Circuit Switches Logo, Launches Marketing Push

RICHMOND, VA.— Circuit City has adopted a new logo and marketing campaign to help spark stalling sales.

Both made their public debuts in the days leading up to the July 4th holiday after being heralded at the company's annual meeting last month.

According to president/CEO Alan McCollough, the new logo was designed to externally reflect the changes that are taking place within the chain's redesigned stores. Despite an ambitious remodeling program, "The store exteriors have been neglected," he told shareholders. "You could drive by the remodels and not know what's going on inside, despite rave reviews."

The new design emphasizes the word "City" and features a bright red circle in which the store name appears in white lower-case letters. A company spokesman described the logo as "more energetic, more contemporary and offering a new look and feel."

The logo goes hand in hand with a new tag line, "We're with you," that's meant to convey Circuit City's "customer-first attitude," the spokesman said. The message is also driven home in a humorous new TV ad campaign that broke last week. In one execution, a sales person conspires to hide a customer's sports-related motivation for buying a big-screen TV from his wife.

The new campaign was encouraged by positive results from an earlier holiday campaign, "Find it, love it, give it," that helped spur Mother's and Father's Day sales, the company said.

In other Circuit City news, director Richard Sharp was re-elected to a one-year term as chairman of the board. Sharp had said he would stay with the company for a two-year transitional period after turning over day-to-day responsibilities to McCollough. McCollough succeeded Sharp as president and CEO last year.