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INTRODUCTION
The leading companies devise and evaluate their marketing strategy to survive and keep up with
the rapid transformations in dynamic and competitive environment. Along with the globalization
and the development of technologies, more and more companies have realized how complex the
competitive situation is today. Increasingly, in order to respond to the highly competitive
environment, many companies have to look for an approach to develop them from inside to
outside and it is essential for multinational companies to focus on the differences among
different countries in developing marketing strategy. It is also very important to figure out what
the key factors are to make a company successful.
As a brand new industry, the main function of 3PL can provide and integrate operation,
warehousing and transportation services that can be scaled and customized based on customer
needs or market conditions. 3PL often satisfies the customers demand by delivering goods and
services in right time at required place. Basically, by the help of 3PL or effective logistics, shippers
get opportunity to maintain their commitments by delivering high quality and timely services to
customers. An excellent delivery service cannot only win the loyal customer but also gain large
profits that expand companys business. An important research can be carried out to investigate
how marketing strategy can be developed to improve such a growing industry.
This report focuses on a 3PL company-DHL mainly to examine what reasons or factors make it
one of the most successful logistics companies all over the world, and what competitive
advantage DHL can gain through external analysis and internal analysis of marketing strategy.
External analysis is an exercise in creative thinking from different perspectives, such as
competitor, customer, environment and etc. These perspectives can help define the relevant
industry. On the other hand internal analysis identifies brand association, products quality and
customer satisfaction of companies. In the end SWOT analysis would be used to summarize the
companys strength, weakness, opportunity and threats.

BACKGROUND OF THE REPORT
The world is standing at the threshold of a new millennium. We expect it to be full of successes,
discoveries, developments and happiness and this will be possible due to globalization,
technological advancements (changes) and the dramatic economic changes.
Whenever we talk about economy, we mean financial performance of a country, company or a
firm. So in this case the most used and the important term is technology. The term technology is
the most crucial part of the business world as it helps us to give logistic supports on time.
The report titled as Global Marketing Strategy Of DHL is originated from the partial
requirement of the course Global Marketing It is actually a joint student faculty learning
experience, where the students learn the Marketing Activities of several global business service
organizations or firms.


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OBJECTIVE OF THE REPORT
This report seeks overall information about marketing activities. By this report we tried to
represent the actual relevant use of marketing activities in business. Basically there are two
objectives behind doing this report, and they are as follows:
The first and the foremost objective of the report are to fulfill the partial
requirement of the course Global Marketing.
The second objective of the report is to understand the marketing activities of a
business organization.

BENEFIT OF THE REPORT
The best part of this report is that the students get the opportunity to visualize the scenario of
the marketing impact of the company through the analysis. It also helps the student to
understand the concept of applying several marketing strategies in the practical field. This will
help the student to enhance their knowledge.

LIMITATION OF THE REPORT
Although it was really an interesting experience to find out the implications of several marketing
related activities in business as well as about the real business but I had to face my share of
limitations while preparing the report and those limitations were:
Time Constraints.
Lack of proper information.

WHERE DOES THE NAME DHL COME FROM?

These are the first letters of the last names of the three company founders, Adrian Dalsey, Larry
Hillblom and Robert Lynn. In 1969, just months after the world had marveled at Neil Armstrongs
first steps on the moon, the three partners took another small step that would have a profound
impact on the way the world does business. The founders began to personally ship papers by
airplane from San Francisco to Honolulu, beginning customs clearance of the ships cargo before
the actual arrival of the ship and dramatically reducing waiting time in the harbor. Customers
stood to save a fortune. With this concept, a new industry was born: international air express, the
rapid delivery of documents and shipments by airplane. The DHL Network continued to grow at
an incredible pace. The company expanded westward from Hawaii into the Far East and Pacific
Rim, then the Middle East, Africa and Europe. By 1988, DHL was already present in 170 countries
and had 16,000 employees.


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BRIEF HISTORY OF DHL
1969
On 25 September, Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn (the D, H and L in our company
name) incorporate DHL. The company begins by operating a door-to-door express delivery
service, transporting documents only between San Francisco, California and Honolulu, Hawaii.
1970
After one year, DHL is handling shipments for 40 clients and expanding its operations to include
Guam, Los Angeles and Portland, Ohio.
1971
With a rapidly growing network of enthusiastic customers in the USA; DHL begins to meet
demands for an international service by opening territories in the Far East and Pacific Rim.
The Philippines becomes operational and the US network continues to develop.
1972
DHL International is founded with the opening of an office in Hong Kong, and this is followed later
that year by offices being established in Japan and Singapore.
1973
Now with over 3,000 clients and 314 staff, DHL uses its substantial experience and expertise in
the international air express industry to commence services to New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia,
Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand.
1974
This year DHL handles over 500,000 shipments.
Operations in the UK commence, spurred by the increasing importance of London as a key
financial centre.
1975
DHL continues to move into Continental Europe, opening offices in Amsterdam and Paris and
begins a service to South Korea. DHL is the first express delivery company to open up in the
Middle East with offices in Tehran, Iran.
1976
DHL opens in Mexico and Scotland. DHL begins a service to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the
Middle East.


