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1. The Problem 2. The Strategy 3. The Plan *Part One *Part Two 4. The Conclusion

Agenda

Why is RadioShack broken, and how can we use digital to fix it?

The Problem

The Problem

ThinkmapThis is where research, narrative, strategy and insight collide. Thinkmaps are how I solve problems through prolific visual thinking. !So let me tell you a story…

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RadioShack was the perfectly oiled machine.

The Problem

An innovative history.During the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, they pioneered innovations in electronic calculators, personal computers, mobile phones and satellite television.

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Remember the place where you and your dad went to buy batteries for the

remote controlled car?

That was RadioShack.

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Remember the place where youcould geek out with your friends and

the guy behind the counter?

That was RadioShack.

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Remember the place where you could go in an electronic

pinch and always find something useful to save the day?

That was RadioShack.

The Problem

A destination,not just another store. !And that’s why they became the world's largest electronics chain. !Thank you very much, Mr. Tandy.

But somewhere around the late 80’s and 90’s, the brand began to struggle.

The Problem

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Big box retailers like Best Buy were the new kid in town.

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Iconic design companies like Apple were the hottest girls in school.

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And innovative technologies like mobile were the shiny new objects.

The Problem

A broken brand?A perfect storm of competition, innovation and cultural transformation sent shockwaves down Radio Shack’s organizational spine. By the time the new millennium came around, Radio Shack began to putter out like the very machines its batteries once powered.

Shares devaluated. Sales plummeted. Executives departed. Competitors advanced. Margins dropped.

The Problem

Relevancy vanished. Employees walked. Customers complained. Image deteriorated. Executives departed. Debt Accumulated.

The Problem

Worst of all, enterprise value was on a collision course. Everyone was waiting for Radio Shack to die.

The Problem

The Problem

But why?After reading 1,000 employee reviews on Glassdoor, 100’s of customer reviews on yelp, tons of articles and even Charles Tandy’s autobiography, here are the patterns I started to notice…

The Problem

MediaDid you know MSN Money reported them as the second worst company to work for in 2013? !Yep.

The Problem

EmployeesDid you hear Glassdoor reported their CEO had a 46% approval rating! !Yikes.

The Problem

CustomersHave you ever read the store reviews from infuriated customers who call RadioShack a bloated mess of a mobile phone store? !Good lord.

The Problem

InvestorsCan you believe for the first time in over a decade, Radio Shack experienced an annual loss? !What the…?

The chorus was global: How the hell are they still in business?

The Problem

The Problem

Oh. Crap.By the way, if The Onion says your company is in trouble, your company is in trouble.

The Problem

So, big brandstend to panic in this situation. And RadioShack pulled out every trick in the book to become cool, hip and relevant: !Partnerships with celebrities, social media contests, concept stores, clever ad campaigns, hip rebranding efforts and new executive leadership.

The Problem

And, some ofthose tricks worked. Radio Shack’s efforts did see traction for a short period of time. Especially with the digital generation. !Thank you very much, Dr.Dre.

But that’s the problem. RadioShack doesn’t need tricks. They need to be useful. To employees and customers.

The Problem

And while box retailers like Best Buy & Amazon may be chipping away at their clientele, Radio Shack still owns 3 key assets:

The Problem

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Ubiquity, immediacy and memory.

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UBIQUITY: They’re everywhere. What’s cooler than having

a nationwide platform?

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IMMEDIACY: They’re right now. What’s better than not

having to wait for a part?

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MEMORY: They’re nostalgic. What’s more valuable than being a

fixture in your customer’s childhood?

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AND DID YOU KNOW: With 5,550 stores, there is a RadioShack location within 5 miles of 90 percent of the country?

The Problem

It’s salvageable.Radio Shack isn’t the first brand to fall. Brand turnaround is an economic phenomenon. Just ask Dominos, Red Cross, Xerox, Taco Bell, Pampers and Best Buy. !They all fell. But they also had a strategy. A digital one.

And so do I.

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1. The Problem 2. The Strategy 3. The Plan *Part One *Part Two 4. The Conclusion

Agenda

Take Back The ShackRecreating, Rebranding & Relaunching RadioShack’s Internal & External Experience

The Strategy

Take Back The Shack

The Strategy

Overview#takebacktheshack is a groundswell movement that enlists geeks, makers, techies, customers and employees in the DIY project of a lifetime: Rebuilding RadioShack.

