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Creative Showcase: Staples' Easy Button
April 04, 2006
Discover how EyeWonder brought Staples' "The Wall" campaign to the web, spicing it up in the process.
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Creative Notes
Firefox compatible
Campaign Details
Client: Staples
Technology Vendor: EyeWonder, Inc.
Campaign Insight
Staples' new Easy Button makes everything easy, and their new TV commercial illustrates this in an epic (and humorous) manner. Staples wanted to use this new TV spot as the cornerstone of an online minisite that is epic in its own right. Together with EyeWonder, they created a media-rich destination that extends the message and buzz of the TV commercial and truly showcases the comprehensive power of online advertising. This site was designed from the start to accomplish many objectives:

  • Brand Awareness (use offline and online ads to drive traffic to site)
  • Brand Interaction (multiple videos and interactive game and clever fortunes)
  • Brand Response ($5 coupons built into interactive game)
  • Brand Endorsement/Viral (send fortunes to a friend and challenge them to game)

Staples drives traffic to the site with a combination of offline and online ads, including a series of EyeWonder video ads with built-in direct links.

Staples has been thrilled with the results of the media-rich minisite to date. Based on the humor of the video and the fun of the interactive games, "The Wall" has generated remarkable interaction rates and times, not to mention a strong degree of viral activity as friends challenge others to beat their score in the Jump the Wall game or to check out the video. Like their new button, Staples and EyeWonder's minisite makes online branding and marketing success "Easy."
-- Jason Scheidt, director of marketing, EyeWonder, Inc.

Editor's Note
Creative Showcase is meant to be a teaching tool and an inspiration for our readers. We comment only on creative that we really love. Our panelists discuss what makes it great, but if they feel there were missed opportunities that would have made it better, we invite them to mention those. And finally, we seek out a wide range of opinions that reflect the marketplace for the panel, in order to provide constructive, useable feedback for agencies, clients and others involved in these creative pieces.
The Panel
The microsite for Staples’ “The Wall” campaign is truly impressive. For starters, the commercial transported me back in time to the place in which an ancient Chinese emperor and his small band of men take on a massive army of barbarians. The music, visuals, and effects were so "on brand" that I felt compelled to pour a cup of steaming hot Jasmine blossom green tea to complete the transformation to ancient Chinese times. More importantly, the message of the “Easy button” resonates with me. In short, I’m sold on Staples’ differentiating factor-- they make things easy. The mechanics of the “Launch the emperor over the wall” advergame are very fluid and straightforward. You can simply point and click instead of having to remember a half dozen command keys as with other advergames.

The Fortune-Cookie page adds the much-needed humor element to an otherwise stoic site. My favorite fortune in this interface was, “He who climbs corporate ladder should not wear kilt.” Viral Send to a Friend pages are embedded into each piece of the microsite. Brilliant. 

I need to beat a dead horse on the search engine optimization front. I understand the need for Flash: it’s a beautiful, interactive site. However, Flash could be incorporated into an HTML site so that it is optimized with at least a text navigation footer and site map. Staples does do a good job with its Sponsored search listings which softens the blow to the lack of search engine optimization in the microsite.

The architecture and layout of the microsite is spot on. I’m drawn to the commercial first, then advergame, fortune-cookie telling, “behind the scenes,” and finally the downloadable desktop application for Staples. This campaign is well put together and incorporates a beautiful balance of viral components throughout the site. With that, I shall sign off and drink my ancient herbal tea.
-- Ryan Buchanan, CEO, eROI, Inc.

This is a nifty little minisite. It does a fine job of bringing the TV commercial to the forefront of the experience, as well as highlighting the “Easy” button concept. The other complimentary sections are nice, too. The game is simple but fun, the fortunes in the cookies are well written and humorous, and the behind the scenes videos are interesting. I would have liked to see some captions for the behind the scenes photos providing more information about the shoot -- how many extras were involved, how many days it took to finish it, et cetera -- but maybe that’s just the ad geek in me.
 
I was also pleasantly surprised to see a link for downloading the spot to an iPod. I have a feeling this will soon be common practice for ads and sites featuring video components.
-- Chris Gatewood, creative director, Freestyle Interactive

Footnote: Submissions are judged by a panel of industry experts from and based on the following criteria: how the creative captures the specific customer; how it meets the brand's business needs; impact of execution; and creativity. If you would like your creative considered for Creative Showcase, send an email to creative@imediaconnection.com.