Forty years after opening its first store, Staples marks its anniversary with a new brand platform: Hard vs. Easy. The campaign is built around the simple idea that businesses and all people have a choice on how work gets done, the Hard way or the Easy way.
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Hard vs. Easy takes aim at the unnecessary friction businesses encounter, from managing dozens of vendors and disconnected processes to last-minute supply runs, inconsistent quality and unreliable delivery. It presents a better way: Choosing Staples.
Today, Staples supports businesses of every size with solutions spanning workplace essentials like janitorial/sanitation supplies, breakroom snacks and beverages, furniture consultation and installation, customized print and marketing solutions and many more. Businesses of all sizes, including 75% of the Fortune 500, rely on their Staples Business account teams, the convenience of staples.com®, and the nationwide retail footprint.
“For 40 years, Staples has upheld a simple promise: Make work Easy and help people and businesses succeed,” said Rachel Huckle, Chief Executive Officer of Staples, Inc. “The world of work has changed dramatically, but our promise has not. What has grown is the breadth and scale of how we deliver it. This campaign brings that story to life in a way that is unmistakably Staples: Show the Hard, then present the Easy way forward.”
Don’t Choose Hard. Choose Staples.
At the center of the campaign is a new counterpart to the iconic Easy Button: The Hard Button. Together, the physical buttons turn everyday workplace friction into a simple choice. Hard represents the workarounds, complexity and inefficiencies that have become normalized. Easy represents what happens when Staples’ solutions, experts, and infrastructure remove that friction and keep work moving.
The campaign grounds that contrast in real challenges Staples solves. Hard means managing multiple suppliers across workplace categories, while Easy is having one partner to manage it all. Hard means an order that shows up late or incomplete, while Easy is having it in stock, getting it tomorrow or picking it up today. Staples offers reliable execution, expert support and solutions built around how businesses actually work.
For business owners, office managers, facilities leads, procurement teams and enterprise leaders, Staples delivers that Easy experience through three core pillars:
- Workplace solutions: A broad range of products, services and capabilities that help businesses keep work moving, from facilities and breakroom to furniture, custom print, workplace essentials and specialized industry needs.
- Expert guidance: Dedicated experts who help customers navigate decisions, drive efficiencies, manage projects and solve workplace challenges.
- World-class reliability: The infrastructure, supply chain and relationships needed to serve businesses consistently, at scale.
“Hard is what happens when unnecessary complexity becomes routine,” said Bob Sherwin, Chief Marketing Officer of Staples, Inc. “It is too many vendors, disconnected processes and workarounds people have simply learned to accept. This brand platform challenges businesses to stop accepting the status quo. If there is a simpler, more reliable way to get the work done, that is the choice we want people to see. Work is Hard enough. Staples is here to make it Easy.”
The Hard vs. Easy creative platform pairs specific workplace pain points with tangible Staples solutions and proof points, using the Hard and Easy Buttons as an immediate visual shorthand for the choice. It gives Staples a fresh way to show the full breadth of what the company already does while staying rooted in a brand promise customers have known for decades.
40 years later, Staples’ promise remains the same: Make work Easy.
About Staples
For 40 years, Staples has helped people and businesses succeed by making work easier. As a trusted workplace partner, Staples delivers world-class reliability, expert guidance and workplace solutions to businesses of every size, from entrepreneurs and small businesses to large enterprises. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of products, services and solutions across workplace essentials, facilities, breakroom, furniture, print and marketing, technology and specialized industry needs, helping customers reduce complexity and keep work moving. Backed by a powerful supply chain, nationwide retail footprint and deep workplace expertise, Staples provides the products, insights and support businesses need, when and where they need it. Headquartered near Boston, Massachusetts, Staples serves customers throughout North America through direct B2B sales, e-commerce and more than 900 retail stores. To learn more, visit your local U.S. Staples store, download the Staples app, explore Staples.com or StaplesBusiness.com, or follow @Staples on social media.
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