DHL Marketing

DHL's marketing mix of product, place, promotion, and price is dominated by place. As the Chicago bureau chief noted in a discussion of DHL, "The trucks are everywhere" ("Inside the Mix," 2004, p. 12). DHL spent $150 million on a six-month integrated marketing campaign that included a substantial expenditure on television advertising, but "the presence of the trucks themselves" made product distribution "the key part of the marketing mix" ("Inside the Mix," 2004, p. 12). Consumers trust what they see everywhere, and the DHL trucks are ubiquitous ("Inside the Mix," 2004, p. 12). The presence of so many DHL trucks demonstrates to the consumer that "people must be using the service, so they believe that the infrastructure is in place" ("Inside the Mix," 2004, p. 12). The company's product and place will change shortly, though; as of January 30, 2009, DHL will discontinue all of its U.S. Express business to focus solely on its international offerings ("DHL to Stop U.S. Domestic-Only Services," 2008). DHL will retain its other U.S.-based services, such as Global Forwarding/Freight, Supply Chain/Customer Information Services (CIS), and DHL Glob