UPS – RESEARCHING TO RE-BRAND

UPS undertook a detailed study of what its brand attributes were before going in for a unified brand strategy across its various businesses. Though UPS had a number of service offerings in the area of supply chain solutions and consulting, customers were not aware of the services offered by UPS. The caselet deals with how UPS tried to communicate its offerings to the potential customer. It describes the ways in which UPS fine-tuned its promotional campaigns to meet the needs of its various target segments.
Issues:
» The role of branding in conveying the capabilities of an organization

» Research methods used by an organization to assess its brand attributes

» How organizations try to match the strength of their product and service offerings with the brand perception

Introduction
UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company and a provider of transportation and logistics services, had operations in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
In 2004, the company had revenues of US$ 36.6 billion and a net income of US$ 3.3 billion. In February 2004, a Fortune magazine survey rated UPS as the ‘World’s Most Admired’ company in its industry…

Questions for Discussion:
“As the capabilities of UPS outpaced the perception of the company carried in the market, there was a need for the company to align the two. UPS thus engaged in a brand overhaul.” How did the company evolve its research problems and objectives?

“In-depth interviews were conducted as part of research.” How did these interviews help UPS in its re-branding exercise?