Radio Shack wants to be hip by getting you to call them “The Shack,” but isn’t offering any new reason to  bring you  into the store. The 88-year old legacy brand makeover makes no new promises offering up a slick website that rivals its competitors, but without any distinguishing features and a complete departure from what made them great.

A nickname is not a strategy

Its a classic case of trying to be something its not; similar to when Mr. Matthis the 8th grade science teacher attempts to turn his pocket protectors in and go “street” wearing a “lid” backwards to appeal to his students. The attempt ain’t “da bomb” – its just a big bomb. Tech Inciter David Coursey calls it the equivalent of a tech store comb over.

What should The Shack offer?

Fix #1 – Focus on actual and historical value.

Hip won’t happen at The Shack through an updated website and a slick campaign alone. The Shack campaign must reveal a deeper set of values to its customers in a new way. Redefine the business model to reveal renewed value during the campaign.

The business model problem is evident on their re-branded website that offers up a Best Buy, Wal-mart style warehouse electronics look. The Shack can’t compete with these guys and in doing so they potentially seal their fate. If a customer wants a store like Best Buy, they will go to Best Buy, not The Shack.

Answer the customer’s question, “What can I get at the Shack I can’t get anywhere else?” remembering the historical value of services the competitors can’t easily duplicate.

Shack customers go to the store for mobile phones, batteries, cables and  custom electronic parts. The Battery Finder app on the home page is a step in the right direction. Make The Shack the guaranteed place for finding the best market and after market replacement parts for your electronics. Add  The Shack Memory Finder, The Shack Cable Finder, and so on.

Fix #2 – Focus on customization.

33% of revenues come from re-selling mobile phones and service, but those numbers could go higher by tapping into the mobile phone “modding”  crowd. 50 years ago the same kind of guys were turning their garages into a worldwide ham radio centers. Now, they are modding the communications center in their pockets to do things like run the entertainment system in their home, or connect them to their remote controlled cars, and perform a growing list of unique functions.  The Shack could gain crazy street cred by becoming mod central and promoting the phones with the most “modability.”

A nickname is not a brand strategy. Tear a page out of the Scion strategy and apply it to The Shack. Reaffirm your value in new customization products letting everybody know through a mind-grabbing campaign.