RadioShack has yet to explicitly state whether the "contemporization" of "this creative" would include "becoming a friend" through store signs, or solely through the ad-based mentions -- but the language used in the excerpt above certainly strikes me as suggesting the latter.

2. RadioShack adjusted its identity once before.

Up until several years ago, RadioShack was actually Radio Shack. Sure, it's a subtle difference -- one teensy space's worth -- but it struck the suits at The Shack as being significant enough to spend a stack of cash on.

That go-round, the stores' signs were all changed to reflect the rebranding. So did all the effort and investment pay off? Gauging by and the current Radio-free reinvention, it sure doesn't seem like it.

3. A catchy new nickname may be a bad omen.