One Group, three brands

Deutsche Post World Net is active in the market with three brands: Deutsche Post, DHL and Postbank. Each stands for high-quality products and services, and market research studies have confirmed that each is well established amongst its individual target groups. The awareness of Deutsche Post in Germany amongst both private and business customers has been measured at a consistently high 95% or so for many years.

Awareness of the Postbank brand is similarly high. With a score of around 95%, it ranks amongst Germany’s most well-known financial institutions.

In addition, the brand awareness of DHL is steadily increasing amongst its target audiences in the international mail, express and logistics segments. It currently stands at some 93%. In addition, we have further successful segment brands, regionally and at the business unit level, including Exel, Williams Lea, The Stationery Office and BHW.

Clearly orientated brands

Our brands face tough competition from both domestic and international providers. To facilitate our customers’ purchasing and investment decisions, we have adopted a clear orientation for each of our brands, in order to communicate clearly what they essentially stand for and the customer benefits they embody.

The Deutsche Post brand stands for personal proximity, reliable quality and groundbreaking services. Its success is built on industry leadership, a unique infrastructure in Germany and consistently high quality in the mail business.

DHL is a brand acknowledged for personal commitment, proactive solutions and local strengths in the global arena. Its commitment stems from the personal dedication of around 285,000 employees and their customer orientation. We employ our extensive services in a forward-looking manner in order to offer every customer a suitable solution. Our branches in 220 countries and territories make us a genuine global player.

The performance pledge of the Postbank brand is: simple, better and more flexible. Above all, our success is founded on readily understood products, easy access to our services and competent financial advice covering the entire product portfolio on attractive terms.

Substantial value

Brands are a vital factor in value creation, as illustrated by the efforts of numerous market research institutes to determine the special value brands have for the companies they represent. Semion Brand Broker, for example, has analysed Deutsche Post according to the following criteria for its “famous German brands” ranking: financial value, brand protection and image, and brand strength, which is expressed in terms of market share, marketing activities, distribution rate, awareness and coherence of the branding. For 2007, Semion calculated a brand value of €15,711 million for Deutsche Post. It thus ranks in fifth position amongst the leading German brands. The value of the DHL and Postbank brands has not as yet been assessed.

Investing in establishing and developing our brands

In the year under review, we invested some €120 million in directly establishing and developing our brands. Activities include advertising and sponsorship measures, as well as direct marketing campaigns, trade fair presentations, market research, internal communications, press relations and sales support.

In keeping with its global presence, the DHL brand attracted around half of the development budget. A quarter was earmarked for each of the German domestic brands, Deutsche Post and Postbank.