The New York Times reports this morning that office supply superstore chain Staples is abandoning its traditional advertising campaign built around selection, Instead of saying, “Yeah, we’ve got that” in its ads, Staples now will stress convenient shopping for time constrained customers, saying “That was easy” in a series of humorous commercials.
This shift comes during the same week that Home Depot, the uber-hardware store, announced that it was shifting its advertising approach away from price and value, and toward do-it-yourself educational clinics.
This shift comes during the same week that Home Depot, the uber-hardware store, announced that it was shifting its advertising approach away from price and value, and toward do-it-yourself educational clinics.
- KC's View:
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As in the case with Home Depot, Staples faces a crowded and competitive field, and clearly sees that the needs of its customers have shifted.
And, as with Home Depot, we would suggest that more than slogans have to change. We don’t have the same kind of strong negative reaction to Staples that we do to Home Depot, but it isn’t exactly an endearing shopping experience, either. We go to Home Depot because it is closer than any of its competitors. That’s it. If the competition opens so much as a half-block closer, we’d go there.
If that’s typical of many of Staples’ customers’ attitudes, the chain has a lot of work to do.
