Staples vs. Office Depot: Who Goes to the Head of the Class?†

Optimedia's Antony Young Compares the Retailers' Back-to-School-Season Media Strategies

Advertising Age, August 26, 2009 — Back to school but not back to normal.

The retail industry is expected to record its first drop in back-to-school sales in 10 years, with the National Retail Federation estimating an 8% decline in year-over-year sales. Less money in consumers' pockets and reduced school budgets are hurting a category that is already having a difficult year. At Staples and Office Depot, the No. 1 and No. 2 brands, respectively, in the specialist office-supply sector, the marketing departments are sharpening their 2B pencils to compete for a share of a smaller market and keep general retailers such as Walmart and Target from stealing their lunchboxes.

Office Depot's Sunday Circular Goes Digital†

Adweek, June 30, 2009 — Office Depot is using part of the $100 million it spends annually on Sunday circulars to launch an online show touting weekly deals.

Dubbed Smart Specials with Matt and Matt, the show will supplement Office Depot's print product. Consumers can watch the show on TheSurvivaloftheSmartest.com and Hulu. The retailer will also send out e-mail links to its rewards members. WPP's Young & Rubicam in New York produced the Matt and Matt show.

FedEx Whites-Out the Kinko's Name

Poor customer service and fast-changing technology are still problems. Can the delivery giant redeem its troubled copy-chain unit by rebranding?

BusinessWeek, December 18, 2008 — Kinko's is not what it once was, and many customers don't like that a bit.

"They are chronically understaffed and overpriced," Pamela Haber, a Los Angeles event planner, says of the printing giant. "I've done enlargements—I had to get behind the counter to show them what to do."

Gerald Bose, a Sewell (N.J.) management consultant, complains: "You go in there now, the average person, you're not sure what the place is. The first thing you see is the photo kiosk. You can mail stuff. There's the color copier. Way over in the far corner, computers [for word processing and other tasks]. They are getting away from their knitting."