Staples is marking 40 years in business with a new brand platform that reframes its long-running “Easy” positioning around a familiar problem for business customers: the operational friction created by fragmented suppliers, disconnected processes and unreliable fulfillment.

Staples is turning its 40-year “Easy” brand promise into a broader business-services proposition with the launch of Hard vs. Easy, a campaign designed to contrast workplace complexity with the processes and services Staples says can simplify it.

The platform moves beyond individual office products and places procurement, fulfillment, workplace services and expert support at the center of the brand narrative. Staples says the campaign is aimed at businesses of different sizes, highlighting challenges such as managing multiple vendors, inconsistent product availability, last-minute purchasing and fragmented workplace operations.

At the center of the campaign is a new Hard Button, positioned as a counterpart to Staples’ familiar Easy Button. The two physical symbols are intended to represent a choice between workplace friction and a more consolidated purchasing and service experience.

That positioning reflects a broader change in how business-supply companies compete. Rather than focusing exclusively on product assortment and price, providers increasingly package procurement, delivery, services and account support into broader workplace solutions.

Staples says its business offering now spans janitorial and sanitation supplies, breakroom products, furniture consultation and installation, custom print and marketing services and other workplace requirements. The company also says 75% of Fortune 500 companies have Staples Business accounts.

The campaign's emphasis on supplier consolidation is particularly relevant to procurement teams. Gartner's January 2026 research says supplier spread can increase administrative burden, duplication, fragmented risk and cost leakage, while its procurement research recommends evaluating when supplier consolidation can improve sourcing efficiency.

That gives Staples' campaign a practical business context beyond its advertising creative. For procurement and facilities teams, the number of suppliers involved in workplace purchasing can affect administrative workload, ordering processes and supplier management.

Staples' “Easy” proposition is therefore being positioned around infrastructure as much as convenience. The company identifies three areas supporting the platform: workplace solutions, expert guidance and what it describes as reliability across its infrastructure and supply chain.

Its existing digital and physical footprint also supports that omnichannel proposition. Staples currently promotes next-day delivery to more than 98% of the U.S. on qualifying in-stock orders and one-hour in-store pickup, according to its website.

The company has also retained the Easy concept across its existing brand ecosystem. Its website continues to use “That was easy” messaging while presenting products, services, delivery and business solutions through the same convenience-oriented positioning.

For Staples, Hard vs. Easy gives the established brand idea a more explicitly B2B dimension. Instead of simply presenting “easy” as a consumer convenience, the campaign connects it to procurement decisions, vendor management, workplace operations and fulfillment.

That distinction matters because business buyers often evaluate workplace suppliers across more than product selection. Delivery performance, service expertise, account management, implementation support and the ability to consolidate purchasing can all influence the operational value of a supplier relationship.

The campaign also illustrates a broader direction in B2B marketing: turning operational capabilities into a recognizable consumer-style brand narrative. Rather than explaining procurement efficiency through technical language, Staples is using the visual contrast between Hard and Easy to make an operational proposition easier to understand.

The long-term effectiveness of the platform will depend on whether the campaign's promise is supported consistently by availability, delivery, service and account experiences. For a brand built around “Easy,” those operational touchpoints become part of the marketing message itself.

Market Landscape

B2B procurement is increasingly focused on simplifying processes while balancing supplier concentration against operational and supply-chain risk.

Gartner's procurement research identifies supplier consolidation as a potential way to reduce administrative complexity and improve sourcing efficiency, while also emphasizing that organizations need to consider concentration risk rather than treating consolidation as an automatic solution.

Staples' new positioning sits within that broader shift: workplace purchasing is increasingly being presented as an integrated service relationship rather than a collection of individual transactions.

Strategic Outlook

Hard vs. Easy gives Staples a framework for translating its established brand identity into a broader B2B proposition.

The strategic question is whether customers experience the promised simplicity across the entire journey—from supplier selection and ordering through delivery, installation, support and repeat purchasing.

That makes the campaign notable not simply as an anniversary rebrand, but as an example of B2B marketing increasingly linking brand positioning with operational experience.

Top Insights

• Staples' Hard vs. Easy platform expands its longstanding Easy positioning into procurement, fulfillment, workplace services and business operations.
• The new Hard Button creates a visual counterpart to the Easy Button, turning supplier complexity and operational friction into the campaign's central contrast.
• Staples is positioning workplace expertise and infrastructure alongside product assortment as part of its business-services proposition.
• Supplier consolidation gives the campaign a procurement angle as businesses examine administrative complexity and fragmented vendor relationships.
• The platform demonstrates how B2B brands can translate operational capabilities into simpler consumer-facing marketing narratives.

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