OfficeMax Inc.

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OfficeMax Inc.

150 East Pierce Road
Itasca, Illinois 61043
USA
Telephone: (630) 438-7800
Fax: (800) 572-6473
Web site: www.officemax.com

WHAT'S YOUR THING? CAMPAIGN

OVERVIEW

OfficeMax Inc., the third largest chain in the office supplies superstore category, faced the difficult task of differentiating itself from larger rivals Staples, Inc., and Office Depot, Inc. In late 2003 OfficeMax and its new advertising agency, DDB Chicago, launched the "What's Your Thing?" campaign to help mold a distinct image.

The campaign was mostly driven by television spots. One of the three spots in the initial phase featured an Afro-sporting African-American, the Rubberband Man, who delivered supplies from a souped-up pushcart to his office colleagues while dancing to the Spinners' 1970s hit song "The Rubberband Man." The character became a hit with consumers and led to a back-to-school television spot, as well as a commercial that parodied a vintage stop-motion holiday special. More Rubberband Man spots followed in 2005.

The first Rubberband Man spot won an Emmy Award nomination, and all of the spots featuring the character were repeatedly downloaded from the OfficeMax website. Sales improved dramatically, and the company was so convinced that the Rubberband Man provided the point of difference it was looking for that it built its marketing around the popular character.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In 1986 three office supplies superstores were launched in different corners of the United States: Staples in Massachusetts, Office Depot in Florida, and Office Club in California. Two years later another chain, called OfficeMax, Inc., was established (in Cleveland, Ohio). Along with Staples and Office Depot, OfficeMax became one of the fastest growing companies in the rapidly consolidating office supplies category that had been revolutionized by the superstore concept. By virtue of their size these retailers could leverage their buying power and eliminate traditional middlemen in the industry to offer small businesses and general consumers a wide variety of items at lower prices. Although it started late, OfficeMax emerged as the second largest player (trailing Office Depot) by 1995. At that point OfficeMax was larger than Staples. In the second half of the 1990s, Staples surged, however, taking over the top spot, leaving OfficeMax as the third largest office supplies chain.

At the start of the 2000s OfficeMax was challenged on a number of fronts. As the U.S. economy lapsed into recession, sales sagged, leading to losses and the closing of stores. OfficeMax also faced an image problem. The company's vice president of marketing, Scott Williams, told Suzanne Vranica of the Wall Street Journal in an August 2004 interview, "We found customers had difficulty in differentiating the office supply brands. They saw similarities between colors and the name. They didn't see differences in messaging. There was a lot of confusion with the brands … We wanted to break out. There was a lot of awareness, but we wanted to make sure OfficeMax was known for a unique and different experience." The pressure to hone the OfficeMax identity was further intensified after the Boise Cascade Corp. agreed to pay $1.3 billion for the chain in a deal that closed in December 2003. At the end of the month, the company and its new advertising agency, DDB Chicago, unveiled the "What's Your Thing?" campaign to address the image problem.

TARGET MARKET

The target market shifted as the "What's Your Thing?" campaign evolved. Initially the audience was the small business customer, which back in the 1980s had made the office supplies superstore concept viable. Many major corporations at that time had slashed their workforces, and a rising number of small businesses emerged to take up the slack in the economy. The distribution of office supplies was controlled by six major wholesalers, which then sold the goods to office supply dealers and stationery stores. In turn the dealers supplied large corporations and the stationers sold to small businesses and individuals. Superstores were able to eliminate these middlemen and offer much lower prices than the stationers could. As a result small business customers became a mainstay for OfficeMax. With the rise of home computers and home offices, the number of individuals buying paper, ink and toner, and other supplies also increased. After the initial phase of the "What's Your Thing?" campaign was completed, and the Rubberband Man character had connected with the general public, OfficeMax focused on these individuals. It launched a back-to-school campaign targeting parents and teachers shopping for school supplies. This mass market was next targeted in a holiday campaign that positioned OfficeMax as a place to buy gifts.

COMPETITION

When OfficeMax appealed to a wider market in its back-to-school push and holiday gift-buying pitch, it encountered competition from the likes of Wal-Mart and other retailers, but at its core the company's competition was Staples and Office Depot, both larger in size. According to an analysis conducted by Credit Suisse First Boston, Staples led the way in sales, posting $7.8 billion in 2003, followed by Office Depot's $5.7 billion, and OfficeMax's $4.7 billion. OfficeMax also trailed its larger rivals in the amount of money it could spend on advertising. In terms of measured media, in 2003, according to TNS Media Intelligences/CMR, Office Depot outspent Staples $89 million to $73 million, while OfficeMax spent $49 million. Other competition in the office supplies arena were mom-and-pop stationers and retailers that carried offices suppliesmdash; Wal-Mart, drugstore chains, and larger supermarkets. There were also warehouse clubs like Sam's Club and Costco to contend with, as well as companies that sold by catalog or online, such as Quill Corp., which operated as an independent Staples subsidiary.

MARKETING STRATEGY

The initial three television spots developed for the "What's Your Thing?" campaign tried to spice up the office supplies category, the advertising for which was not known for its creativity. OfficeMax commercials in the past had shown people shopping for a single product in a store setting. "Ads in stores set up certain limits to what you can do creatively," Tom Russell, director of marketing for OfficeMax, told Theresa Howard of USA Today. "People know OfficeMax has stores. We said, 'Let's get out of the store.' That opens up a world of possibility for you." And while the category might be mundane, Russell also noted that the marketers learned that consumers were actually passionate about office supplies: "We found whether it's a notebook, pen, highlighter or organizing system, they have to have a certain one."

