A unifying motif for a brand can be both powerful and fun. Geek Squad uses a campy retro-spy theme, reminiscent of “Get Smart.” Geek Squad reps are “double agents” saving the world one computer at a time. Folders for documents and CDs are “’Recently Declassified’ case files,” etc. etc. It works pretty well, mostly.

When Geek Squad installed a new router and set up a printer network for me recently, the service call documents referred to my computers as “Suspect No. 1” and “Suspect No. 2,” for example—on page 5 of the documents, no less. So this theme seems fairly well baked into their brand. Except when it turns out to be only half-baked.