In the wake of its catchy “We Love Logistics,” campaign, the global effort introduced last year from Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, United Parcel Service of America is hoping its latest move will make a cannonball splash.
Today, UPS officially launches UPS My Choice, a service that lets customers manage their deliveries.
“It's really about being in control of logistics,” said Christine Owens, senior VP-communications and brand management at UPS.
Individuals who sign up for the service will have options such as being able to delay deliveries or redirect deliveries to a UPS Store or other location. The cost for the service ranges from free to $40 for premium offerings.
And while My Choice is essentially a consumer play—grown out of the frustration consumers feel when they miss deliveries—Owens said it has unlimited uses for small home offices and telecommuting business professionals.
UPS will promote the service on Facebook and its website as well as through its UPS blogs, UPS Stores and its retail shippers. It's lined up Joe Montana as its celebrity endorser and has a sweepstakes planned.
Owens said its “Logistics” campaign continues to frame UPS' marketing, from the green heart icon that represents its sustainability efforts to the employee videos on its blogs. Almost 8 million people have spent time on its four international sites (thenewlogistics.ups.com). In addition, there have been 372,000 video views, 404,000 case study views, 5,000 visitors opted in to an email series and 10,000 visitors requested to be contacted by UPS for more information. “It resonates across all segments—small businesses, medium-sized businesses and large,” she said.
UPS continues to be heavily involved in sports sponsorships, including NASCAR and college sports. In August, it inked an agreement with IMG College, a multimedia marketing company, as well as the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences, which will augment its existing sponsorships of the SEC and NCAA.
For the 2012 Olympic Games in London, UPS' sponsorship will include heavy-lifting: handling 30 million items for 46 sporting events in about 2 ½ weeks, Owens said, everything from dormitory furniture to sporting equipment. “The only thing we're not moving is horses,” she said. —P.R.
