Radio Shack Rebrand Includes Efforts To Reach Millennials

By Kara Murphy, contributing writer, Integrated Solutions For Retailers

Popular Super Bowl ads just a first step in attracting a new generation

Radio Shack’s popular Super Bowl ads showed the company understands its need to rebrand. In the commercial, celebrities from the 1980s converged to “take their store back,” resulting in an, updated look.

Many retailers are looking to appeal to the Millennial Generation, typically considered people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s, which covers everyone between the ages of 17 and 29. Although young, this segment of the population has significant spending power — an estimated $600 billion each year. That impact is expected to top out in 2020 with $1.4 trillion in annual spending.

Those numbers give some clue as to why Radio Shack is working so hard to upgrade its image and to learn exactly how Millennials think, act and shop. In an article for Quartz, Venkatesh Bala, chief economist and director of the Economic Center of Excellence of the Cambridge Group, a consulting firm that is part of Nielsen, says retailers, while continuing to appeal to their core of Baby Boomer customers, has to find a way to also appeal to Millennials.

First, retailers need to realize that Millennials’ online skills have huge impacts on shopping decisions long before they ever step foot in a store. Unlike previous generations that had to put effort into comparison shopping, Millennials can find unique products and prices at a click of a button. That ability to access information means Millennials, more than any generation before, grew up with virtually endless choices. Retailers also need to be aware of showrooming: looking at products in a store and then turning to the Internet to find them at a lower price.

Completing Transactions Also Are Evolving With A New Generation

Retailers — like Radio Shack, as the retailer proved with the new promotions — must also consider all elements of the shopping process: pre-store, in-store and post-store. Millennials frequent stores that are engaging and fun, and —  in order to bring them back again and again —  that relationship must continue long after they have departed the retail store. This nurturing retailer-shopper relationship is a fundamental transition from the previously accepted transactional experience.

There are three places to start that can help you appeal to Millennials:

• Engage. Millennials value fun, engaging and shared social experiences. Brands such as Kate Spade, Samsung/Galaxy, and Adidas have capitalized on these values by offering “pop-up” retail experiences, which include smaller numbers of offerings in changing locations. The idea is to keep consumers guessing and involved.
• Connect. Millennials are looking for opportunities to connect with their favorite vendors and retailers online, and then to share those experiences with friends. They are open to loyalty and rewards cards, with an estimated 80 percent of Millennials having at least one. They also are environmentally and socially conscious, and appreciate that value in the businesses they frequent. One example of a company that has capitalized on connection is Urban Outfitters, that offers a blog that engages its visitors with music, contests, and even decorating solutions.
• Nurture. Retailers must understand how brands and products fit into the lives of Millennials and nurture that relationship. Nordstrom has done this well, carrying brands popular with younger shoppers and marketing those lines as a “store in a store” on Instagram, Twitter, and other social networking sites. The luxury retailer also wins over Millennials on its website, offering free shipping and free returns.

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