In one of the new offbeat television spots, two office friends plotted to get out of work by faking an illness. They colored their faces with highlighters to affect a sickly hue, which worked well for the one who chose yellow but aroused the suspicion of the boss for the one using pink. A second spot featured a pair of mountain climbers in a fight over who forgot to bring the food. A candid still photograph of the tussle made it seem as if they were actually helping each other up. The picture then appeared as part of a poster positioned behind a motivational speaker rallying a group of employees.

INSPIRATION CLOSE TO HOME

The popular Rubberband Man character in the OfficeMax television spots was conceived by DDB Chicago creative director Don Pogany. He didn't have to look far for inspiration; he modeled the character after the ad agency's service center coordinator.

It was the third commercial, called "Rubberband Man," that caught the attention of the public and overshadowed the other two spots. The Rubberband Man character, a lanky African-American with a large Afro hairstyle, was identified by a large spinning disco ball of multicolored rubber bands on his pushcart, which itself was replete with fat tires and side mirrors. He danced and grooved and thoroughly enjoyed his job dispensing office supplies to his coworkers while in the background played "The Rubberband Man," the 1976 hit song by the Spinners.

The song was selected first, and then the creative team held a Los Angeles casting call and auditioned about 100 people of all types, both whites and African-Americans, goofballs and hipsters. One actor stood out—Eddie Steeples, a 30-year-old actor who had never done a commercial and only auditioned at the urging of a friend. "He had the right combination of looks and maneuvers, and the key thing for us was he grasped how varied the character could be," DDB's creative director, Don Pogany, told Mae Anderson, writing for Adweek. "The random items in the cart, he was thinking about each and every one. The other guys were a bit more superficial with it." Steeples described his character to Anderson as "kind of a happy guy going along, doing his thing. In my eyes, he's sharper than most people, especially more than most people give him credit for being. At the same time, he makes everybody happy." In the commercial the character was seen issuing supplies even before people realized they needed them. For example, a new desk chair was slipped under an employee to replace a broken one, and a woman with a messy office received a new desk organizer.

The upbeat "Rubberband Man" spot with its catchy feel-good tune first aired shortly after Christmas 2003. Soon the OfficeMax website began receiving E-mails from people raving about the commercial. The company made the spot available on its website, and within two days it was downloaded 15,000 times. The marketers realized that the Rubberband Man had touched a chord with consumers and began making plans to exploit the character and center the marketing around him. A website was developed for him, offering outtakes from the TV spot and downloadable images. In-store signs featuring the Rubberband Man were designed, and he would also play a prominent role in catalogs and direct marketing. In June 2004 the Rubberband Man was featured in three half-page ads in the issue of Rolling Stone that celebrated the 50th anniversary of rock and roll. Moreover OfficeMax received a great deal of free publicity, as the spot was parodied on the Tonight Show, and Katie Couric and Matt Lauer of the Today show raved about it.

The follow-up to the original "Rubberband Man" spot was a back-to-school effort called "The Party's Over," which began airing in July 2004. The 60-second spot showed the Rubberband Man out of the office, merrily delivering school supplies from his pushcart to children (who were less than enthusiastic about going back to school) at summertime venues, like a beach and a ballpark. This spot continued to use the "What's Your Thing?" tag.

The creative team then began brainstorming about a Rubberband Man ad for the upcoming holiday season. They recalled the stop-motion holiday specials they watched as children and decided to turn the Rubberband Man into a clay figure in a spot with the style and look of an old stop-motion show. Since the character, like Santa, enjoyed giving out things, he was in his element giving out the kind of items OfficeMax sold that were suitable as gifts, such as a glue stick to keep Santa's beard in place, a new paper cutter to carve a roast, and a stepladder to help a short man kiss a woman beneath some mistletoe. Steeples, although not appearing in person, was filmed as part of the animation process.

The "What's Your Thing?" campaign and its star continued to flourish in 2005. A pair of Rubberband Man ads called "Lost" and "Found" were developed. The first promoted OfficeMax color ink and toner supplies as the character plastered an office with flyers and handed out other copies, announcing that his brightly colored ball of rubber bands was missing. The "Rubberband Man" song, minus the lyrics, played in the background. The "Found" spot opened with more somber music as the character glumly made his rounds, dumping products haphazardly. A "found" poster then caught his eye. After being reunited with his ball, the Rubberband Man was once again strutting down the hallway as the Spinners' song kicked in.

SEXY IS AS SEXY DOES

Actor Eddie Steeples, who had never done a commercial and rarely worked before landing the part as the Rubberband Man, became something of a minor celebrity. His rise to prominence culminated in him being named one of People magazine's Sexiest Men of 2004. "It's very flattering," he told Adweek. "At the same time, I just don't understand who decided that."

OUTCOME

The "What's Your Thing" campaign was a success on all levels. The Rubberband Man spots were highly popular and were downloaded repeatedly from the OfficeMax website, and the character helped to distinguish OfficeMax from Office Depot and Staples. Increasingly the company built its marketing around the Rubberband Man. Writing in Advertising Age, James B. Arndorfer noted, "Some question whether OfficeMax should pour marketing resources into a character that might be phased out after a couple years or so. Unlike some marketers who need to constantly change tactics to reach a changing customer base—brewers, athletic-wear marketers—OfficeMax is targeting a stable market." The strategy appeared to be working, as reflected by increasing sales for OfficeMax. In 2004 sales grew by more than 60 percent to $13.3 billion and net income soared to $173 million. While it was difficult to determine how much credit for the success was due to the advertising, there was no doubt that the campaign played a significant role. The Rubberband Man also reached iconic status, providing a boost for OfficeMax that money simply could not buy. Rather than avoid the spots, consumers actually sought out the Rubberband Man commercials. Although the campaign did not win any major advertising industry awards, the first Rubberband Man ad received a highly coveted nomination in the Emmy Award competition for commercials in 2004.