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1977
DHL opens service centres in Canada, Korea, Norway and Germany. The company also develops
its network in the Middle East with offices opening in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
DHL begins to move away from pure document delivery by introducing the Small Parcel Express
service, which later became Worldwide Parcel Express (WPX).
1978
DHL opens in the Caribbean and becomes the first international air express company to offer a
service in Latin America, starting with Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.
In Europe, DHL Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium become operational.
1979
DHL reaches its 10th birthday. It now operates over 360 service centres and has more than
85,000 customers who rely on DHL for express service.
DHL continues to grow in Africa with the opening of offices in South Africa and Kenya.
In Latin America, the office in Argentina opens.
Lebanon and Oman are established in the Middle East.
Denmark, Andorra, Spain and the Canary Islands are opened in Europe.
1980
DHL expands into many new territories. Service Centres are set up in the Bahamas, Bermuda,
Cayman Islands, Chile, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, Bangladesh,
China, India, Sri Lanka, Austria, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe.
The organisation is now so large that it is re-structured into regions, linked by a
telecommunications network.
1981
DHL opens in Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cyprus, Gabon, Haiti, Jamaica,
Luxembourg, Nepal, New Caledonia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal and Turkey.
1982
From Anguilla to Zaire, 1982 marks a year of acceleration in the establishment of DHL service
centres throughout the world.
Services start to Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Bolivia, Bonaire, Cape Verde, Dominica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Finland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Iceland, Martinique, Mauritania,
Montserrat, Nevis, Nicaragua, St. Barthelemey, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Vincent,
Senegal, Tonga, Turks and Caicos Islands and Zaire.

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DHL is the first air express company to formulate plans to use state-of-the art packet-switching to
track packages and aid communications between DHL staff.
1983
A momentous year as DHL forges ahead of the competition and opens up Eastern Europe to the
express delivery industry for the first time.
DHL also starts service to Belize, Bosnia, Botswana, Brunei, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guinea-
Bissau, Honduras, Liberia, Maldives, Malta, Seychelles, Slovenia, Surinam and Togo and the
Channel Islands.
In the US, the overnight programme is developed, using the USA airline system from two hubs at
Cincinnati and Salt Lake City.
1984
DHL continues its massive global growth programme. As well as opening in territories as far apart
as Benin and Vanuatu, the first automated customer service system is deployed in Washington
DC.
DHL starts services to Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Benin, Congo, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea
Republic, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Qatar, Russia, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Vanuatu.
The UNIX operating system was adopted for DHL hardware and software and the first automated
customer service system was deployed in Washington DC, USA.
1985
This year marks a huge leap forward in DHL's ability to service customer needs in Europe, with
the opening of the new international hub in Brussels, Belgium - the largest sorting facility outside
the US.
DHL starts service in Bulgaria, Burkina Fasso, Djibouti, Mozambique, Nauru, Somalia and
Swaziland.
1986
Service to the People's Republic of China is formalised with an exclusive joint venture between
DHL and Sinotrans.
DHL starts services to the Cook Islands, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Reunion Island, Gambia, Lesotho, Tahiti,
Madagascar, Mali, Uganda and Zambia.
WorldMail is introduced - a service for the cross-border transport and distribution of mailings.
DHL introduces new standards of customer service. Delivery targets before 10:30 and-12 noon
and end-of-day are established. All incoming calls have to be answered within three rings and all
calls that require a response are returned within 60 minutes.

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1987
DHL begins delivery service to Chad, Comoros, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Rwanda and
Sierra Leone.
The Global airwaybill is introduced to facilitate further the sending of shipments.
1988
Between 1985 and 1988 DHL doubles its customer base to more than half a million and
quadruples the number of shipments it handles. It's also the first express delivery company to
anticipate the demand for total logistics solutions.
Namibia, St. Lucia and Vietnam are added to the list of countries served by DHL.
In the US, the Cincinnati hub is expanded to cope with continued growth.
DHL Budapest is established as a joint venture with Hungary's state-owned transport company
Hungarocamion. Following this, DHL's Eastern Europe head office is relocated from Frankfurt to
Budapest.
DHL Middle East introduces the Express Club for its customers, providing members with an
enhanced service.
1989
Celebrations take place around the world to mark the 20th anniversary of the beginning of DHL.
The Brussels hub is expanded to keep pace with explosive growth.
Services to Tanzania and Laos are set up.
A brand new headquarters building for DHL Japan is established in Tokyo.
Easyship, an integrated shipping processing system is introduced to allow customers to have
complete control in preparing and tracking shipments, all from their PC.
1990
DHL signs an historic Global Transport Alliance with Lufthansa Cargo, Japan Airlines and Nissho
Iwai.
Start of services to Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Equatorial New Guinea, Libya, Macedonia and Sao
Tome.
With the old Eastern European countries opening up trade with the West, DHL sets up in the
Czech Republic.
DHL initiates Easylynk services together with Western Union. This pioneering service combines an
electronic transmission via satellite to a DHL office for printing and onward despatch and delivery
(the service survived as Satellite Express until the advent of electronic mail).

