All About The Easy Button

November 07th 2006

I just read on Boston.com that 1.5 million Easy Buttons have been sold by Staples.

That’s mind blowing to me in a good way. It’s one of those advertisements that at first everyone just laughed off. Easy ButtonBut, someone actually convinced people that they could sell these things and people would buy them. I’m sure that person got laughed at and more then one roll of the eyes but it worked.

This isn’t about the money (Staples actually donated at least the first million dollars to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America), but it’s about their brand. You see a red rounded button of any sort and the first thing you think of is Staples. We all wish we had a button that we could push and make things better.

Good old fashion out of the box thinking. It doesn’t always have to be able flashy web sites and viral videos. A good idea always wins no matter what form it comes in.

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  • http://lookingoutthewindow.com Ed Roberts

    Yeah… my previous boss has had one for quite a while. We’d even tell him to press the “easy button” when we were dealing with a difficult problem… just to break the stress…

    But yes, a great marketing toy. They could practically give them away and continue with its viral marketing success.

  • http://www.troyrutter.com Troy Rutter

    I admit… I have an easy button on my desk at work. Some of the people on the phone I talked to liked it so much they even got one. At the end of the conversation, no matter what it is, we both push the easy button at the same time.

    Silly, yes. But it is now a staple (ok, bad pun) of our office environment.

  • http://www.dangorgone.com Dan Gorgone

    I’ve got one too!
    I actually inherited it from a coworker who left. It certainly is weird to think about it: I’ve got something on my desk that is basically useless, and yet it provides some levity and nice brand enforcement at the same time.

    THAT WAS EASY!

  • http://clipmarks.com Eric Skiff

    Heh – we have one of these at my old job in upstate NY. It’s particularly funny to press it when something was not easy – the voice has a slightly sarcastic tone to it when you listen close :)

    Brilliant branding all around on staples part.

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