Dick Smith's 'Hip' Replacement

Every big organisation rebrands at some point.

The latest is electronics retailer Dick Smith.

TV advertisements over the past six months and the corporate web site have featured the rebranded logo and now it's the turn of the stores.

The rebranding gains a new font and loses the face of its founder, entrepreneur Dick Smith, whose geeky visage been front and centre for decades - even surviving the purchase by Woolworths 20 years ago.

While the name is still considered to be worth millions as a retail brand, the face and the word Electronics were dating the business, according to national marketing manager Brent Allan.

"I was the man who removed the face," Allan says.

"The head was very old and daggy. I didn't have any reason to keep it. And Electronics meant jugs, kettles and stuff."

Two years ago, a Boston Consulting study revealed "most people's dads" shopped at Dick Smith, Mr Allan says.

"It was not a brand of choice and it was known for bits and bobs," he says.

According to Duncan, coming from a generation who were hands-on in building and repairing electronics, the 'bits and bob' were the great appeal of Dick Smith stores, rather than cheap stereos that could be bought at any other electrical retailer.

The need to "persuad(e) teenage boys that Dick is hip" has the same potential for disaster that US automaker Oldsmobile found with their late 1980s PR campaign "Not Your Father's Oldsmobile".

In the United States, the catchline has become a joke, parodied by journalists looking for a pop culture shorthand to other companies, like Canadian Club, who have tapped into the deep irony of the campaign:

Who wants to be associated with such a voice? On the complete flipside, is the great new campaign from Canadian Club with the tagline "Damn Right Your Dad Drank It" which is ballsy, confident and shows great father/son insight. When a man is confident of his own path in life, he can look back at his dad's achievements with renewed respect, not a desperation that he wants to be so different.

The campaign alienated older, loyal buyers and did indeed attract younger buyers but that came at a price:

"Not Your Father's Oldsmobile" played a role in this alienation, and recent Olds ad efforts continued it. An Olds dealer said last year's Super Bowl ad for Alero "looked like a Gap commercial (full of) kids in goofy jeans."

The new cars Olds developed also alienated its core. Some dealers pleaded with division managers to offer a "bench" seat for the Intrigue to accommodate three people in the front. Olds brass refused, saying that a bench seat (and the accompanying shifter on the column) wasn't consistent with its sportier, import-fighting mission.

But as one dealer explained: "We gave up a lot of good old customers in the change. They were older customers, but they liked the product and they let you make a profit. So now we sell Aleros to young people. The problem is I've got to find four Alero buyers to make the return I did on one Ninety-Eight."

Now with the brand tettering on extinction as General Motors prepares to file for bankruptcy, might one wonder how the developers of the campaign feel about their part in the demise of a once great brand?

Guilty as charged. But come on, doesn’t the spot make you feel all warm inside? “Not your father’s Oldsmobile” was comfort food, like fish sticks and meatloaf. In the words of Bart Simpson: “Craptacular!”.

Very nice...