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DHL sets up its first Express Logistics Centres around the world to service its customers' future
requirements. The vision the company communicates to its customers is the ability to provide
next morning delivery of their inventories anywhere in the world.
1991
DHL becomes the first express delivery service to deal with a Baltic state - Latvia (formerly part of
the Soviet Republic).
Offices open in Tirana, Albania and services start to Estonia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mongolia,
Niue, Romania, Tuvalu and Ukraine.
DHL prompts a major breakthrough in customs clearance technology by establishing a direct
computer link with UK Customs. The software, developed by DHL, cuts clearance times for
inbound dutiable shipments by up to 50% whilst guaranteeing accuracy of documentation and
administration.
1992
Lufthansa Cargo, Japan Airlines and Nissho Iwai increase their interest in DHL to 57.5%.
DHL begins delivering to the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
1993
DHL launches its service to Belarus and Slovakia.
The company announces a massive four-year capital spending programme with investments in
worldwide handling systems, automation, facilities, communications and computer technology.
An investment of US $ 60 million is made in the Bahrain regional distribution centre.
1994
DHL begins a service to Algeria.
Next-day delivery between the Middle East and Brussels is guaranteed with the first scheduled
Boeing 757 freighter service.
1995
DHL sets up in Mauritius and Moldova.
A gateway facility opens in Moscow.
A US $10 million hub is opened in Bombay.
1996
DHL opens the Asia Pacific hub in Manila, Philippines.
A high-tech Express Logistics Centre is opened in Singapore.
Internet tracking of shipments is introduced.


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1997
DHL Dubai becomes the first company in the Middle East to earn an ISO 14001 certificate for
environmental practices and strategy.
1998
Deutsche Post AG becomes a shareholder of DHL International, as part of a vision to align its
European ground-based services with DHL.
DHL Connect, an Internet-based desktop shipping solution for customers, is launched.
1999
DHL opens the company's largest US service centre in Sunnyvale, California, catering for booming
high technology shipments from Silicon Valley.
DHL announces investment in a new export facility at Melbourne Airport, Australia, offering
bonded warehousing (with in-house customs clearance and direct access to tarmac) and strategic
inventory management for customers.
DHL launches DHL WAP Track, the industry's first tracking service designed specially for use with
WAP-enabled mobile phones and devices.
DHL announces the acquisition of 44 Boeing 757s for its Europe and Africa network.
DHL Worldwide Express shows its commitment to facilitate the growth of e-commerce by
providing logistics services to businesses as it unveils the opening of an on-line Express Logistics
Centre (ELC) in Tsuen Wan.
DHL introduces next-generation mobile wireless data scanner, the CatsEye.
2000
DHL launches the world's first global SMS tracking service to allow customers to track DHL
shipments via text messages wherever they can use a mobile phone.
DHL launches http://www.dhlmasterclass.com, which acts as a source of business intelligence for
companies and helps guide them in their transition from traditional non-internet business into e-
business.
2001
DHL Aviation in Europe & Africa is awarded a region-based ISO 14001 certification.
The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) elects the founders of DHL to their International
Air Cargo Hall of Fame.
DHL announces the formation of a new UK airline, based at East Midlands Airport, England.
DHL celebrates the arrival of the first Boeing 757 Special Freighters at its Brussels hub, Belgium
from the new fleet of 44 Boeing 757 announced in October 1999.

