No Recession at OXO

OXO's housewares have been selling well during the downturn. Now, the company is moving into office supplies and products for babies and toddlers

BusinessWeek, September 21, 2009 — OXO's kitchen and household products are winners with consumers, from its rubber-gripped potato peelers to its no-leak travel cups. The eye-catching designs have been featured in museum exhibitions and, despite premium prices, have continued selling well during the recession. OXO's parent company, Helen of Troy (HELE), reported an 11% bump in revenue from housewares in its spring quarter.

Having exhausted much of its original market, OXO is now branching out to office supplies, medical devices, and baby products.

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.

Staples and OXO: Poor Timing or Strategic Boon?

The recession could challenge Staples' pricey new co-branded products from OXO, but the partnership may also set the retail chain apart

BusinessWeek, July 22, 2009 — How's this for bad timing? Staples (SPLS) just introduced 25 co-branded office products from OXO Good Grips that cost up to five times more than Staples' own brand. The retailer's customers are in no mood to spend, however. Staples' same-store sales dropped 8% in North America in its most recent quarter. As Ronald L. Sargent, its chairman and chief executive officer noted recently, the chain is "in a very tough sales environment."

Samsung: Rethinking the Printer Business

Samsung's bet that eye-catching design, and a partnership with Apple, would boost its share of the printer market is paying off

BusinessWeek, January 5, 2009 — In September 2007, Apple (AAPL) upstaged rival electronics retailers with a new product available only at its 180 stores. Billed as the world's smallest laser printer, the SCX-4500 offered all the must-have features of an Apple blockbuster: sleek good looks, buttonless touch controls, and easy set-up. The logo on the front, though, wasn't Apple's. It belonged to Samsung Electronics—one of the biggest suppliers of flat-panel televisions, cellular phones, and refrigerators in retailing—which created the stunning, piano-black printer. Intent on toppling industry giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), the South Korean consumer electronics giant spent three years working on its first designer printer before teaming up with Apple for its introduction.

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?'