Beyond Back-to-School:
How Staples Canada Became a Year-Round Destination
Transforming Seasonal Perception into Always-On Community
What we did
How do you shift perception of a brand that's become synonymous with a single moment in time?
For Staples Canada, TIA developed an integrated social media strategy that showcased the full breadth of their offerings—proving they're not just the back-to-school destination, but a year-round partner for work, learning, and everything in between.
The spark
With over 120 retail locations across Canada, Staples Canada has everything students, teachers, kids, and businesses need to work, learn, and grow together. But there was a challenge: despite offering tech, print services, shipping, travel, and office supplies year-round, the brand was best known for one thing—Back To School season.
We set out to reposition Staples Canada as a year-round retailer while building a thriving community around continuous learning and exploration.
Services
Social Media Management
Branded Content Creation
Influencer Partnerships
UGC Creator Collaborations
Reactive & Trend Content
Community Building & Giveaways
The strategy
Staples Canada's business is driven by key seasonal shopping moments, back to school, holiday, and beyond. We mapped out an annual plan that outlined how organic social, branded content, reactive content, influencer partnerships, and UGC would work together holistically across every priority moment.
To support community growth, we hosted 10 giveaways throughout the year, partnered with UGC creators for authentic collaboration posts, and hopped on reactive video trends weekly to capitalize on cultural moments and keep the brand top of mind.
Creative approach
Our creative strategy leaned into "edu-tainment" content that's both educational and fun, perfectly aligned with Staples Canada's "work and learning" core values.
We drew inspiration from seasonality, key sales moments, and trending content to develop over 160+ branded content assets including video, reactive content, and stop-motion pieces that resonated across platforms.
59m+
total impressions
2.4k+
posts published
19k+
cumulative follower growth
160+
branded content assets created
Why it worked
By thinking beyond the back-to-school rush and creating a consistent drumbeat of engaging, edu-tainment content, we transformed Staples Canada's social presence into a true community hub. Our blend of seasonal relevance, trend-jacking agility, and authentic creator partnerships proved that when you meet audiences where they are, all year long, you become part of their everyday lives, not just their September shopping lists.