Bob Thacker; Senior VP-marketing and advertising, OfficeMax.(Special Report: Media Mavens)(Interview)

Advertising Age, September, 2007 by Macarthur, Kate

Byline: kate macarthur

Deep in the throes of a post-merger turnaround, office-supply marketer OfficeMax easily could have drawn comparisons to TV's fictional paper-supply company, Dunder-Mifflin of "The Office'' fame. Luckily, OfficeMax had Bob Thacker.

Since joining the No. 3 office supplier in 2005, the senior VP-marketing and advertising has crafted a sense of fun around the brand with a media philosophy he used previously to portray Target's cheap-chic.

What resulted was a series of campaigns that got people not only talking but also shopping at OfficeMax. For its crucial back-to-school season, Mr. Thacker's team created a "Punk'd''-style prank show called "Schooled.'' Aided by parents, teachers and teen pop star Jesse McCartney,...

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