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DHL announces expansion of its existing next-day express deliver service to provide Timed
Delivery across all major business centres in the European Union.
DHL and NWA Cargo combine forces to provide customers with fast, reliable and secure services
linking the US and Asia in a multi-million dollar deal, reinforcing DHL's leading market position in
Asia Pacific.
2002
Deutsche Post (DPWN) becomes a majority shareholder in DHL by 1969
On 25 September, Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn (the D, H and L in our company
name) incorporate DHL. The company begins by operating a door-to-door express delivery
service, transporting documents only between San Francisco, California and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Deutsche Post (DPWN) becomes a majority shareholder in DHL by increasing its stakeholders @
51%
METHODOLOGY
In this thesis, the literature review and empirical work on DHL are carried out. In the theoretical
framework part, the valuable theories and literature regarding external and internal analysis are
found to fulfill the purpose of the thesis work. On the other hand, the empirical data collection is
mainly based on interview. Furthermore, the company report and official website are regarded as
additional sources to gather more information. Overall, analysis of information from empirical
interviews and literature are used to answer the research questions.
QUALITATIVE METHOD
This study describes marketing strategy of a logistic company. The aim of this thesis is neither to
formulate hypothesis from the conceptual work nor to test developed hypothesis by generating
the necessary data, the qualitative method is mainly used to describe and analysis qualities,
attributes and make distinctions. Generally, qualitative method addresses the explanation of
non-numerical data. There are several methods can be adapted to collect qualitative information,
for instance, structured interview, reflexive journals, analysis of documents and materials and the
like. The qualitative method is used as the research method in this thesis to discuss competitive
advantage of DHL.
DATA COLLECTION
An important basis for successful research is information in the form of facts. These facts can be
called data and are the ones that allow the researcher to understand the problem under that is
being investigated .In order to conduct a relevant research both primary and secondary data
were gathered. Secondary data was obtained from scientific articles, relevant books and Internet
sources.


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PRIMARY DATA
The primary data was obtained in the form of the answers to a list of questions from the Head of
Operation & Marketing of DHL Express in Bangladesh, Mr. Sowrin Dutta. The purpose of
conducting this interview was to collect the practical information on the marketing strategy of
DHL.There were DHL. There were 25 questions covering the wide range of DHL practices: DHLs
customer, DHLs competitor, DHL environmental strategy, DHL brand association, and DHL quality
of service. However, Mr. Sowrin was out of his office for business, it was impossible to have the
interview in person. So the contact and answering questions by Mr. Sowrin were conducted via e-
mail. Questions on customer and competitor are a little sensitive for DHL. It was not available to
publish this information. Therefore the question was sent to DHL Bangladesh for getting an
approval. Unfortunately, after 11 times e-mail contact with Mr. Sowrin, he had not got approval
from his supervisor. He only picked some questions to answer in the end, such as DHL
environmental issues, DHL service and DHL brand association. Regarding DHLs customer and
competitor, she just gave a few sentences to describe them briefly.

SECONDARY DATA
Contrast to primary data, secondary data is that have been collected or published previously. This
type of data is the most common type encountered since it consists all types of written 14
materials such as: magazines, books and internet. The DHL official website has been the valued
secondary source to replenish DHL brand association. In addition, by reading through DHL
transportation introduction (such as DHL air freight service, DHL road & rail service, and DHL
ocean freight service), the quality of DHLs service can be analyzed. In terms of environmental
issue, DHL Supply Chain report helps authors gather DHL environmental information. In order to
get DHL competitors information, the authors also use some useful information from UPS official
website and FedEx official website.

DHL CUSTOMER
The customers also need the flexibility to pick and choose from a wide range of supply chain
option.DHL listens closely to its customers and work with them to provide high quality solutions.
The customers' success is the companys success.
DHL has customers cover all over the world according to Mr. Sowrin. DHL accept any kinds of
delivery requirements no matter who the clients are.
According to Mr. Sowrin, DHL in order to know customer life cycle deeply, DHL segments its
customer into different groups. According to different customer needs, customers are segmented
as: strategic customer; long-term relationship customer; and normal customer. Strategic
customer is someone who has large amounts of logistics needs or complex supply chain requires.
Usually strategic customer group is made up of top 250 customers in the world. Long-term
relationship customer is someone who asks DHL to serve for them regularly and frequently, but
their logistics needs are simpler than strategic customer. In terms of normal customer, they are
not loyal which means they can choose another 3PL company if they like. In general
understanding, DHL always provide best technology and service to strategic customer to build
strong cooperation relationship with them. However, the main task for DHL is to focus on long-
term relationship customer, in order to achieve profit maximization. And DHL can do something
for normal customer to turn them into loyal customer.

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DHL measures customer satisfaction in different ways and sometimes it even differs between
regions and countries. For example: DHL Express in Sweden has processes, i, g, Key Performance
to measure customer satisfaction (for instance, measuring how fast DHL pick up the phone, first
time resolution of customer query), and it can also handle customer complaints. The complaints
should be dealt with within a specified timeframe and resolved according to agreed timings.
According to Mr. Sowrin and DHL official website, in 2011 DHL Express won customer service
award for the best B2B customer service in Sweden. However, DHL does not provide more detail
about customer satisfaction.
DHL develops strong customer relationships to understand and know customer views. By good
understanding of customer, the company can adapt the specific service to fulfill customer needs.
Usually, DHL plays the role of a dependable partner when customer needs them. The company
always finishes their service optimally due to its excellent personal approach. For instance,
according to Dirk, the customs experts of DHL see to it that customers goods get to their final
destination with maximum reliability. Consequently, DHL generates the trust and expectation to
their customer. In addition, the Global Customer Solutions which is launched for top 100
customers also make a great contribution to company and customer to create win-win situation.
Thus, the customers success is DHLs success, is put into practice.

