Press a Button and Your Worries Are Gone

New York Times, July 21, 2008 — Staples’ Easy Button is the star of the company’s new back-to-school advertising campaign, which uses humor to directly address its customers’ financial worries.

The button, a concept invented by Staples’ advertising agency, McCann Erickson, for the 2005 Super Bowl, is the centerpiece of three new 15-second spots that begin running in select markets, primarily in the southern United States, on Monday; ads will be introduced nationally Sunday.

Upwardly Mobile Stationery

It's a brutal market, so why does Staples think it's a good time to go upscale with office supplies?

BusinessWeek, March 6, 2008 — On one side of the Staples in Needham, Mass is the office supply chain's past. Plain manila folders, stacked in generic blue boxes, are $6.29 for 100. Six aisles away, on the other side of the store, lies what Staples (SPLS) hopes is its future: A dozen file folders, made of thicker stock and decorated with black-and-yellow stripes, are displayed on a faux mahogany table, like sweaters at J. Crew (JCG). They don't have price tags. Instead, a discreet sign on the table reads $6.99 for a dozen.

Staples is trying to take mundane office supplies upscale. Inspired by high-end stationery chains such as Crane & Co. and Papyrus, a new private-label brand, dubbed "M by Staples," features spiffy leather journals, several lines of stationery, business card... continue reading

Take a Giant Step in Your Mind. Imagine

Where is Innovation in Marketing Today?

Hub, January 14, 2008 — Ann Lewnes: In Adobe's humble opinion, it's all about the web. The reason is, you can be incredibly innovative on the web, but you can also be incredibly precise. The web is at the intersection of art and science.

Only the Strongest CMOs Will Survive

Senior-Level Marketers Must Anticipate and Embrace a Massive Reinvention of the Marketing Function

CMO Strategy by AdAge, January 29, 2007 — Over the past two years, my contributions to Advertising Age have ultimately supported a single theme: Our fast-changing world is forcing a massive reinvention of the marketing function and its leadership. And those senior-level marketers who can't anticipate and embrace the implications and opportunities will be marginalized, at best, in their roles.

Only The Strongest CMOs Will Survive

Prophet, January 1, 2007 — In this article, Scott Davis discusses the challenges being faced by Senior Marketers and four key mandates they should address on the path toward becoming empowered CMOs.

THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 12-17-06: CONSUMED; Ad Play

New York Times, December 17, 2006 — About two years ago, the office-supply chain Staples began a new advertising campaign. According to Shira Goodman, Staples' top marketing executive, the chain decided to peddle the perception that it's a particularly easy place to shop. ''All of our ad gurus got together and said, 'How do we make this amorphous concept of ''easy'' very tangible, so our consumers can really hang on to it?'

rise of the creative consumer: focus on innovation†

Economist, March 10, 2005 — How and why smart companies are harnessing the creativity of their customers