RadioShack Corporation (RSH)’s Turnaround Plan: A Glimmer Of Hope

RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH)‘s most recent earnings report could be likened to a stay in base camp before an ascent of Mount Everest. Many details emerged of the company’s near-term plans for its journey upward toward profitability. That journey will be a treacherous one, but I believe one item from the many it discussed in its earnings release gives RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) and its shareholders a glimmer of hope for the future.

The plan
On this quarter’s conference call, Joseph Magnacca gave investors the rundown on what the company plans to focus on over the coming months, and it boiled down to three areas: senior management, in-store experience, and brand awareness. The new CEO spoke with poise on the call and appears to be quite comfortable at the helm. In my opinion, he’s well aware of what challenges RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) faces.

Source: RadioShack Press Center.

Management
The company brought in two more outsiders to the senior leadership team over the quarter, with Jennifer Warren as chief marketing officer position and Michael Defazio as SVP of store concepts. These two hires appear to be great additons: Warren comes from renowned ad agencies Razorfish and GSD&M, and Defazio brings with him 36 years of retail experience and has also worked with Magnacca at Walgreen. The search is still on for a chief merchandising officer, and then the management team will be complete. It appears Magnacca has been diligent about bringing in executives with turnaround experience, but only time will tell whether his new roster will score big.

Brand awareness
Do you get warm fuzzy feelings when I say, “Let’s go to RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH)”? Probably not. The Shack brand of my youth has long since passed, and the company has struggled to find its identity as of late. To tackle this problem, the company is going to focus on a campaign called “Let’s Play,” whose purpose is to change the company’s perception from that of a current nondescript brand to a place where consumers go to have fun with technology. Investors will want to keep an eye on this rollout to see how the public reacts. While the company doesn’t need to be immediately successful with raising a tremendous amount of awareness, it will be important to gain some traction in the short term.