I am an Advisor, a Brand Builder, a Marketer, a Generator of Revenue, a Producer of Profits, and a Provoker of Thoughts. I am an Enabler of Big Ideas and Ideal Experiences. (I'm also a massive cult brand enthusiast!)
Pound for pound, this is one of the best creative concepts and execution of all time. It was a fun, and brutally honest attempt, to reclaim some semblance of relevance in hopes of saving a dying brand. However, it didn't work. To me, the biggest problem is that the Creative mostly resonates with my generation, persons who had already written off Radio Shack. All the nostalgic characters were largely irrelevant to younger customers who never considered Radio Shack a viable alternative. A new generation of customers, which the brand desperately needed, didn't understand most of the pop culture references. Despite what the Cannes Lion community wants us to believe, advertising isn't art, and Creativity isn't enough. Advertising must achieve a commercial objective, and money spent on talent and production must produce an ROI. Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy a year after its massive bet on paid media failed to pay off. Fun ideas are fun, but effective ideas are even better. Don't be bamboozled by a charismatic creative director looking to produce something that will be better for his/her portfolio than your bottom line.
RadioShack Super Bowl Ad 2014 - In With The New
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Franz Erian
1mo
Chris Kneeland interesting take…I agree with many of your points and of course ads, like everything, have their limitations: you can have the best makeup team in the world, but if you are putting lipstick on a pig, you are still just putting lipstick on a pig. As a millennial I was their target audience, I got all the references and thought the ad was good, but also knew I was not about to go into a Radio Shack…it was, as they say, too little too late. Now, if they made this ad in 2010 it probably would have worked much better. Moreover, if instead they made a comedic series and culture movement about working at Radio shack, then for sure it would have worked! Ads can be art and creativity can be nearly enough, as long as you also have time. (Let’s be honest no single ingredient makes a cake - you can have the best product, but if no one knows about it… So they could have changed their stores to the BEST stores ever, but without a marketing campaign no one would go in. Like with most things in life and business it’s, it’s about balance. I do agree that people shouldn’t get bamboozled, by a CD, strategist, ‘corporate whisperer’, tech bro, executive coach or anyone claiming they can fix everything with one thing…they can’t!
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1moHands down one of my favorites but just like Kmart and their “I just shipped my pants” ad, it was too late.