Staples has circulated a request for proposals in an effort to consolidate all of the company’s communications efforts, sources said.
Staples' roster shops include McCann Erickson, whose ads featured the retailer's "Easy Button" marketing device; MediaCom; Razorfish; and various public relations shops. Select Resources International in Santa Monica, Calif., is believed to be handling the search.
In recent years, Staples has spent more than $55 million annually in measured media, according to Nielsen.
In late 2011 the Framingham, Mass.-based company reached out to creative agencies for ideas about its branding needs, joining a long list of retailers—including Sears, Best Buy, JCPenney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Foot Locker and Radio Shack—that sought new ideas amid the economic head winds of the recession.
A Staples representative, SRI and the agencies could not immediately be reached.