The Strategy

OverviewThe hashtag is our vehicle for executing each of our social media tactics. #TakeBackTheShack is the architecture that ties everything together across all digital and social platforms.

The Strategy

OverviewWith a complete overhaul of their internal and external employee and customer experience, RadioShack has the opportunity to become well-oiled machine it once was. !Let’s explore the plan…

The Plan

Part 1: Internal!Experience

Part 2: External Experience

1.1 Take Back The Associates

2.1 Take Back The Store

1.2 Take Back The Managers

2.2 Take Back The Marketing

1.3 Take Back The Leaders

2.3 Take Back The Web

Take Back The Shack— Take Back The Shack —

Part 1: Internal ExperienceRadio Shack sells electronics, machines and technologies. But none of those things would function without the cooperation of their equal parts. Therefore, when you train and treat employees in a way that reinforces their essential contribution to the larger machine, everything works. !

Tactical recommendations for “taking back” the internal employee experience with The Associates, The Managers and The Leaders are as follows:

The Plan

1.1 - Take Back The AssociatesCompensation: *Raise the base pay rate to well above minimum wage, offering competitive salaries that are commensurate within other brands in the retail industry. This will attract a higher caliber, core staff of people whose expertise extends beyond mobile phones and into technology, and whose personalities lend to a remarkable customer experience. !*Replace the current 2% commission structure (and spiff incentive program) with an employee profit sharing plan to encourage and motivate sales. Instead of pressuring associates to sell more items and service agreements, offer employees raises for consistently hitting and surpassing realistic, weekly sales targets. !*Offer incremental base pay increase for all employees who perform well. When associates perform managerial duties such as store closings and money deposits, offer additional compensation and/or the provision of benefits. !*Move from a bi-monthly payout to a weekly payout. Easier financial management for associates.

Part 1: Internal Experience

Development: *Instead of using the current assessments and online tests for employee development (reading a five minute module and taking a quiz), implement a new associate training program that teaches soft skills like empathy, social interaction, customer experience, professionalism, coaching skills and positive motivation. !*Hire a training coordinator for each district or region. Focus on complimenting employee achievements, not just focusing on failure. Post digital “Win Walls” online as a company wide initiative/gamification experience so associates around the country can stay abreast, celebrate and compete with each store’s progress. !*Create a true career path by retaining talented, tenured managers. Their loyalty, knowledge, experience and relationships with customers needs to be rewarded by offering additional benefits for longtime associates who have worked 3, 5 and 10 years, i.e., college tuition reimbursement or paid vacation.

1.1 - Take Back The AssociatesPart 1: Internal Experience

1.2 - Take Back The ManagersHiring: *Start a campaign to hire a new class of District Managers, Store Managers and Assistant Store Managers. Have certified interviews with multiple people about every promotion. Only hire managers with an Associates degree or higher level of education. !*Promote from within instead of hiring corporate rejects from Best Buy. Offer to extend the employee profit-sharing plan to managers with proven track record. !

Part 1: Internal Experience

Compensation: *Offer competitive wages and salaries, from $8.50/hour up to $20/hour, even before bonuses. Reduce the weekly workload from 52-60 hours to 45 hours so managers can experience greater work life balance. This assures we don’t overload the major driving force of sales in the stores. !*Focus on training employees to have a diverse knowledge of store merchandise outside of wireless. Offer more hands-on training instead of doing everything on the computer.

1.2 - Take Back The ManagersPart 1: Internal Experience

1.3 - Take Back The LeadersCommunication: *As an internal pilot program, we’re going to launch “Know Your Company,” a simple and affordable software solution for organization communication, launched by 37Signals. We’ll select ten districts across the nation to implement this program to understand how employees feel about our business, our work, and our culture, and catalogue this feedback to nip problems in the bud and communicate clearly, quickly and consistently. District managers will catalogue the feedback and report back to Human Resources. And if the program is a success after 90 days, we can launch the software for all districts nationwide, in the form of an internal app that's easily accessible for real time feedback submission. !*This communication program will help district, regional and senior leadership stay in touch with front line associates and narrow the disconnect between the upper chief executives of this company, district managers, employees and customers. Also, adopting key organizational principles of holacracy, this internal software system will help employees (at all levels) process everything they sense into something meaningful. Any tension sensed by anyone, anywhere, has some place to go to get rapidly and reliably processed into some kind of change.

Part 1: Internal Experience

Communication (cont’d): *Throughout their tenure, senior leaders will continue to visit stores, speak to frontline employees, listen to customers and get honest feedback about what's working and not working. They’ll do this once a month, at an assigned location. And report back to Human Resources on a monthly basis.

