Circuit City

There's a certain electronics chain. Their ads have never once told me about specific prices or promotions. They sell me on the store, on how fun it must be to shop there, about how the people who serve you there are your best friends.

This chain is the number one electronics retailer in the US.

This chain is Best Buy.

Now, having worked there I can tell you that the above picture isn't completely true or completely false. But it is effective advertisement.

Now let's look at Circuit City. For a long time, Circuit City made me very angry. They pitched so much. They rambled for a minute at a time about weekend promotions. Price breaks. Discounts. On and on.

Then, one day, Circuit wised up. They decided to sell their store, rather than their products. Internally, their We're with you campaign was heralded as a new direction for the retailer. It would address the irritation customers felt with return policies and pushy sales people. It would position Circuit as the place to go for holiday shopping convenience. It would make Circuit a friend to the consumer.

It was very effective. The ads were some of my favorites.

Then, it's as though somebody died. Today, all I hear about Circuit City is how HP laptops are on sale this weekend. Something about a rebate. Amusingly, they still say "We're with you" at the end of every spot, as though the phrase were a bit of magic dust that would imbue their banality with the charm of their better ads.

Best Buy continues to be the national consumer electronics retailer of choice.