The Infinite Dial

Today's big news in the radio world is that Radio Shack will be 'rebranding' (although apparently not officially changing its name) as "The Shack." Already the blog posts are flying about how this is another sign of radio's dinosaur status. And while the negative publicity is the last thing radio might need, isn't this just an acknowledgement of two truths: Radios have been nothing more than a tiny part of what these stores sell for decades, and Radio Shack is in desperate need of an image update having nothing to do with 'Radios'.

Several similar re-brand attempts come to mind. Pizza Hut just a few weeks ago announced that they will be referring to themselves as "The Hut." (Do they work with the same agency as Radio Shack? And for what it's worth the Pizza Hut decision led Conan O'Brien to comment that Long John Silver's is now going to call itself "The John".) I also recently read an article about the successful rebrand of "Trenton State College" to "The College of New Jersey." About twelve years ago their research determined that the name was holding applications and the school's reputation back -- Trenton State didn't connote the leafy, suburban environment it has (sad to say), so they dropped the "Trenton" bit and became "The College Of New Jersey." The article portrayed the rebranding as 'phenomenally successful'. Applications and the school's academic reputation are up significantly since the re-brand -- but, of course, it is otherwise the same school.

Similarly, the Trenton Times newspaper long ago became "The Times (of Central New Jersey)" and the Newark Star Ledger long ago dropped Newark from its name in an attempt to be branded to all of the New York suburbs and ditch the negative images they perceived to be associated with Newark.

Of course, the counter-example to all this is the continuing success of the Carphone Warehouse in the UK. A full 15 years after the "Car Phone" became functionally extinct, this remains the 'mobile phone superstore' that "The Shack" is now hoping to become.

And, because I'm a cockeyed optimist, perhaps Radio can take a bow with these name changes. Where did those who recommended "The Shack" and "The Hut" doubtlessly find their inspiration? Perhaps from radio stations called things like "The Mix" and "The Peak" and "The Mountain" and "The Band" and .....