RadioShack Plans To Regain Relevancy Through Integrating Pop Culture, Hires Nick Cannon As Company’s Chief Creative Officer

By KJ Mariño | Dec 03, 2015 05:57 PM EST

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On Wednesday, RadioShack announced that the company hired "America's Got Talent" host and entertainment mogul Nick Cannon as its Chief Creative Officer. Cannon's appointment is reportedly part of the company's plans to regain its relevancy through pop culture integration. Unfortunately, Cannon's compensation was not revealed during the announcement.

Early this year, RadioShack faced major challenges following the company's bankruptcy filing. And since the electronics chain has been making great efforts to reform itself under the new ownership, Nick Cannon's appointment aims to give the company an opportunity to separate the brand from its '80s image and appeal more to Millennials. According to USA Today, Radioshack Chief Marketing Officer Michael Tatelman believed that by hiring Cannon, he can help with the innovation of consumer electronics space that could empower young people.

"Nick Cannon is one of today's most successful personalities in the entertainment industry and the picture of a RadioShack success story," Tatelman said, as quoted by PR Newswire. "Throughout our history, RadioShack has sought to inspire, educate and innovate through our different programs and products. With Cannon's innate, innovative drive and authentic connection to RadioShack, he is the perfect person to join our team. RadioShack is back."

While Nick Cannon has made an impact in the entertainment industry not only as a performer, host and actor, he also made a name in the business world, especially in electronics. Thus, his RadioShack appointment wasn't really surprising at all.

As for Cannon's RadioShack office, he will be joining the company's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas as he works with the company to develop exclusive products and advance its education and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) initiatives. He is also reportedly scheduled to put on events and performances, as well as curate playlists for 1,733 stores of RadioShack.

"RadioShack is a brand that matters," Cannon said in a statement, as per The Verge. "As a kid, spending time in my neighborhood RadioShack was invaluable... In return, I wanted to give back by fostering creative pursuits in others, and helping kids move to the next level. I've been able to do that with my company, NCredible, and I'm proud to do even more as Chief Creative Officer for RadioShack."

Over the past few years, Nick Cannon has also launched tech ventures and the results have spoken less to RadioShack's maker mentality and more to its modern, suffering embodiment, including affordable tablets sold on QVC and headphones similar to Beats. Ars Technica even noted that Cannon has also previously served as an "entertainment ambassador" for the annual Consumer Electronics Show and promoted a line of "Ncredible" tablets, which included a built-in multimedia sharing app designed to let aspiring entertainers pitch their acts directly to Cannon's production company.

Meanwhile, with Nick Cannon's RadioShack appointment, the 35-year-old rapper-host will also focus on developing new products to inspire and educate the next generation. To read RadioShack's press release, click here.

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