DHL says:
Attracting new customer is important; however, DHL still focuses on old customers
need to prevent losing those customers.

Customs clearance and associated services need to be fully understood and thats
what we do.


DHL COMPETITOR
According to Mr. Sowrin, the main competitors are UPS and FedEx. He considers TNT is another
significant competitor. Thus, the comparison among these four companies is made (see Table 2).
By considering the features of logistics industry, several significant issues are picked up to make a
comparison, such as: safety & insurance, service of company, environmental policy and company
structure.
Size/No of
employees
Position Safety/
Insurance
Service/
Logistics
Environmental
policy/
Sustainable
strategy
Organization/
Company
structure
DHL

285000 in
220
countries
No. 01 Customs-
Trade
Partnership
Against
Terrorism
Shipping;
tracking;
export &
import
service;
freight and
etc.
DHL
DHL in-house
Carbon
Management;
environmental
management
system (EMS)
and etc.
DHL Express
DHL Global
Forwarding
DHL Supply
chain
DHL Mails
UPS

426000 in
200
countries
a leading
global
freight
provider
Auto
Liability
Insurance;
property
Shipping;
tracking;
critical
freight;
Carbon impact
analysis;
package
design and
U.S. Domestic
Package
International
Package

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with
access to
almost
any kind
of aircraft
or vehicle
around
the world


insurance;
cargo
insurance
and etc.


LCL,etc.

test lab;
transportation
management

Supply chain
& Freight

FedEx

80,000
employees
in 220
countries

A younger
logistics
company

Auto
Liability
Insurance;
property
insurance;
cargo
insurance
and etc.

Package,
envelope
or freight
express;
freight
shipment;
provide
special
supplies et

Earth Smart
Solutions;
Earth Smart @
Work; Earth
Smart
Outreach

FedEx Express
FedEx Ground
FedEx Freight
FedEx Custom
Critical
TNT

employs
over
75,000
people in
200
coutries

the
world's
leading
business
to
business
express
delivery
company

Claim
programme;
'Managing
Safely'
training
programme
Time
critical
service;
special
handling
etc.

PlanetMe
Programme

TNT Express




DHL QUALITY OF SERVICE
DHL presence in all European countries means that it speaks the local language and is up-to-date
with national customs regulations which, despite the EU, vary from country to country. As the
worlds biggest logistics company, the main service of DHL is to deliver goods or mails all over the
world. According to Dirk, the DHL staff can speak local language to ensure the communication
between customer and them is easy. In each of European countries DHL Freight has a terminal in
business centers to ensure the convenience and efficiency of transportation .The main
transportations are through air, ocean, road and rail. With the extensive range of delivery service,
DHL is able to satisfy all kinds of requirements and needs by linking professional experts idea and
latest technology, while it brings benefits to its customer as well .Additional; the DHL staffs are
very patient when they talk with customer. For example, Mr. Sowrin Dutta, my interviewee who
is very kind to accept my interview. Even though he was busy, he answered my questions with
comfortable attitude every single time.


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Moreover, Dirk believes that DHL would be the prior choice due to high quality service. Dirk
provides a few of examples that what benefits DHL can be brought to customer.
Professional advice on all matters pertaining to customs, import VAT (value-added tax),
excise duties and security via DHL consultancy services;
Full transparency of your flow of goods;
Bonded warehouses for easier import, export and transit operations and etc.
According to DHL web side, there are six factors can influence DHL service: 1) individual skills and
knowledge; 2) system of organization; 3) equipments; 4) technological process; 5) measurement
and testing; and 6) working condition. So far, DHL has tried its best to ensure any little detail work
well by concerning these six factors. However, the situation may be different in another place. It
also depends on different region and different place.
However, according to customer, DHL is more expensive than other 3PL companies. The main
reasons are: 1) DHL is able to provide many ports for transportation. 2) DHL also can arrange
flight for urgent claims immediately if it is essential. 3) DHL can deliver goods or mails to
anywhere customers claim to, but DHL is not responsible for tariff. It means customers have to
pay the tariff by themselves. 4) DHL owns high tech to ensure the safety of delivery. To sum up,
the cost of DHL makes the price of DHL become expensive.
DHL runs business via an accepted price all over the world. But there is an exception, China. In
the mainland of China, DHL is rather expensive due to tariffs.


DHL WORLD WIDE PACKAGE

For dutiable shipments, we express deliver door-to-door to just about any destination in the
world. Our services include pick-up, customs clearance and delivery to consignee. You know your
shipping costs upfront, so there are no hidden charges.

