Staples is iterating on its Easy Button brand platform — again — as the office supplies retailer tries to better spotlight its enterprise-level services and celebrates 40 years in operation.
Juxtaposed to the iconic red button that solves problems with a simple push is a black Hard Button alter ego that leads to unfortunate mishaps in a new campaign. A pair of ads debuting this week show managers faced with conundrums, like running out of restroom supplies or embarrassing printing errors on a store sign (i.e. “Golf Sharts” instead of “Shirts”), that humorously contrast Hard outcomes with the simplicity of working with Staples.
The spots will run on major streaming services, including YouTube, Hulu and Netflix, while shorter versions of the creative will appear on social platforms like LinkedIn and Meta. The larger media plan is wide-ranging, Staples CMO Bob Sherwin explained, encompassing out-of-home billboards in busy travel hubs, digital signage and elevator well placements in high-traffic corporate buildings, mid-funnel display and social advertising and “Hard vs. Easy” collateral for Staples’ sales teams.
While business decision-makers and frontline workers are the target audiences of the campaign, Sherwin anticipates crossover appeal with consumers who might be interested in Staples offerings like its celebration solutions for hosting parties or custom printing options that were a hit during the last holiday season.
“It's a platform more than just a campaign, in that we can actually tell many, many of our workplace solution stories through the same storyline construct,” said Sherwin, who joined Staples as CMO in June of last year.
Evolving Easy
Staples first introduced the Easy Button over 20 years ago, when the oversized gadget — and its chipper “That was easy!” catchphrase — quickly became a recognizable asset thanks to clever TV commercials. The retailer’s model has changed in the time since, with focus shifting more into the B2B realm as Amazon upended the consumer side of the business. Following a failed bid at merging with rival Office Depot, the company was taken private as part of a $6.9 billion sale to Sycamore Partners in 2017.
The Easy Button has also been through several permutations and the occasional hiatus. Staples last year resurrected the idea as “E.B.,” a witty thought leader offering online productivity tips with the help of influencers and ambassadors like Lance Bass. Amy Steel Vanden-Eykel, Staples’ prior marketing chief, was behind the social-first campaign, which was developed with Movers+Shakers. “Hard vs. Easy” puts the Easy Button back closer to its roots while promoting a different suite of services.
Staples still operates more than 900 brick-and-mortar stores, but sees its B2B solutions, such as furniture consultations and stocking break room food and janitorial supplies, as undervalued. Sherwin, who previously served as Wayfair’s CMO for a decade, described Staples’ supply chain and same-day delivery capabilities as one of the “best kept secrets in business.” It’s now communicating those capabilities in a more colorful fashion with the “Hard vs. Easy” messaging and by touting its work with an estimated 75% of Fortune 500 companies.
“Everyone in America essentially knows Staples, which is a great starting point. But then the challenge is most people, when they hear ‘Staples,’ they think of stores only, and they think of office supplies and ink and toner,” said Sherwin. “We don't have an awareness problem, we have a perception problem.”
The Hard Button concept was created in-house, with external agency Bandits & Friends assisting with some of the early ideation. Staples is also handling media, while Monks handled some aspects of production.
Owning the concept end-to-end internally was important for sharpening Staple’s marketing capabilities, Sherwin explained. As it heads into the typically hectic Q4 and holiday period for retail, the brand will expand the effort to put more emphasis on the consumer opportunities as well.
“We are definitely going to leverage this platform, ‘Hard vs. Easy,’ for more gifting and consumer moments,” he said. “That is a big audience for us still and is really important.”
