Tom Tedford: Yes, Kevin, it’s a really good question and one that our marketing teams are closely monitoring. So we do believe that there are shifts in the way people work that are going to be permanent. And there’s opportunities embedded in that, that our marketing teams are exploring for solutions that we believe our brands and our products can support moving forward. I’m excited to see the early thoughts on this topic from our marketing teams and our product development teams. But I think these changes are here to stay, and it’s a great opportunity for us to step in and offer solutions to consumers and end users that they need in this changing work environment. But I don’t really see a catalyst to bring office occupancy up significantly in the near term.
Something is going to have to change for that to accelerate, and we just don’t see that in the near term. And again, it’s one of the reasons why we’re being a bit cautious on our revenue outlook for the balance of the year.
Kevin Steinke: Okay. Thank you. And on the cost savings, I don’t know if I’m reading too much into this, but you talked, I think you said SG&A is expected to be down slightly. I think last quarter, you were saying flat to down slightly. So I don’t know if you’re a bit ahead on the cost savings? Or is that $20 million is still the number to think about?
Tom Tedford: Yes. So the $20 million is absolutely the number that we believe is going to be delivered in 2024. We are looking to prudently manage the balance of the year, and that likely means will come in slightly above that $20 million. But again, as revenue moves, right, we’ll make sure that our cost structure is in support of the sales for the business. And we’ve done a good job of that historically, and we’ll continue to do that moving forward.
Kevin Steinke: Okay, understood. Thanks for taking my questions.
Tom Tedford: Thank you, Kevin.
Operator: We now turn to Hale Holden with Barclays. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hale Holden: Hi, good morning. I just had one question. Tom, you made the point in your script around exiting private label, but that your brands would sort of carry the day in U.S. back-to-school this summer. And what we’re seeing in other categories away from yours is trade down to value in private label. So I was wondering how confident you were on that or how much risk to the guide there was around that assumption?
Tom Tedford: Yes, Hale, it’s a great question. And certainly, there are certain categories that we’re seeing trade down. The good thing about ACCO Brands is we have a very diverse brand portfolio and for our back-to-school customers, obviously, Five Star is our value-enhanced brand. It’s one that we feel very strongly in supporting and it serves our consumers really during difficult financial times and more robust economic time. So Five Star has proved to perform quite well regardless of the macro backdrop. But we also offer Mead, which is a value brand at a lower price for consumers. And so last year, if you think of last year as a bit of a proxy, our combined brands in the market took market share. And that, I think, was our fourth or fifth year in a row of taking market share, competing against all of our competitors, including private label.
So it’s important that we’re sharp with our value proposition. It’s important that we’re sharp with our pricing in the marketplace. And we’re kind of on point with our promotions, which we do a really good job of in North America. So I anticipate this year will be no different than previous years that will perform well during the season. We’ve got great partnerships with retailers in e-commerce, and that’s a good recipe for our business, and it’s proven to work well over time.
Hale Holden: Great. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Tom Tedford: Thank you.
Operator: [Operator Instructions]. We now turn to William Reuter with Bank of America. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
William Reuter: Good morning. My first question is a topic which you’ve touched upon a couple of times here. You’ve talked about when the market improves. You’ve also talked — and being positioned for that. You’ve also talked about how you don’t really see any — there’s no expectation that office occupancy is going to improve in the near term. So what are the drivers that could cause kind of your core office products category to return to growth or at least stabilize? What types of changes in the environment?
Tom Tedford: Yes, it’s a good question. So I’ve alluded to the work that we’re doing really to address some of the needs of the consumers in the future of work. So our expectation is, moving forward, we’ll have a bigger, larger impact on revenue from new products that we’re introducing into the market. I think that is extremely important. That’s a big focus of our management team and our organization, and we believe that’s a critical element of growth moving forward. Market share gains, our brands are usually number 1 or number 2 globally in the categories that we compete in and making sure that our value proposition is sharp, making sure that we’re distributed across all the channels that matter is also important. So making sure that we’re managing that piece of our business is a component of driving growth.
We’re also looking at international expansion. So we’ve got strong brands and strong products that are distributed in certain markets that aren’t distributed in others. Our teams are looking at leveraging that as a part of our growth strategy moving forward. And then the net impact of price, right? So there will be some price increases that we need in the market, in certain markets. And that combination of activities, along with improving kind of macro trends, we believe better positions the business for growth. When those things occur, it’s difficult at this point to tell, but we’re confident that as we look ahead for the balance of the year, sequentially, the quarters will get better building off of Q1.
William Reuter: Got it. That makes sense. And then in terms of innovation, are there certain of your different product categories that you think there’s more opportunity for innovation than others? And what would some of those be? You kind of mentioned that it sounds like the management team is working more closely with some of your customers to kind of fill their needs. So what have you heard from some of those customers about where there are needs that could be addressed with innovation?
