• by Karl Greenberg , September 13, 2010

UPS on Monday launches its first global ad campaign, and the first campaign since jettisoning The Martin Agency in the Americas and McCann Erickson outside the U.S. It is the first work for UPS for its new global AOR Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.

The effort, with UPS's new global tag line "UPS [Hearts] Logistics," replaces the "whiteboard" North American ad campaign that featured the agency's creative director Andy Azula explaining the virtues of the global shipping company. Outside the U.S., the tag was "Deliver More."

The campaign starts this week in the U.S., China, Mexico and the U.K. with other countries to follow. The ads also introduce a jingle, "That's Logistics," set to the tune of the 1952 Dean Martin signature song "That's Amore."

"People may not always recognize the melody, but it has an emotional quality and it's catchy," says Maureen Healy, UPS's VP of advertising, brand and customer communications. "We needed an idea that could work in different countries and with different decision makers, from C-level to small businesses and individual consumers," she tells Marketing Daily. Healy says the campaign is also the first to be adopted by UPS stores, the U.S. retail unit of the company, which has not in the past aligned its overall brand messaging with that of the parent company.

Betsy Wilson, UPS's director of global advertising, tells Marketing Daily that the campaign, which is intended to have both an emotional and analytic appeal, is the first to feature real UPS employees.

"The primary target is business, from individuals to strategic business thinkers, so while this is a rational decision for those people, there is an emotional quotient in terms of how people interact with the brand," she says. "The whole campaign is about re-positioning logistics -- inviting people to think about it in a new way: shipping and transportation as a competitive advantage; as a way to serve customers better, and differentiate yourself in the marketplace."

The first ads begin Monday in the U.S., China and U.K. with creative in Mexico scheduled to start on Sept. 20. The campaign includes print, TV, digital, social and outdoor. The company is taking out full-page ads in leading papers this week to explain "why logistics is the most powerful force in business today, and why you should understand it."

Wilson says it was time to make a change from the North American and shipping-focused "Whiteboard" effort to a global message that transcends shipping because -- having acquired 40-plus companies over the past decade -- UPS is no longer just a shipping company. She says that since 1999, when UPS went public, it has gotten more involved in other business services allied with shipping, such as customs brokerage, international trade and financial services.