Staples wraps up Year 1 Raptors partnership, Q+A with Dave Mazzone

Staples Canada is the official Working and Learning Company of the Toronto Raptors. In 2021, as part of the partnership, a line of Raptors merchandise was sold at select Staples stores throughout Canada and online at staples.ca. Following the wrap of the first year of the partnership, our Editor sat down with the VP of Marketing at Staples Canada, Dave Mazzone.

Can you please explain the #officeviews campaign and the main goal behind it?

As the working and Learning Company, we want to be great partners to hybrid workers – and this campaign is just one way of showing that. The campaign gave a unique view into the workspaces of some of the Raptors’ best and brightest off-court team members including Jack Armstrong, TV Basketball Analyst; Shelby Weaver, Director of Basketball Operations & Culture; Nick Nurse, Head Coach.

We created three one-minute #OfficeViews episodes, featuring Jack’s motto of work smart, not hard, Shelby’s tip to always have a #burnerpen, and Nick’s life advice to choose to be an energy giver or energy taker. Through the videos, fans got to see where these folks work, as well as the opportunity to learn a little bit more about them.

As part of the content series, there was a #OfficeViews contest, available on the Raptors app; from August 1 until August 30. Fans across Canada have the opportunity to win their own home office from Staples Canada. To promote the contest, additional creative drove fans to a contest page to enter for a chance to win one of three $1,200 prizes. The unique contest promos were distributed by paid media, not organic, driving fans to enter. We also created social promos that were motion assets voiced over by the recordings we did with Jack on-set.

How long has the partnership been going and how has it played out in past years?

We are currently in year two of a three-year partnership. Staples Canada kicked off its multi-year Raptors partnership in July 2021 with a series of activities to help get Canadians excited for the upcoming school year, featuring a Spotlight Virtual Event with Raptors center Chris Boucher and a national back-to-school contest.

As an official partner of the Toronto Raptors, Staples Canada had a presence at Raptors home games, and an ongoing Spotlight Speaker Series featuring team management and players that brought content and events on high-performance, catering to students, teachers, parents and businesses. There was also the additional Raptors merchandise, sold at select Staples stores throughout Canada and online at staples.ca.

How did the creative team find inspiration for this campaign?

Inspired by the likes of MTV Cribs, the campaign featured a video series, co-created and co-produced by Staples Canada and MLSE. If we can help a Raptor, we think we can help every Canadian. Through this campaign, we can demonstrate how easy it is to set up an office that both inspires you and helps you to work smarter.

How was the campaign received by the intended audience?

The campaign was designed to tap into the Raptors fanbase. We are pleased with the initial results. Organically and paid we are exceeding our expectations on views, likes, comments and shares. The contest engagement also performed positively.

Written by Emma Whiten, Editor of Marketing News Canada, with answers provided by Dave Mazzone, Vice President of Marketing at Staples Canada.