1.3 - Take Back The LeadersPart 1: Internal Experience

Development: *Similar to the associate level, we’ll stop using the current assessments and online tests for employee development (reading a five minute module and taking a quiz), and implement a new associate training program that teaches soft skills like empathy, social interaction, customer experience, professionalism, coaching skills and positive motivation. !*All senior level leaders will have innovative training options. First, we’ll pay for them to attend the Zappos 3-Day Bootcamp. As participants, they’ll gain takeaways to assist them in cultivating their company culture and delivering an unforgettable customer experience. Second, retail anthropologist Paco Underhill’s company, Envirosell, offers Store Clinics and Retail Workshops to understand the science of shopping. This offers an educational tour of how the environment is conducive to, or at odds with, a smart, fun shopping experience. !*As part of training, every year corporate leaders will spend two weeks working in the store to understand the customer experience, then share best practices at leadership summits.

1.3 - Take Back The LeadersPart 1: Internal Experience

1. The Problem 2. The Strategy 3. The Plan *Part One *Part Two 4. The Conclusion

Agenda

The Plan

Part 1: Internal!Experience

Part 2: External Experience

1.1 Take Back The Associates

2.1 Take Back The Store

1.2 Take Back The Managers

2.2 Take Back The Marketing

1.3 Take Back The Leaders

2.3 Take Back The Web

Take Back The Shack— Take Back The Shack —

Part 2: External TacticsRadio Shack’s has something other retailers don’t: 5,500 stores. They have a massive platform of retail locations that will drive the rebranding of their customer experience, in coordination with their digital and social efforts. Ubiquity, immediacy and memory are their key assets. !

Tactical recommendations for “taking back” the external customer experience with The Store, The Marketing and The Web are as follows: !

The Plan

2.1 - Take Back The StoreOperations: *Initiate a complete overhaul and streamlining of the two primary technology systems. First, by reaching outside of the company and partnering with a third-party inventory management system to create seamless integration between store, website and warehouse inventories. Since our specialty is electronics, not software and inventory, this new partner will help solve widespread inventory management issues from a knowledgeable and impartial perspective. !*Start a campaign to reach out to the retail developer community to enlist the nation’s brightest programmers, developers and software designers to help Radio Shack rebuild, rebrand and relaunch the current Radio Shack Point of Sale System. By combining the mountains of employee feedback and most innovative technologies, we’ll make the customer experience a seamless, simple and painless transaction. That’s one hell of a DIY project!

Part 2: External Experience

2.1 - Take Back The StoreOperations: *Each district will be assigned their own Operations Associate. These employees would focus on the core look of the store, stocking inventory, price auditing and evaluating and improving the customer experience. They’ll be the store liaison between higher managers and senior leadership and the frontline employees, implementing best practices from above & below.

*Instead of making associates hard sell mobile devices, we’ll hire dedicated wireless associates with their own wireless counter and chairs, so they can focus on mobile and not have to compete with hourly employees. !

Part 2: External Experience

2.2 - Take Back The MarketingInfluencers: *#TakeBackTheShack will start as a groundswell movement that enlists geeks, makers, techies and employees in the DIY project of a lifetime: Rebuilding Radio Shack. We’ll start by using Kickstarter as a talent agency. We’ll locate influencers who are raising money for their creations. We’ll offer to fund their electronic projects outright. And we’ll let them tap into their army of followers to do the marketing for us. !*These makers will be official partners with Radio Shack, who will also provide them with whatever parts and accessories they need to realize their DIY innovations. By attaching our brand to the brightest young talent, helping them achieve their maker dreams, we can win the attention and trust of a new generation of customers. !*As the campaign continues, we will feature selected makers in our advertising, print, web and other promotional efforts. And we will coordinate sponsored posts and features in their individual blogs and social platforms.

Part 2: External Experience

Campaign: *To make a national statement about a commitment to turning the company around, Radio Shack CEO Joe Magnacca will spearhead a campaign to become a contestant on the popular show, Undercover Boss. Hundreds of employees made this suggestion on GlassDoor and Yelp, and a dedicated employee can respond to all of them with the appropriate link to the episode. !*Copies of the episode can be distributed to each store and broadcast on the television screens to reinforce the commitment to a better customer experience. And through a combination of in-store, web, social and traditional marketing efforts, the digital promotion of the reality show will help RadioShack take the first step in revitalizing the failing company. !*We’ll also chop up the Undercover Boss episode and create a series of Vine videos that are playful, self-deprecating, entertaining and accessible to a younger audience.

