• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer, Yesterday

It’s taken more than 20 years, but Staples is finally introducing a new button, this one labeled “Hard.” And It’s part of the office-supply retailer's first new advertising platform in years, reminding both consumers and businesses that when buying what they need -- from party supplies to printing services to breakroom essentials  -- they should always opt for “Easy.” Bob Sherwin, CMO of the Massachusetts-based company, tells Retail Insider about the new campaign.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Retail Insider: You’ve been with Staples for just over a year now and worked at both Wayfair and McKinsey. What triggered the need for “Hard Vs. Easy”?

Bob Sherwin: Staples has been around for 40 years. It’s a household name. But while everybody knows us, what surprised me when I joined is how much Staples has evolved and how unaware people are of those changes. This is to change perceptions of what Staples stands for.

We have a massive supply chain network that delivers to 98% of the country by the next day. We have thousands of expert sellers. And 75% of Fortune 500 companies buy from us -- we’re stocking their breakrooms, selling cleaning supplies to large hospitals. We’re doing print and collateral for some of the largest brands. For me, the impetus was the need for a platform -- not just a campaign -- that will find fun ways to let us tell these stories that are uniquely Staples. We are creating this mostly in-house and will be rolling out new batches in a few weeks, then again in a few months, and then into next year.

Retail Insider: What was the insight?

Sherwin: We all put up with broken processes every single day. We just get used to it as the status quo. We thought it would be fun to help people wake up and realize there is an alternative to having 14 vendors and 14 different invoices, all arriving at different times. That there are better ways to deal with printer jams and perpetually late deliveries. So after more than 10 years, we brought the “Easy” button back. I just felt like that was mandatory. And for the first time, we paired it with “Hard.”

Retail Insider: At this point, who do you compete most with? Amazon? Local print shops? The whole ecommerce landscape has changed so much.

Sherwin: First, we compete with the status quo. Organizations have accepted clunkiness, bureaucracy or just mediocre solutions. We’ve been treating this as a wake-up campaign moment, helping people realize there are alternatives.

Our competition is whatever their old system is, which includes regional players and national digital companies. We have a national footprint of 900 stores and 99% fill rates. That lets us support many national companies.  For example, we support eight of the 10 largest healthcare systems. But we also address smaller needs, like a local gym that may not have the closet space to order months of products at a time or want deliveries during their busiest hours. Our competitors cannot do that, so that’s a huge differentiator.

Retail Insider: Where are the ads running?

Sherwin: In video-based channels, including YouTube, connected TV, programmatic video and a lot of the streamers. And out-of-home assets are showing up on billboards in New York, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, and a handful of others. There’s some airport signage, and digital signage in some high-traffic office spaces in major cities. And of course, lots of organic social, because we're trying to drive a bit more excitement online.

And we're closely tracking the big questions: Are we moving perceptions? And are we moving awareness on the solution sets that we have prioritized in this campaign?

Retail Insider: Speaking of social media, let’s talk about “The Staples Baddie.” She’s been using her deadpan humor on TikTok to win so many views and followers, talking about her life as a Staples employee. Many companies would have fired her. Not you. How does she fit into the overall marketing plan?

Sherwin: Yes, I give so much credit to this organization and to Kaeden Rowland for finding a fun way to tell Staples’ stories and for breaking through. Her videos hit our radar in early winter, and we started engaging with her right away to show our support. We collaborate with her a lot, and she’s been so helpful, sharing her expertise with other associates who also want to be a little internet-famous. She’s super-thoughtful, energetic and intelligent -- she’s really a part of the marketing organization now.