Office supplies super-store Staples has enlisted actor Rico Rodriguez (who plays "Manny" on hit sitcom "Modern Family") as the company's pitchman for Back to School in 2011. Rodriguez starts in a dozen web commercials plus in another few for television, including one Spanish-language spot. Rodriguez is an interesting choice. He appears to have inter-generational appeal and as a Mexican-American he should also appeal to the fast growing Hispanic market.
However, just because something makes sense on paper doesn't mean it'll stand up to scrutiny when the rubber hits the road. The back to school market is highly competitive and draws retail giants like Wal-Mart, Target, electronics company Best Buy and of course online behemoth Amazon. Since retail in general is stuck in the doldrums back to school is a relative rare opportunity for stores to get their hands in customers' wallets.
Back to school is a somewhat challenging campaign to manage because the actual start day for school varies quite a bit from state to state. By comparison, the holiday shopping season starts the week of Thanksgiving and is pretty much balls to the wall from that point on. Back to school marketers have to worry about getting the word out early - meaning more or less the first week of July - without blowing their load before customers start shopping in earnest.
Nor is it simply about deciding when and how much air and print to buy for commercials and advertising, it's also the matter of which promotions to run when, which products to use as loss leaders in order to drive traffic to the stores without just bringing in cherry pickers.
It will be interesting to see if Rico Rodriguez can get cash registers ringing at Staples.