The Gold Standard Award for ‘In House’ Team of the Year
Winner – DHL: Elevating DHL in highly contested logistics markets
Award Sponsored By: Edelman
The DHL Corporate Communications and Responsibility (CoRe) team employed two parallel plans for internal and external communications, designed to captivate the hearts and minds of consumers, customers, and employees in over 129 countries.
These proactive plans were supported by a brand momentum strategy that focused on frequency and consistency of communications, applying clear sets of governance policies and review processes to local market announcements across the highly fragmented Asia-Pacific region. By providing processes and training materials for local-market communicators that were simple, concise, and easy to comply to, the 10-person team was able to review more than 180 press releases; and deliver more than 50 reactive statements to potential crises and issues affecting DHL across the region.
By the end of 2014, this three-pronged strategy had helped DHL’s regional brand maintain 54% share of voice in Asia-Pacific, nearly 5 times that of its closest competitors; maintain market perception as a regional forerunner in areas like ease of doing business (over 60% positive), local expertise (nearly 60%) and genuinely worldwide service (nearly 70%), exceeding major competitors on all measured metrics; and attain a significant increase in reputation and product differentiation, based on a survey of nearly 1000 respondents across Asia-Pacific.
The relatively small team was also able to further bolster DHL’s regional reputation, ensure brand consistency across myriad markets, and set the stage for ongoing commercial growth in the coming years.
To demonstrate its robust service suite of planning, air freight, and last-mile logistics services, DHL transported two endangered giant pandas (Hao Hao and Xing Hui) from China to Pairi Daiza Park in Belgium as part of an international conservation/breeding program. This generated €3.2 million in AVE from the video, including a BBC World News feature; national broadcasts in 25 countries, including major prime-time TV in both China and Belgium; 438 pieces of coverage, more than 7500 Facebook interactions, and more than 600 tweets to the #DHLPanda hash-tag.
A suite of media packages around enhancements to DHL’s multimodal (truck, sea and rail) logistics services in China and Japan also generated 280 pieces of coverage; immediate increase in telesales requests for China’s rail service, forcing the sales team to rapidly expand to meet demand.
To reinforce DHL’s brand credibility amongst APEC economic leaders and business executives, the team also profiled Deutsche Post DHL CEO Frank Appel on the “Looking Beyond Business as Usual” panel at the 2014 APEC CEO Summit.
Simultaneously with external-facing activations, the team planned and delivered on a calendar of internal communications campaigns to inspire and increase commitment amongst Asia-Pacific’s 70,000 employees.
In 2014, the team launched the region’s first female-focused initiative – DHL Women’s Network – an online and offline community to inform, engage and inspire employees around the topic of women in leadership.
An internal training platform – Certified International Specialists (CIS)- encompassing 22,000 DHL Express employees across 40 countries and territories saw internal employee satisfaction survey results improve by 20 points to 91% – an all-time high for the region and improved participation in Global Volunteer Day (GVD).
SHORTLISTED: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited: In-House Team
The Asia Pacific communications team consists of three people. Their campaign to increase the brand’s presence across the region saw significant engagement across all Deloitte teams, an average of 5-6 positive pieces of coverage a month, independent of reports, regular and positive coverage leading to client interest, and greater uptake of internal communications and newsletters.
SHORTLISTED: Vitasoy International Holdings Ltd: Vitasoy In-House Team
Vitasoy enhanced its corporate positioning to meet growing public expectation and regulatory needs on sustainability by relaunching an improved corporate online platform and publishing a Sustainability Report. The Company’s net share price increased and performed better than the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HSI) and won five Hong Kong Investor Relations Awards in 2015.
SHORTLISTED: Logan City Council Media and Communication Branch: It’s not rocket science – Using strategic partnerships to change the face of Logan
Portrayed in the media as an undesirable place to live, work or invest, a 2014 engagement campaign with media, industry and nearby councils helped to change perceptions, generating 9,284 media articles (12.2% YoY) – of which 95% were positive or neutral – exceeding the communication objectives.
About the Sponsor: Edelman
Edelman is a leading global communications marketing firm, with more than 5,500 employees in 65 cities worldwide. Edelman partners with many of the world’s largest and emerging businesses and organizations, helping them evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations.
Edelman operates in 13 countries across Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APACMEA) and has affiliates in more than 35 cities. Edelman was named The Holmes Report’s 2012 Asia-Pacific, 2014 Asia-Pacific Digital, 2013 Middle East and 2012 India Consultancy of the Year; Campaign Asia-Pacific’s 2012 Greater China PR, 2013 Indonesia Digital, 2014 Australia/New Zealand PR and 2012 and 2013 South Asia PR Agency of the Year; PRWeek’s 2015 Japan/Korea PR Consultancy of the Year; and Marketing Magazine’s 2014 Singapore PR Agency of the Year. In 2013, Edelman was awarded 17PR’s Top Employer in China and is an Economic Times’ Best Company to Work for in India.