DHL looks to score a few brand goals

The global logistics major is deepening its association with Indian Super League and small businesses to build its brand

When the opportunity to partner the Indian Super League (ISL), a professional league for men's football, first came up last year, German logistics company DHL grabbed it with both hands. For one, football is played in the majority of the countries the company operates in and is a natural fit for the brand. Secondly, the league was offering up a chance to be a part of the game's growing popularity in the country, almost fortuitously, at a time the brand was looking to increase its mass appeal. A year later, DHL is raising its association with ISL up a notch. It has signed up as associate partner with investments estimated around Rs 8 to 10 crore by industry sources and is crafting special consumer interactions to further its goals in the country.

The world over, DHL's brand strategy is built around football, F1 racing, fashion shows and marathons. The company has used these sectors, sports specifically, to drive engagement with individual and B2B customers. In India too, it aims to do the same. "At DHL, we pride ourselves on speed, precision and team work. All of these are required in these sports as well. We believe that if a parcel is stationery, it is akin to a crime. In football, F1 and rugby (which we associate with outside India), it is a similar case. Players have to be on the move," explains R S Subramanian, senior vice president and country manager, DHL India.

For India, DHL also runs SME clinics for small and medium sized enterprises. This is an attempt to break the elitist tag associated with the label. "We have very high service standards. But it also comes with the tag of being 'big boys' and we realised SME's felt intimidated. For the past four years, we have been conducting SME clinics where the community can meet, greet and discuss various aspects of the business. We have reached out to 25 SME clusters and this forms 65-70 per cent of our business," says Subramanian.

Engage, connect, build

DHL plans on-ground and social media campaigns to drive brand visibility during the ISL. It was associated with the league last year too, but in the capacity of a logistics partner. This year, it is an associate partner and is looking at ways to engage more deeply with the game and the players.

The company has set up special awards and contests, which are in keeping with the brand's goals and characteristics. For instance, DHL's 'winning pass award' for the player helping to score a goal, emphasises the facilitative nature of the brand. "Mostly, it is the player who scores the goal who gets the limelight. However, the one who made it possible is equally important. He is the facilitator. We see ourselves as facilitators to our customers' success and the award fits well with our positioning," explains Subramanian.

Apart from this, the company will also run contests on social media. It has planned fan-engagement initiatives whereby the winner of one such contest will hand-deliver the ball at the start of the match. The initial plan was to use a drone (again a play on the services offered by the company), but security restrictions forbade that.

Scale and reach

DHL's brand strategy, worldwide, is to look at opportunities that can be scaled up in terms of geographies and engagement initiatives. It does not, typically, engage brand endorsers or advertise heavily in traditional media.

"Associating with a sport means we can reach out to a wider audience. Currently, in India, we don't feel the need to associate with a celebrity endorser because football provides immense opportunity to scale up," says Subramanian. He explains that the company did not go for cricket even though it is more popular in India as it does not offer up similar advantages of scale. "We are present in 220 countries, and cricket is played in 12 to 15 of them. The global parent cannot hope to scale up an association with cricket. Football however, is played in majority of these countries," says Subramanian.

Also most of its associations are with sporting tournaments, rather than a team or celebrity. The rationale is that when the company associates with the sport and not individuals, there is more scope to broaden the base for activations and campaigns. In India, depending on the events and the nature of the association, sports accounts for anything between 25 to 40 per cent of the marketing budget, says Subramanian. He however refrained from pinning down a specific number on the association with the ISL.

Although sport makes up the bulk of the marketing budget at present, DHL is also looking at associating with different kinds of events in its endeavour to tap into a wider set of consumers. Apart from SME clinics, it has looked at fashion shows as these require extensive logistical support, a natural fit for a logistics brand.