Really? Competitors do DHL’s advertising

Author: CIMCOM

Logistics company, DHL, created a smart campaign to generate a media buzz and spread its message:  DHL is faster.

But what is quite stunning is that it did it without an advertising budget and without using media channels. In fact, DHL got its competitors to do all the work.

Now its agency has picked up an award for this marketing campaign. 

How?

DHL created oversized packages, printed with a brand message on thermoactive foil. It cooled the packages to a low temperature, which turned the boxes black. This hid the printed message on the boxes.

As the competitor organisations, like UPS, collected and tried to deliver the packages, the thermo-sensitive boxes warmed up revealing the slogan, “DHL is faster”. It certainly caught people’s imagination.

Results

• 4 million video views in the first days
• number one topic on Twitter
• top 10 videos on YouTube
• almost 100k shares on Facebook

The agency, behind the campaign, Jung von Matt AG Germany has also just won the 2015 Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness Grand Trophy for developing this ‘Trojan Mailing’ campaign for client DHL.

Watch the story

DHL wrapped up the campaign with a film of the Trojan Mailing story. It’s now had over 5 million views.