OfficeMax Joins With Payless For Back-To-School

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It's time to outfit the kiddies to go back to school and OfficeMax is partnering with Payless for a second year with a cross-promotion offering two of the essentials: school supplies and shoes.

By visiting an OfficeMax or Payless retail location, shoppers will receive a coupon at checkout to use at the other respective retail store. Through Sept. 6, OfficeMax stores will print a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase at Payless that will be valid until Sept. 27. Alternatively, through Sept. 11, Payless retail stores will print a coupon for $10 off a $30 purchase at OfficeMax, which will be valid until Sept. 18.

Although she declined to quantify it, last year's coupon redemption was successful for both retailers, Joan Burke, VP of advertising and marketing for OfficeMax, tells Marketing Daily. "We believe a common relevancy between OfficeMax and Payless during the back-to-school season helped to make the campaign successful," Burke says. " School supplies and shoes are quintessential items that kids need for back-to-school, so offering a promotion that links us together proved to be valuable to parents because it was convenient and logical." 

The Naperville, Ill.-based office supplies company is launching a marketing campaign including a new back-to-school supplies website, localized promotions and strategic partnerships to support parents, teachers and students.

National TV spots including "Good-bye" by Chicago ad agency The Escape Pod and "Astronaut" by OfficeMax's brand team highlight the emotion around the back-to-school season and new opportunities that lie ahead for each child.

The spots feature a new promotion each week and are supported by OfficeMax's official BTS website. It offers tools including a zip code search for weekly local promotions and recommended school supply lists for each grade level. To assist shoppers in-store, OfficeMax features school-supply lists on free-standing displays.

OfficeMax also created a special BTS tab on its Facebook fan page that includes a "Can you make the grade?" quiz, allowing viewers to test their grade school knowledge or give out kid-centric status stickers such as "TMI," "Cat Lady" or "The PA System" to friends.

The back-to-school effort is extremely important for OfficeMax, Burke says. "We compare the back-to-school shopping season to a typical retailer's holiday season," Burke says. "It is one of our largest promotional seasons of the year. We become a destination for parents, students and teachers at back-to-school time."

New this year, OfficeMax is focusing on enhancing the shopping experience with value continuing to drive the overall marketing direction, she says.

Besides the Payless cross-promtion, OfficeMax is sponsoring the Jonas Brothers' 2010 "Live in Concert" Tour and has launched the "Winning the Dream" sweepstakes to give five fans the chance to see the Jonas Brothers live in San Francisco with three friends. The sweepstakes runs through Sept. 4. 

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