2.2 - Take Back The MarketingPart 2: External Experience

Events: *To build on RadioShack’s recently launched cobranded product line with Make Magazine; retail locations will host monthly Mini Maker Faires for the local hobbyists, robotics, microcontroller and 3-D printing enthusiasts who don’t want to wait until the annual event. !*Since the national Maker Faires take place in New York and San Francisco, we can leverage our retail store platform throughout the nation to reach a new generation of creators and their families, rebuilding our brand as a fixture in the community. Ubiquity is our currency. !*Each District Manager will also cultivate relationships with local school districts to get involved with, sponsor and/or donate supplies to student Science Fairs. This helps them connect with the next generation of makers (and their families) on a local level. Building nostalgia for the next generation. !

2.2 - Take Back The MarketingPart 2: External Experience

Flagship Site: *RadioShack’s website already allows the user to check “In-Store Availability” of any item in their inventory. To add greater service value to this experience, users will have the option to create a profile via social registration, log into their account and reserve the specific item they need at their local store. And if a customer plans to visit that location within the next business day, they can request a particular product to be put on hold for a period of 24 hours. !*Store Managers would receive notifications about these hold items and reserve them accordingly. Products on the shelves would be marked with “hold stickers” to promote the service offering in-store. And when web users walk in the store within their allotted time period, they will present a confirmation number to the associate, purchase their held item and walk away with a customer experience that speaks to their sense of urgency. !*This digital service offering leverages RadioShack’s store ubiquity, satisfies customer impatience and creates a customer service moment that Amazon can’t compete with.

2.3 - Take Back The WebPart 2: External Experience

Yelp: *Since we can’t remove bad reviews, we’ll make sure the tip-of-the-iceberg reviews are positive. Instead of gaming the online review system, we’ll offer information that potential RadioShack customers will find generally helpful and encouraging.

*Training for managers and associates will include turning sales of happy customers into positive reviews on Yelp, to offset the current accumulation of bad press. We’ll incorporate this process into the Point Of Sale system whereby leaving a review is a fast, seamless and rewarding process for the customer. We’ll even offer customers a 25% off coupon when they share a positive review of their experience. !*To promote these efforts, we’ll post signage in store, on the mobile app, on the website and via other marketing communications. Part of the manager’s weekly responsibilities will be monitoring their store’s Yelp page regularly so they can show gratitude for positive reviews, and appropriately respond if a negative review surfaces.

2.3 - Take Back The WebPart 2: External Experience

Social/Influencer: *We will connect with key conversation leaders in the industry in a way that helps their business and their following. Topsy has a helpful feature for finding influencers within the electronics, maker, DIY and related communities. And we can connect with technology based universities and organizations to recruit these people as premier RadioShack influencers. !*Instead of renting influencers like a billboard and hope they talk about us, we’ll turn to them for insight. We’ll participate in the online conversation about the maker movement in a respectful, personal manner––and leave a trail of digital breadcrumbs behind. Also, we’ll use them on a local level––for hire or for other forms of compensation––involving them in our monthly store events as leaders of their communities. !!

2.3 - Take Back The WebPart 2: External Experience

Mobile: *The recently relaunched mobile site has a touch-optimized store locator with click-to-call and GPS functionality. When RadioShack tallied the results, they found that the average order value for mobile customers was 30% higher. What’s more, 85% of customers who utilize the store locator and have intent to buy, make a purchase in store.

*We’ll build on that by incorporating our positive Yelp reviews as features of the app to encourage users to come into the store. !

2.3 - Take Back The WebPart 2: External Experience

1. The Problem 2. The Strategy 3. The Plan *Part One *Part Two 4. The Conclusion

Agenda

The Conclusion

It’s time.If RadioShack follows this strategy, they’ll be ahead of the curve when compared to big box retailers. Over time, customers will return to choosing RadioShack because they'll feel a newfound connection, just like they remember. And employees will take pride in working for a company that treats them like essential parts powering their organizational machine. !

The Conclusion

Well-oiled.And that’s just the beginning. RadioShack isn’t a squealing mechanical dinosaur waiting to be put out of its misery. !It’s an impassioned phoenix poisedto rise from the digital ashes. !Let’s take back the shack. Together.

Welcome aboard.

The Conclusion