Company: DHL
Agency: Ogilvy PR (until end of 2005); Taylor PR (from 2006 to present)
Timeframe: 2005 - 2006
In a world where their two main competitors, UPS and FedEx, have exerted supreme dominance, DHL was feeling ...unloved. Wanting to stand up and be counted for its expertise in
express delivery and logistics, DHL initially partnered up with Ogilvy PR Worldwide in 2004 to raise its profile and change its image of being the industry's Charlie Brown. It did
just that when it signed a three-year contract in 2005 to become a sponsor of Major League Baseball (MLB). And although the program underwent an agency switch midstream with
Taylor PR coming on board in early 2006, it came off without any strikes.
In its quest to get more people in the marketplace yapping about DHL, Ogilvy PR got things started by launching a $150 million integrated advertising and marketing campaign.
After conducting research to uncover ways to differentiate itself from its rivals and grow brand recognition, DHL honed in on becoming a MLB sponsor. According to its findings,
MLB, unlike the other major sports organizations, had the target audience DHL most wanted to reach:
- 54% male and 46% female composition, making it the most gender-balanced of all the sports fan bases;
- People of all ages: teens, 12 - 17 (11%); young adults, 18-34 (36%); middle-aged adults, 35-54 (36%) and older adults, 55+ (26%); and,
- Decision-makers in small to medium businesses (with employees of 100 or less).
The gender-balanced baseball fan base was exactly what DHL was looking to attract for this campaign. "The demographics tie very closely to the decision makers within the
express statistics and delivery business," says Jonathan Baker, director of DHL's corporate communications.
Let's Play Ball
Beginning in March 2005, Ogilvy PR worked closely with DHL to mount an aggressive media campaign. Key points of the compaign were the following:
- Making sure it leveraged the announcement of DHL's new MLB sponsorship and it being named the "Official Shipping and Logistics Provider to Major League Baseball";
- Using celebrity spokespersons for the announcement and during the ongoing campaign;
- Promoting events, such as DHL's delivery of the World Series Rings to the Boston Red Sox, the World Series Trophy to Game 4 of the World Series and other MLB trophies to All-
Star FanFest Week; and,
- Utilizing MLB sponsorship to foster DHL's field refurbishment corporate citizenship program.
For the latter element, DHL, according to Baker, worked with several major league baseball teams, among them the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox, to
identify local fields used by either a boys or girls club and refurbish them.
To promote DHL's MLB sponsorship, Ogilvy PR created media alerts, press releases, a Q&A fact sheet, pitches angles and a baseball-themed media kit. They also created
DHL/MLB-branded baseballs and baseball caps to send to media to generate buzz.
Game Day
March 31, 2005, was a pivotal day in the history of DHL's PR department. The company publicly announced its three-year sponsorship agreement with MLB and the Major League
Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) at a press conference with select media, including print, TV, radio broadcast and newswires, at MLB headquarters in Manhattan. Here, DHL was tagged
with the signature motto embodying its sponsorship --"Official Express Delivery and Logistics Provider" of both MBL and the MLBAM.
Being a good citizen was another important prong of this multifaceted campaign. In August 2005, DHL announced plans to refurbish three community baseball parks in Houston,
Atlanta and Phoenix. Working with them were MLB staffers, local DHL volunteers, contractors, community members and local children. After each field was streamlined and upgraded,
DHL presented the fields to the local youth baseball leagues who were then invited to play an exhibition game.
In November that same year, DHL signed a sponsorship pact with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. It named DHL as the "Official Express Delivery and Logistics
Provider of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum." As part of the agreement, Ogilvy promoted DHL's delivery of 600 printed ballots from Cooperstown, NY (where the museum
is based) to the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) in the New York City area.
Of course, nothing hikes up the interest quotient in a media campaign like giving it some celebrity luster, and this was no exception. Erstwhile Boston Red Sox slugger (and
current New York Yankee) Johnny Damon worked with DHL to develop MLB-related marketing for the official March launch of the sponsorship, which later aired on national television.
In May, when DHL announced the inaugural "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award," an MLB award honoring the most outstanding relief pitcher or
closer for each month of the season, they enlisted Hall of Famer (and legendary reliever) Dennis Eckersley in monthly radio tours to discuss the program and the monthly winner.
With MLB and MLB.com, DHL spearheaded an online fan voting campaign for the DHL Delivery Man of the Year award; Ogilvy PR again teamed up with Eckersley to promote the voting via
a satellite media tour and national media outreach.
