING THEIR DESIRES FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS TO REACH NEW GOALS.
BRAND OVERVIEW
[ 16 / 17 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
THE PAST
02 THE PAST
[ 18 / 19 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
PREVIOUS LOOK
THE PAST
[ 20 / 21 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
CURRENT COMPETITORS
Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas.
Circuit City Corporation is an American online consumer electronics retail company, formed by Ronny Shmoel in 2016 as part of his acquisition of the brand name and trademark rights sold by Systemax.
Kmart Corporation is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The Source Electronics Inc., doing business as The Source, is a Canadian consumer electronics and cell phone retail chain.
Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores.
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. It was originally founded by Richard M.
THE PAST
Samâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s West, Inc. is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc.
Micro Center is an American computer department store, which has its headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio.
Target Corporation is the secondlargest department store retailer in the United States, behind Walmart, and is a component of the S&P 500 Index.
[ 22 / 23 ] >>
Fryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Electronics is an American big-box store and retailer of software, consumer electronics, household appliances and computer hardware.
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
ADJACENT COMPETITORS
The Home Depot Inc. or Home Depot is an American home improvement supplies retailing company that sells tools, construction products, and services.
Dell is an American multinational computer technology company based in Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
International Business Machines Corporation is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States.
The Hewlett-Packard Company or shortened to Hewlett-Packard was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California..
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas.
THE PAST
Cellco Partnership, Inc., doing business as Verizon Wireless, is an American telecommunications company which offers wireless products and services.
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company based in Seattle, Washington, that was founded by Jeff Bezos on July 5, 1994.
Logitech International S.A. is a Swiss provider of personal computer and mobile peripherals, with its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland and administrative headquarters in Newark, California.
[ 24 / 25 ] >>
Razer Inc., is a global gaming hardware manufacturing company established in 2005.
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
THE FUTURE
03 THE FUTURE
[ 26 / 27 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
OUR NEW LOOK
THE FUTURE
[ 28 / 29 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
LIAM JOHNSON 22 Years old College Student
- He has a small workshop in his garage because he likes to build something by him self. - His favorite toy is LEGO Technic themes because it was the first toy that his father giving to him. - He build his own PC when he was 16 years old. - He works in the best buy as a partâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;time jobs because he really likes new technology. - He spent a lot of time on invention because he likes to put things together and create something new. - His father is a engineer and they spent a lot of time in their workshop to build something when Liam was young. - He is very interested in smart home system and his dream is to create his own smart home system.
THE FUTURE
[30 / 31 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
JACK CHEN 30 Years old Software Developer
- He is really good at programming because he is working in a technology company as a software developer. - He has an audio equipment which is very expensive. - He spent one year to build this audio equipment by himself. - He has a little girl, and he wants to spend more time with his baby girl. - He loves to solve problems and puzzles. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the favorite game for him. - He is interested in new technology, and he is the guy waiting in line in front of the Apple store when the new iPhone comes out. - He likes to go to a junk yard and collect interesting little things.
THE FUTURE
[32 / 33 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
JILL WEST 35 Years old Interior Designer
- She is really good at using technology and software because she often use it when she doing the design work. - Her parents bought a desktop when she was 14 years old and this is the beginning of her creative life. - She always keep her hands busy because she knows that practice is the best way to create things. - She is really good at her job because she has the talent to put different elements together. - During her work time, she likes to use different materials to show her idea. - Her husband is a photographer and Jill is his best object. - Pinterest is her favorite website because there is best place to get inspiration.
THE FUTURE
[34 / 35 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
LUCAS PARKER 48 Years old Doctor
- He likes high technology because it really helps when heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doing his job. - He likes to read science magazines and books because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great way to get knowledge. - He is not only good at curing his patient and he is also good at fixing household appliances. - He likes to go to some technology websites and blogs because he can meet someone who has same hobby. - He likes to talk about his idea and passion because he think this is the best way to exchange knowledge. - He often works late because his job, but he loves his job. - He think fixing and building things is good way to release stress.
THE FUTURE
[36 / 37 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
JAMES BROOKS 41 Years old Engineer
- His favorite hobby is to build DIY technology because he enjoys the process of building things. - He has many different tools in his toolbox and he likes to collect these tools. - He wants to build his own car in some day. - He often works with his coworkers and he knows that this is the best way to work. - When he has free time, he likes to build something with his son because he think building stuff is good for his son. - His son likes to draw and he get some ideas from the drawing of his son. - He likes to learn new knowledge because he wants to learn more skills.
THE FUTURE
[38 / 39 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
MITZI TEODULO 24 Years old Marketing
- She works in the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing department, but her goal is to be a web designer. - When she has free time she will learn things about web design by her self. - Her friends tell her there is a workshop that she can learn the knowledge that she wants to learn and she will go there on this Friday. - She likes shopping but she has some financial problems. - She is good at learning things and she likes to lean some new things. - In her opinion, digital world is the future of this world.
THE FUTURE
[40 / 41 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
EMILY LEE 35 Years old Tiger mom
- She has two kids and she spent all her time with her kids. - Because her kids are young, she wants to control everything about her children. - She is working at home and her job is to take care of her children. - She dosenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have too many free time because she needs to take care of her kids 24-7. - She is really good to put thing together and she take good care of her family. - Her husband is really busy because he works in a high technology company. - She meets her friends on weekend and take their kids out.
THE FUTURE
[42 / 43 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
AIDEN GRAY 27 Years old Seller
- He is working in the electronic store for three years and he knows these new technology very well. - He talks to those buyers everyday and he knows what these buyers need. - He likes to call him self as a geek because he really enjoy the technology life. - He likes to go to some technology websites and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good way to get information. - He likes to sell technology products but he likes to create these products more. - He wants to improve his knowledge about technology and he learned a lot of things by him self, but he always wants to learn more.
THE FUTURE
[44 / 45 ] >>
RADIOSHACK
<< [VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE]
ASPIRATIONAL COMPETITORS
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate in the center of Silicon Valley, that develops, manufactures and sells networking hardwareand other high-technology services and products.
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Knan, Minato, Tokyo.
VMware, Inc. is a subsidiary of Dell Technologies that provides cloud computing and platform virtualization software and services.
Salesforce.com, Inc. is an American cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Nest Labs is an American home automation producer of programmable, self-learning, sensor-driven, Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats, smoke detectors, security cameras, and other security systems.
THE FUTURE
Ecobee is a Canada home automation company that makes thermostats for residential and commercial use.
Dropcam, Inc. was an American technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Ring is a global home security company owned by Amazon. Ring manufactures a range of home security products that incorporate outdoor motion based cameras and doorbells, such as the Ring Video Doorbell.
[46 / 47 ] >>
SmartThings Inc. is a technology company headquartered in Mountain View, CA with a software development center in Minneapolis, MN.
Printed in the United States of America Design & Concept: Junhao Ding Copy & Editing: Junhao Ding Typefaces: Gotham & URW DIN Title: RadioShack The Visual Strategy Guide This book was created as part of a project for Academy of Art University 79 New Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA School of Graphic Design Nature of Identity Fall 2018 Instructor: Hunter Wimmer Copyright © 2018 Junhao Ding All rights reserved
INNOVATORDIYSHOP.COM