DHL INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENT

For non-dutiable shipments, which are not subject to customs clearance or import duties, we
express deliver door-to-door to almost all the destination in the world. Our services include pick-
up and delivery to consignee
DHL IMPORT EXPRESS SERVICE
DHL processes more than a quarter of a million shipments into any given country at any one
time. We give you the flexibility to be directly in control of your deliveries costs when shipments.
With Import Express, your goods will arrive faster, ahead of your competitors. Also, with an all-
inclusive pre-agreed pricing, you know the cost of your freight in your currency even before you
import. All you settle is one invoice in one currency. We will even extend credit facility for the
imports of your shipments worldwide. Imagine what DHL is able to do for you pickup shipments
from door then deliver it customs-cleared directly to you in the shortest possible time. You can
rely on DHLs expertise and extensive worldwide network to ensure that your shipments arrive
quickly, safely and with minimum fuss.
DHL FREIGHT
DHL Freight offers international and national transport solutions for part and full load in Europe.
We move goods by road, rail and a combination of the two. DHL Freight covers the former non-
documents and non-parcels business as well as the former Danas Euro cargo road transport
business.

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DHL AIR FREIGHT
Air freight logistics has become an important factor in supply chain management, keeping up the
pace with the changing world market, and ensuring costly backlogs or shortages are kept to a
minimum. DHL Global Forwarding carrying 12% of the air freight worldwide market, the air
freight operations are managed through DHL private network that including 7,000 specialists in
600 offices from over 150 countries. According to Mr. Sowrin , DHL owns exclusive airplanes (air
bus A300, Boeing 757 mainly). The core air center is in Brussels, Belgium. All air freight services
are time-defined, and by working together with carefully selected preferred carriers. However,
although DHL has exclusive airplanes, but sometimes these airplanes wont be arranged to
delivery DHL goods or mails. In order to make customer feel comfortable and safe, DHL has
implemented DHL Interactive to give possibility to customers to track the shipping process.
Regarding the cargo insurance, DHL is well known for its insurance measure in the industry. For
instance, DHL provides insurance services that offer customer financial protection against the risk
of physical loss or damage, from almost any external cause. And furthermore, a global incident
reporting room and more than 100 highly secure locations spread widely to monitor freight
security. With an experienced global security team- Customs- Trade Partnership Against
Terrorism and a growing network of highly secured locations worldwide, DHL is able to handle
any customers supply chain security requirements(source: DHL air freight service).
DHL OCEAN FREIGHT
DHL Global Forwarding owns 330 ocean freight offices and has long term relationship with
carrier, so that DHL can offer customer flexible delivery and a competitive price. DHLs tracking &
tracing system can work with its Information Management Systems to give full visibility to
customers along the whole supply chain. And thanks to the latest shipping tools or technology,
DHL can finish more specific tasks smoothly and completely. The use of new equipment provides
the possibility to reduce the delivery time and cost at the same time. By deploying DHL Ocean
Secure, the brand new ocean freight full container load program, the security of delivery, real
time spent and reliability can be improved. In addition, in recent years the satellite networks, GPS
also help the company become more reliable and efficient (source: DHL ocean freight service).
DHL ROAD & RAIL FREIGHT
DHL rail Europe offers a fast, reliable and environmentally friendly rail network to deliver all
major European business Centres. DHL Freight sets a Competence Centre in Sweden and
terminals in Europe; it makes sure that the shipment could be delivered to wherever it needs to
be on right time. DHL RAIL EUROPE means flexibility and safety in a sense, DHLs network
provides high quality integrated service with terminal services, transport and IT solutions. All
types of rail equipment is available, quality control system guarantee the top-level service from
pick up to delivery and it will also ensure the environmental impact and try to minimize it as
possible as it can (source: DHL road and rail service). In order to ensure the safety of
transportation, DHL rejects to deliver some special goods. Such as: liquid; wood; and dangerous
stuff etc.
DHL GLOBAL FORWARDING
DHL Global Forwarding is the market leader in air and ocean freight and a project logistics
services provider operating worldwide. A range of value-added services rounds off the product
and service portfolio, giving an excellent market position and providing our customers with a
unique service dimension worldwide.

