Marketing Strategies Case Study

Advertising and Branding Strategies of Staples- The ‘Easy’ Campaign

OR

Abstract:

Staples, the world's leading seller of office products, had launched “That was easy” as its tagline in 2003. This campaign was in response to customer demand for an ‘easy’ shopping experience. The case outlines the background of this campaign and then introduces the campaign itself. It then goes on to narrate how the success of the campaign translated to the launch of the ‘easy’ button, which later became Staples’ fastest selling product and a desktop accessory in the US. The case also outlines the various initiatives Staples had undertaken at its stores to actually make the shopping experience ‘easy’.

The case offers scope for discussion on how Staples could sustain this successful campaign. It also provides scope for teaching the importance of the advertising message and how the message and its experience are intimately associated.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the importance of the advertising message and its validity
• That advertising is only a subset of marketing.

Keywords : Staples, Office products and supplies, Retail, Tom Stemberg, Shira Goodman, Marketing Strategies Case Study, Tie-up, Branding strategies, Store layout, Shopping experience, Advertising campaign, “Easy Button’, Advertising story board, Sustaining campaigns, Successful advertising campaigns, Advertising Strategy

Contents:

• Background
• Implementing the concept
• The 'easy' campaign
• The Payoffs