How many FedEx logos fit on the isle of Manhattan?
If you’ve ever doubted how ubiquitous the FedEx brand is in modern business life, just try this exercise.
Steve Pacheco, managing director, advertising at FedEx, told a Thursday luncheon held by the Business Marketing Association’s Chicago chapter that he likes to walk the streets of New York to see how far he can go without seeing a FedEx logo somewhere – on a truck, a storefront, a package, someone’s T-shirt. His record – eight blocks.
“The ubiquity of that brand is no accident,” he told the BMA gathering. He then went on to show a video demonstrating FedEx’s vast ad reach across all media from print to events to TV to online. The shipping giant celebrated its 35th anniversary this year. It’s full-court advertising and marketing push will continue as it looks ahead to future birthdays, he noted.
And the brand is expanding as FedEx eliminates the Kinko’s name it inherited when it bought that chain of copy centers back in 2003. The images of the two brands never quit meshed, Pacheco said. FedEx Kinko’s, the name that was slapped on combined FedEx and Kinko’s locations after the takeover, is being replaced by FedEx Office, a new name that will facilitate taking the concept of stores that do shipping, copying, et. al to an international audience, he said. Expect a big marketing push for that new name.
I’d guess some of the marketing folks in the audience who work for smaller companies might have been wondering what FedEx does that they could emulate with marketing budgets that are puny compared to FedEx’s.
Pacheco gave an answer when he described how FedEx watches every contact point it has with customers --- from the local FedEx delivery person to its sponsorship of major sporting events like the FedEx Orange Bowl. They all matter when it comes to image building.
That’s a message smaller companies often forget in their search for marketing magic bullets. Anyone who interacts with your customers is part of your marketing message, often the most important part, since they are what customers experience and remember about your brand. Don’t ignore how they fit into your brand strategy.