Bringing In The Pinch Hitter
When Taylor PR took over where Ogilvy left off in 2006, the firm, which specializes in sports, tapped Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to be the spokesperson for the Delivery Man of
the Month Award. It proved to be a home run for the program. "His media interest was high and he was tremendous to work with," says Bill Holtz, vice president of Taylor PR. "He
was very enthusiastic and very flexible especially given that he was going into the Hall of Fame that year and he had a lot of commitments and a lot of things to do to prepare for
that. But he did everything we asked and more."
(See sidebar for choosing the right spokesperson.)
The ball got tossed into Taylor PR's field the end of 2005 when the agency began working with DHL on their Olympic sponsorship of the 2006 Winter Games. From there, the
partnership segued into the MLB program. For Baker, it's been an ideal combination.
"They are an agency that is very well plugged into the sporting/sports marketing space," he says. "They know the journalists very well in this space and are able to craft a
storyline which is attractive to them." He notes that the initiative was a collaboration in which DHL executives came up with some ideas that were implemented by the agency, while
others were based on agency-client brainstorming sessions."
Although the agency did continue previous ongoing initiatives such as the Delivery Man of the Month and Delivery Man of the Year Awards, they quickly established their
consummate mastery of the sports area by suggesting and executing a program that tugged at the heartstrings of all baseball fans and players alike: the Hometown Heroes program.
Begun in 2006, the program honors (with fans voting online at MLB.com) "hometown heroes" of each of the 30 major league baseball franchises. With nearly 17 million votes cast and
220 million media impressions amassed in 2006, the program has become an enormous success. It has even been celebrated with two honors: a Gold Mercury Award last and an O'Dwyer
Award. "It really was the major marquee marketing program for MLB in 2006," says Holtz.
The results of the campaign are suggestive of a PR success. Media impressions for the period between 2005 and 2006 were appraised at more than 180 million. On the national
level, media coverage was represented by the likes of ESPN and CNN. Local coverage was garnered in key markets such as Boston (Boston Globe, CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC affiliates);
Chicago (Chicago Tribune, ABC affiliate); and Philadelphia (Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer).
Taylor PR augmented the media attention by implementing a extensive platform that consisted of them hosting media tours and lunches for DHL. The agency also persuaded DHL to
kick off the Hometown Heroes program at the high-profile All Stars Major League Game when it was played in Pittsburgh in 2006. Though DHL did express trepidation about showing
their presence there, Taylor told them they belonged there because they're a sponsor and for that reason, needed to be in attendance. Such advice has helped command DHL's respect
and esteem, showing that trust in agency advisors is essential to maintaining a symbiotic relationship.
"It's a partnership they value that works well," says Holtz. "The MLB program was very successful in their eyes and in our eyes. It did win a couple of awards so that always
makes you feel good and gives you some validation."
The outcome has been a homerun for DHL, though measures of ongoing success remain to be seen. However, not only did the campaign elevate DHL's media visibility in a market
where two titanic competitors had previously dwarfed them, but it reached a wide spectrum of audiences that included business-to-business customers, business-to-consumer
customers, MLB fans, media and the general public.
Play ball. PRN
CONTACTS:
Jonathan Baker, [email protected]; Bill Holtz, [email protected]
Choosing the Right Spokesperson
When executing a media campaign, finding the right spokesperson can be a challenge. Fortunately for Taylor PR, a firm well versed in this area, that wasn't such a difficult
chore, considering they had previous experience with many of the spokespersons chosen for the 2006 Delivery Man of the Month and the Delivery Man of the Year Awards, as well as
the Hometown Heroes program for client DHL. Still, there are definite criteria, you should follow when picking a celeb to represent your product in the media, says Bill Holtz,
vice president of Taylor PR.
- "It's looking at what the program is: Does that person have relevancy? For instance, when you're talking about the Delivery Man of the Month, you're honoring the top
relief pitchers; obviously it would make sense to go with a former relief pitcher who has name recognition, media value and who can deliver the key messages and knows how to work
with media."
- "For the Hometown Heroes program, when we talk about the legacy and history of the game, it's great to choose people who have been a part of the fabric of the game, who have
made an impact. Last year we had Cal Ripken Jr. and Johnny Bench as spokespersons -- guys who were in their own right hometown heroes. We also used Lou Pinella, who is a retired
player and a World Series-winning manager. He was good in bringing that perspective as a former player and also having managed several of the nominees on our Hometown Heroes List.
He could speak from his vast baseball experience about these guys and about their impact on the game."