In a love affair a decade in the making, Sandy Springs-based UPS launched a new slogan and ad campaign Monday -- "We [heart] logistics" -- leaving "What can brown do for you?" at the curb.
The change represents the company's first global marketing campaign and a new focus on its non-package delivery capabilities. While shipping remains the foundation of UPS' business, Christine Owens, senior vice president of communications and brand management for UPS, said the acquisition of more than 40 companies over the past 12 years has allowed UPS to create a worldwide logistics network.
Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, noted that the shift was a big one for UPS. With the move, the company is trying to claim ownership of the logistics space, he said.
"The bigger layer is expanding the category," he said. "UPS can play a big role for smaller companies. I think it makes sense for them to do that."
With the new ads, UPS is alerting small and mid-sized businesses to its capabilities providing services from transportation to financing to technology to allow companies to do business anywhere in the world. Competitors include Penske Logistics, Ryder and DHL.
With UPS' help, Owens said, companies of any size can compete on a global level without having to deal on their own with warehouses or getting their shipments through customs. Her hope, she said, is that more small companies are inclined to look into UPS as a result of the campaign.
Transportation analyst Dave Ross with Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore said the campaign probably will affect the company only on the margins, since the bulk of UPS' business is still in shipping. But Ken Bernhardt, professor of marketing at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, said UPS has increasingly changed its focus from shipping managers to target supply chain executives, chief financial officers and chief administrative officers.
"Their message has changed from one of merely shipping packages to one of total logistics systems," he said. "It makes sense for them to stop being thought of as a vendor."
Mark Dickens, a UPS spokesman, said that is a large part of the company's plan in the years ahead.
"It's about deep, strategic relationships," he said.
The campaign was created over a nine-month period by advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather. For the first time, the same slogan will be used nationally and internationally and UPS stores will be included in the campaign.
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