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DHL EXCEL SUPPLY CHAIN
Regardless of whether you operate in the healthcare, technology / aerospace, automotive /
industrial or retail /consumer /fashion sectors, we can handle all of your complex, global logistics
tasks: DHL Exel Supply Chain provides you with customised, IT-based solutions along the entire
supply chain. As well as core procurement logistics, warehousing and sales logistics operations,
we offer top-flight value-added services such as finishing, co-packing, price labelling, billing, order
processing all the way to sales promotion and financial services.
DHL GLOBAL MAIL
Global Mail offers comprehensive international mail services and provides outstanding expertise
in international direct marketing services and publication solutions.
ANALYSIS
The results of empirical finding in section four and the theory discussed in section two are
combined and linked together, to find out the connection between them. The SWOT matrix
would be taken up to present the results of analysis in the end.
DHL CUSTOMER ANALYSIS
DHL customer is everywhere, and anyone can be DHLs customer if there is something to deliver.
It also reflects the application of DHL, with a global network composed of more than 220
countries and territories and 285,000 employees worldwide, customers can call DHL for help
anywhere. DHL segments it customer into different group, it helps manager understand more
about marketing and service innovation. Customer segmentation also provide chance to offer
specific services to customers based on their needs.
DHL is trying to be the best all the time, what DHL expects is to solve problem before it occurs.
Regarding identification of motivation, the good brand reputation; safety insurance; acceptable
price make DHL become No. 1 in the industry and helps to keep its dominant position. Thus, by
considering the leading position of industry, it is supposed to be the main reason why people like
to choose DHL instead of other brands.
Determining the relative importance of the motivations, according to Mr. Sowrin Dutta & DHL
official website, DHL is good at listening to customer. Moreover, DHL is proud of its short delivery
time, and safety issue etc. These factors attract more and more people become DHLs loyal
customer. Besides, DHL customer satisfaction was very high in 2011, DHL Express won customer
service award for the best B2B customer service in Sweden. It indicates that customer trust DHL.
According to Mr. Sowrin credibility is completed. Therefore, how well the service it is might be
the most important factor customer care about.
Generally, many companies and organizations pay a lot of attention on new customers.
Meanwhile, they care less about old customers. However, DHL is aware of the importance of old
customers. Those old customers have close relationship with companys revenue; further keeping
old customers can build long-term business, and reduce costs to seek for new customers.
According toMr. Sowrin, how to keep customer with company has become a significant part of
companys business strategy.


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DHL COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
DHL believes that understanding competitor is a significant approach to win market share. In
terms of total number of employee, UPS has an absolute advantage. UPS can exploit the rich
human resource to accomplish more tasks than other three do. On the contrary, the large
number of workforce might increase the cost directly. And UPS was founded earliest, which
means it should have more working experience than other two companies. Regarding verification
of insurance, even though UPS and FedEx have complete liability insurance, DHL still be No.1 in
the industry. Thanks to the new security equipment and latest technology, DHL gains customer
satisfaction, even customer loyalty. However, DHL should learn something from its competitors
to become more perfect, perhaps it is an opportunity to attract potential customer more or less.
One typical example is liability insurance, otherwise it must be a huge weakness for DHL. In terms
of service, UPS critical freight focuses on time-critical freight needs. The benefits of critical freight
are: expedited transportation can be arranged based on customer time-critical freight shipment
needs; it ensures real-time shipment tracking from pickup to delivery. It develops customized
solutions to meet special transportation. TNT is trusted by many enterprises, because TNT
establishes exclusive service for enterprise, such as Express Shipper, and Express Manager. FedEx
can design a special package for customers high-tech items; it provides the safety of goods
during delivery time. Such service can make customer happy and enable shipping easier a
significant trend or event, such as concern about the emergence of a new competitor, can
dramatically affect the evaluation of strategy options. DHL should be aware of it. Moreover, a
new technology, which can represent both a threat to an established firm and an opportunity to
a prospective competitor, can signal new business arenas. Therefore, it is very necessary for DHL
to make innovation about its service. Otherwise the leading position in the industry would be lost
sooner or later. All four companies focus on environment impact through respective
sustainability policy. They do their upmost to reduce environmental negative impact, at the same
time they make significant contributions to the environmental sustainability in the industry.
Regarding subsidiaries of DHL, UPS and FedEx, the subsidiaries enable service is more efficient. It
also response to customers different needs in a sense.
DHL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
According to Deutsche Post DHL, GOGREEN program is a sustainable strategy of DHL; it deals with
any environmental issues friendly and harmoniously during service time. There is no doubt that
every company or organization concerning leave some impacts to environment whatever is good
or bad, especially CO2, but GOGREEN has ability to control negative impact and reduce it in some
way. As mentioned before, DHL owns a professional group- DHL in-house Carbon Management
team to manage the carbon credits, and besides the team is monitored by third party verifier.
DHL totally follows and tries to achieve GOGREEN objectives so that transparency on
environmental impact, with a focus on DHLs carbon footprint including subcontracted
transportation is available. Regarding the improvement of operational efficiency and decrease
our environmental impact, DHL environmental management systems (EMS) is used to deal with
it. In order to reduce its environmental impact, DHL is testing electric and other alternative
vehicles as new generation delivery tools which can lead to the replacement of the traditional
energy. By deploying new technology or new resource, the environmental damage would be
reduced efficiently. DHL Supply Chain GOGREEN 2011 also indicates that collaboration with
leading automotive manufacturers has achieved great progress, particularly for fuel savings.
Therefore, generally the company would like to provide such sustainable approach or GOGREEN
to its customer, because it cannot only satisfy customer but also generate great values to
environment. Awareness of the employees about environment is made by the training of DHL so
that employees put environmental goals into practice. The education is very vital to the company

