Radio Shack, which has a history of image problems has just added another to its list. Recently launching "The Shack"  at a time they needed to revive their 88-year-old business has resulted in one more failure for their brand image. A company spokesperson was recently quoted that "our friends call us the Shack." Uh — perhaps their management team should re-evaluate their friends because with friends like this who needs enemies. Radio Shack's problems go much deeper than what any $200 million marketing campaign can help drive traffic to their store or Web site. Many people including myself associate them as old fashion, very expensive and lacking any technical expertise on their retail floors.

There's a generation of people who as kids had a fascination with Radio Shack's transistor radio kits and remote control cars. They created a lot of fond memories for fathers and their sons/daughters. As a kid I can remember Radio Shack as the cool place where you could find the latest gadget, but somewhere along the way they lost their competitive edge. One could blame Walmart, Circuit City or Best Buy for their struggles but Radio Shack can really blame themselves for losing their marketshare. Today when I think of Radio Shack I associate them with Walkman's, phone cord extensions (at least 500 ft.) and over-sized cell phones used by Tubbs & Crockett on an episode of Miami Vice. To create a campaign calling themselves "The Shack" simply reinforces them as old and dowdy.

Radio Shack's focus should be with better product alignments, knowledgeable service, reasonable prices and mobile technology, which represents 33% of "The Shack's" sales. Once they rebuild these core opportunities is when they can re-examine their branding. These improvements would come with a great story to tell consumers.

 In the meantime, let's leave "The Shack (Shaq)" to one of the NBA's stars.