My preparation

I read Best Buy's most recent annual report and listened to a conference call with investors. My goal was to understand the financial contribution of the Geek Squad to Best Buy's bottom line.

Because the Geek Squad is largely service based, I assumed the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) attributed to them would be low.

Also, after backing out warranty revenues from the "Services" category, the Geek Squad provides 1 to 2 billion dollars in revenue to Best Buy. Again with the Geek Squads' low COGS, that means more of those dollars contribute to Best Buy's operating income.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn if the profit generated by a Geek Squad employee is higher on average than a Blue Shirt.

Through secondary research, I learned that one analyst believes the Geek Squad station will be moved to the center of future store layouts.

It's important to realize additional revenue is generated by Agents' advice and the legitimacy it provides cannot easily be calculated. The Geek Squad could be the hub of the potential "digital playground" that Best Buy is considering.

I also learned a lot about Robert Stephens' branding efforts.

He's really built the Geek Squad brand through storytelling by blending operations and marketing. From the clip on ties to the packaging, there is a distinct narrative.

Robert has a documented interest in Joseph Campbell's archetypal work that really inspired the Star Wars movies.

He also has in interest in further developing the Geek Squad's narrative much like how movies or comic books do. He doesn't think about "brand strategy." He thinks if this was a movie what would happen next.

Finally, I learned about the Geek Squad's unique position within Best Buy. It spends more time in customer homes and deals with people's urgent problems when they're frustrated.

Put simply, the Geek Squad has a deeper emotional connection with customers, and their advice is valued.