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itself even to the entire society; an appropriate training can give people a right guide of life. DHL
is doing a good job on environment friendly issue which means employee knowledge is
strengthened. It offers opportunity to its employees to learn how important the environment is
and how to protect it from pollution in DHL way. It is necessary to consider if DHL has enough
awareness or power to face sustainability challenge. DHL is always trying to provide a best
delivery solution to customers and environment; sometimes it is difficult to balance them at a
same time. However GOGREEN can do it. Business customers can choose to send all or a
selection of their international express shipments as GOGREEN with competitive price. With the
GOGREEN optional service, all transport-related emissions of carbon dioxide would be offset
through external climate protection projects. Therefore, balancing sustainability efforts with
customer expectation can be achieved by DHL. In terms of identifying an appropriate
environmental target, according to Lieb & Lieb (2010), it is very important as same as balancing
sustainability efforts with customer expectation. There is impossible to be success without an
appropriate target. However, as a leader in the industry and the first logistics company to
establish carbon efficient target, DHL sets the aim of a 10% efficiency increase by 2012.
The efficiency will grow to 30% by 2020 in every business area, including those DHLs
subcontractors. By implementing GOGREEN program, it is obvious and reasonable to judge that
DHL always pays a lot of attention on environmental protection and sustainability issue. Basically
these issues can get priority; it means environmental protection would be concerned firstly. For
instance, DHL continuously strive to improve CO2 efficiency in its own networks and operations
even DHL and its customer have already got benefit by implementing GOGREEN. As one of
biggest 3PL companies, DHL always focus to reduce its environmental effect as little as possible.
Unlike many other Chinese domestic company, which seeks for economic compensation but
ignore environment problem. DHL offers current and potential employees opportunities to
develop professionally. It provides knowledge or information of current environmental practices
to increase employees environmental awareness. In this way DHL can increase sensitivity to
sustainability and reduce cost. Thus, the awareness and ideology of environment friendliness is
emphasized throughout the entire DHL. It means that DHL is probably capable to deal with kinds
of environmental or ecological problem relating to business area.
CONCLUSION
DHLs customer relationship programs are very customer-oriented. The programs range from
door-to-door service all over the world to China to Hong Kong and via the internet. DHL
employees can be trained to handle both regular and unusual circumstances by utilizing L.E.A.R.N
.This five step process will help DHLs web technicians/sales representatives to listen without
interrupting the customer, feel what the customer is saying, be apologetic to the customer,
decide on how to solve the complaint, and focus on fixing the problem immediately. In todays
competitive business world and high quality customer service demands, DHL must ensure it
tracking system bets-out the competition. DHL caters extremely well to their external customer
every logistical need. However, in order to improve their customer relationship program, DHL
should develop ways for internal customer feedback. Hearing the thoughts of their employees
should result in more improved process for the company. An internal consideration of its
employees brings about a since of empowerment coming down from the management. DHLs
long-term goals should be to expand upon its differentiation image and always improve their
marketing strategies. DHL must stay on top of political, economic, and social changes that could
affect its business. Over all, it seems DHLs current marketing strategy is a success story. DHL is
staying on top of the competition and meeting their external customers expectations allowing
businesses to focus on their business rather than logistical issues.

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REFERENCES
Cuizon, Gwendolyn (2007, Apr 15). Marketing and Advertising. Retrieved September 2,
2008, from Successful and Unsuccessful Marketing Strategies.
Web site:
http://www.bizcovering.com/Marketing-and-Advertising/Successful-and-
Unsuccessful-Marketing-Strategies.26936
Global Marketing j. Keegan & C. Green.
QUESTIONNAIRE

What kind of business is DHL doing?
Explain how has DHL developed in recent years shortly?
How many customers does DHL have throughout the whole world?
How does DHL measure customer satisfaction? (By feedback from customer? Make
customer satisfaction research? Or other ways?)
How does DHL deals with customers complaints?
Does DHL have long term relationship with its customers?
What benefits or profits will DHL obtain from long term relationship with customers?
What current and potential competitor does DHL have to face?
Is DHL aware of its competitors (competitors core competency, weakness, size, strategy
and so on)?
Does DHL make any comparison with its competitors?
Is the DHLs service easy to substitute? Is it easy or difficult for another company to
imitate your service?
Does DHL leave any environmental impact during transportation or working time?
How does DHL measure its environmental impact?
Does DHL own any unique strategies or approaches to minimize its environmental
impact?
Does DHL have any sustainable strategies to deal with the disruption of natural
resource?
How does DHL make sure the safety of goods during transportation?
Are there any protection strategies existing to prevent the damage of goods?
How often does problem occur which lead to reduce customer satisfaction?
How does DHL identify the image of company?
What is companys position in market?
Is there any possibility that the companys core competency or knowledge spill over
outside the company?
Are the employees satisfied in DHL? How manager motivate its subordinate?