The client: Staples
My role
Copywriter embedded in the in-house creative agency team, producing a wide range of online and offline materials for promotion to clients in both the business account and consumer retail categories.
The business
Staples is a leading multinational retailer of office supplies, office machines, promotional products, technology and business services, as well as products used by pupils and teachers in schools and colleges. It targets a broad range of consumers via physical and online stores. Via Staples Advantage, it services corporate accounts.
Projects
During a year-long involvement, I produced copy for numerous materials, contributed to development of campaign concepts and was instrumental in structuring content for large-scale print projects. The output covered the full range of purposes, from driving consumer and corporate account sales to guiding internal staff.
Two highlight projects from this period are described below.
Vantage Point magazine
Author of two entire issues of this B2B publication in which thought-leadership was interwoven with promotional sales campaigns and product placement.
Vantage Point is Staples’ magazine for corporate account-holding clients throughout Europe. Through an editorial stance of providing thought leadership on office and team management, Vantage Point demonstrates empathy with clients’ needs.
To make this publication commercially relevant, each issue’s editorial content is aligned with Staples’ promotional campaigns running around the time of distribution. Specific products are also woven into the mix to satisfy vendor marketing agreements.
For issues #2 and #3 of Vantage Point, I defined and wrote the entire editorial content. From identifying an appropriate overarching theme to ensuring all articles fitted beneath it in a holistic fashion.
Conducting and forming interpretations of desk research, I was able to expand a small amount of input from surveys, inspiring articles and vendor-supplied product background into fulfilling narratives, which satisfied the editorial brief while incorporating all commercial demands.
This was achieved via regular alignment with various personnel in Staples to ensure their own stakeholders’ requirements were met.
Read issue #3 of Staples Vantage Point
Back to School campaign
To ensure the bar was raised to its highest level for the pan-European 2015 Back to School campaign, Staples held an internal concept-creation competition.
Three teams consisting of a copywriter and art director set to work on the same brief. The ‘Release the Talent’ concept devised by myself together with art director Sanne Leenders was chosen as the winner, and subsequently rolled out across Europe.
Criteria included relevance across the entire school-going age-range, ability to resonate across cultures and suitability of wording for translation to other languages.
