This summer OfficeMax used reality television, teen-idol charisma and online video to connect with kids and in the process boost Web traffic and in-store sales.
Unlike competitor Staples, which clearly goes after parents in its back-to-school marketing efforts, OfficeMax wanted to connect with the students themselves. To do that, they teamed up with ABC Family to create the television special “Schooled.”
In the program, eighth-graders at Tuckahoe Middle School in Eastchester, NY are duped into believing they have to take an outrageous oral and written admissions exam before they enter high school. If they don't pass, they'll spend the next year in “eighth-and-a-half grade.”
Parents, teachers and the school board were in on the hidden camera prank, which took place on a Saturday during summer vacation. The questions on the test were puzzlers, to say the least. “Name a left-handed U.S. president.” “Why do you think October is necessary?” “Spell Connecticut backward.” “What is more dangerous and why: loitering, littering or laundering?”
“But we didn't torture them too long,” assured Bob Thacker, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for Itasca, IL-based OfficeMax.
After the oral quiz, the kids were brought into the gym for what they were told would be a two-hour written exam. “They're dying,” Thacker said. “Suddenly you hear drums and guitars warming up. The wall parts and [teen idol] Jesse McCartney is there for a live concert.”
OfficeMax products were subtly featured in “Schooled,” and all the students who participated got a backpack filled with free school supplies. The retailer also made an $80,000 donation to the school in the form of two $40,000 gift cards.
Video shorts from the program were showcased on a Google Video microsite, which drove kids to the OfficeMax online store. The microsite has had over a million clickthroughs, and the video hit number 38 on the top 100 Google videos.
“Kids love mail, but kids are more accessible online,” said Thacker. “This is where kids live.”
