My mother taught me to love what I do, so when I see other people’s passion for their work—no matter how repetitive or basic it may seem—I love that.
I ride the metro to work. This morning, I noticed a new ad campaign plastered all over the Montgomery Muni station. Dozens of UPS poster diptychs with smiling people holding brown packages. People of all colors, shapes, and sizes. People who love logistics.
Having worked a few levels below the COO of Apple for five years, I understand a bit about logistics. But I wouldn’t assume the average person in a train station thinks, “I ♥ LOGISTICS.”
Most people probably don’t get excited by words like “operations,” “supply chain,” “warehousing,” “customs brokerage,” and “returns management.” These are a few elements of logistics.
But none of those things matter, because everyone knows what UPS does. They bring you the brown packages that make you smile.
What really matters is that UPS is telling you what moves them: helping companies deliver happiness to their customers. And they’re okay with you not understanding the “magic” behind the scenes when they deliver three gazillion iPods on Christmas Eve.
The campaign works, because it’s simple, focused, and clear. It has:
- Life-size portraits of real people and UPS employees
- An easy to understand, positive message: “I ♥ LOGISTICS”
- Targeted copy to match each ad variation (e.g., the ad with a bike shop owner mentions handlebars)
- Consistent messaging, from print and TV, to the Web and social media sites
The campaign feels human and emotional. UPS tells a story with a happy ending. And in the images, they treat each package with care—whether they’re delivering a new pair of shoes or a box of chocolate.
More details:
- View the site: thenewlogistics.com.
- Watch Betsy Wilson, UPS Director of Advertising, talk about the campaign on YouTube.
- Read the Ogilvy & Mather press release.
Note: There’s also a mobile version of the site, which makes up for the fact that the main one is in Flash.
| 
1 comments so far. Add yours below.
Debbie Curtis-Magley says:
Hi Nicole:
Thanks so much for sharing your love of our campaign : ) Logistics is truly the fuel that drives us at UPS. We’re excited to share our passion for logistics through the campaign and delighted to see the response it’s generated from our customers and our employees.
Cheers!
Debbie Curtis-Magley
UPS Public Relations
October 6, 2010 7:21 PM