agency: WOLFF OLINS client: STAPLES industry: CPG
BACKSTORY
There was a time when Staples was considered a pioneer in the business of office supplies. However, over the years, the competition caught up and Staples lost their leadership position. With everyone selling the same thing, in the same way and at the same price, there was nothing motivating people to drive the extra mile or switch accounts. The marketplace became commoditized and convenience reigned as king.
CHALLENGE
In an effort to recapture their leadership position and re-exert their influence on the marketplace, Staples announced a new value proposition focusing around the idea of ‘easy’, and needed a partner to conceive of a private label packaging system that delivered on it.
INSIGHT
An intense review of their business, including interviews and audits in six countries along with over thirty competitive site visits, revealed the need to build consensus around what ‘easy’ meant for their business and how to best deliver on it. Workshops with key stakeholders served as the inspiration for imagining what ‘easy’ could mean for their culture, their products & services, their environments and their communications. This exercise helped them to gain consensus on what ‘easy’ meant for their business and opened their eyes to the bigger picture.
Looking at the buying behavior of customers demonstrated that each category had it’s own unique problems. And, while charged with developing a systematic packaging design solution, delivering on ‘easy’ proved different from category to category. However, there was one common element across all categories - customers found the standard product descriptors confusing and meaningless, often leading them to purchase the wrong item.
IN ACTION
Indecipherable standard product descriptors were replaced with playful, use-oriented language, like on copy paper packaging, ‘everyday paper for copying, faxing, b&w printing, or just doodling & scribbling!’
Memorable imagery also adopted a use role, like the use of origami figures on paper packaging, essentially utilizing paper to sell paper.
Color also served as a central strategy to design. At the time, a uniform ‘sea of red’ flooded the store aisles, a reflection of their mission to stake claim on the color red by way of their packaging. A bold color palette applied to packaging replaced the ‘sea of red’, helping customers to easily navigate each category.
