Staples Goes BTS with Nick Jonas

Staples secured a popular singer to lend star power to its cause-focused back-to-school activity for the second year while also expanding its cause-related product selection.Following a partnership with Katy Perry in 2014, the retailer this year enlisted pop star Nick Jonas to help it raise awareness for The Entertainment Industry Foundation's new "Think It Up" national education initiative. The effort will fund student-powered, teacher-led learning projects in partnership with teacher crowdfunding charity DonorsChoose.org. Staples is a lead corporate donor, pledging $10 million and soliciting additional shopper contributions at the register. Checkout signs support. Consumers can also donate via thinkitup.org.Jonas stars in a corresponding PSA (see below) encouraging students to collaborate more with their teachers on projects that will help improve and innovate their classroom experience. The video was posted on staples.com, the retailer’s YouTube channel, and its Facebook and Twitter accounts.Jonas also fronts a #StaplesforStudents sweepstakes running July 12 through Aug. 22. The sweeps will award a grand-prize $50,000 scholarship and trip to a “star-studded” red carpet event in Los Angeles for Think It Up. Fifty first-prize winners will receive a similar trip and six prize-pack winners will get up to $1,980.24 in merchandise including a Microsoft Surface Pro 3, Bose SoundTrue headphones, a VF Corp.'s JanSport backpack and a $50 store gift card. In stores, window posters and standees depicting Jonas promote the sweeps. Various display ads on staples.com as well as Facebook and Twitter updates support. Caused-Minded School SuppliesMeanwhile, Staples also has introduced two new lines of cause merchandise earning space on dedicated endcaps. One offers unique school supplies designed and created by students from two middles schools (in Brooklyn, NY, and Atlanta) through the retailer’s first-ever “Designed by Students” program. The items include an all-in-one pencil case dubbed "The Big Pen" that includes a pencil sharpener and eraser, as well a portable desk with a smooth writing surface, interior compartments for notebook and pencil storage and a side slot for headphones and power cords. Participating schools each received $50,000 as part of the program. Endcaps at some Staples locations also stock an exclusive line of eco-friendly school supplies from for-profit social enterprise Me to We. Manufactured by ACCO Brands, the 11-product line ranges from notebooks to water bottles. Items purchased help support a development project from international charity and educational partner Free The Children. Purchased Me to We Core Notebooks, for example, help provide medicine overseas while water bottles support clean water. Shoppers see the effect of their purchases via trackyourimpact.com.Digital support for both cause-focused school-supply lines included Facebook and Twitter updates as well as multiple display ads within staples.com.Returning BTS ActivityIn promotional activity, Staples is once again expanding its "Price Match Guarantee” from June 28 through Sept. 19, offering consumers an additional 10% off the difference between Staples’ prices and its competitors’ prices at the time of purchase. As is the case for the year-round Price Match Guarantee, Amazon.com as well as any retailer selling products in both its retail stores and online under the same brands qualify. In stores, floorstands, window posters, endcap headers and ceiling signs tout the price matching program employing a “110% ready” message. Various features in the retailer’s July 12 circular, a TV spot (see below), various Facebook and Twitter updates as well as a carousel ad and multiple display ads within staples.com also support.Staples also is again presenting a “Less List” of low-cost school essentials via multiple circular features. Deals include 50-cent Hallmark Cards' Crayola crayons, 25-cent store-brand notebooks and $1 Bic Corp. mechanical pencils. Crayola floorstands receive secondary merchandising space in stores.Employing Staples' gray color scheme, account-specific displays from Brother International, Master Lock Co., Pentel of America, Belkin International, Epson America, 3M and Carolina Pad Studio C round out the seasonal theme in stores.Staples came out near the top among other retailers getting an early start on the back-to-school season.

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