For decades, logistics has remained an industry where operational excellence mattered far more than brand visibility. Consumers remember the marketplace they shop from, not the company that moves the parcel. Similarly, businesses have traditionally chosen logistics partners based on reliability, network reach and efficiency rather than advertising. But as e-commerce expands, supply chains become more complex and customer experience becomes a key differentiator, logistics companies are rethinking how they communicate. Marketing is no longer just about explaining services, it is about building trust, creating recall and establishing a brand that customers actively choose.
DHL Express India is among the companies leading that shift. Marketing has evolved beyond a communications function to become a strategic driver of business growth, spanning customer experience, partnerships, brand building and revenue generation. Speaking about this transformation, Sandeep Juneja, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, DHL Express India says that the company’s marketing evolution tracks closely with the strategic ambitions. The shift from its previous “Strategy 2025” framework to the new “Strategy 2030: Accelerating Sustainable Growth” has pushed marketing into sharper focus. The company has reinforced this through an “Insanely Customer Centric” theme, a commitment to delivering excellent customer experiences at every touchpoint.
The marketing approach rests on three pillars: CRM, brand amplification and revenue generation. But the messaging changes significantly depending on who is on the other side of the conversation.
“While communication for B2B enterprise clients focuses on demonstrating business outcomes such as operational efficiency, ROI and supply chain integration, messaging for B2C consumers is centred around convenience, speed, reliability and ease of use,” says Juneja
That philosophy naturally extends to one of DHL’s biggest brand-building investments globally and in India: sports. Rather than treating sponsorship as a visibility exercise, the company sees it as a platform to communicate the same qualities that define its logistics business, speed, precision, teamwork and reliability.
Cricket as a brand accelerator
DHL’s global sports portfolio spans motorsport, rugby, football and eSports. In India, however, cricket offered the strongest opportunity to connect with audiences at scale. The company’s partnership with Mumbai Indians, now in its sixth year, began in 2021 as DHL’s first-ever global cricket sponsorship and has since evolved into a far more comprehensive marketing platform than traditional logo placement.
Explaining why sports has become such an effective marketing vehicle, Juneja says, “Sports create powerful emotional connections through passion, adrenaline, unity and teamwork, giving a traditionally behind-the-scenes brand a relatable and engaging platform to connect with audiences. Sports sponsorships are a core part of DHL’s global marketing strategy as they significantly enhance brand visibility.”
The positioning DHL has built around the Mumbai Indians partnership, “the team behind the team”, mirrors the brand’s own role in commerce: enabling businesses to perform while remaining behind the scenes. The association has since expanded beyond the men’s IPL team to include the Mumbai Indians Women’s team as part of DHL’s inclusivity agenda and MI Cape Town in South Africa.
The company has also woven the partnership into broader business objectives, using the IPL ecosystem to deepen engagement with SMEs, exporters and customers through digital campaigns and brand storytelling.
Sustainability has become another important pillar of the collaboration. Through the ‘Six for a Cause’ initiative, DHL pledged to plant six trees for every six hit by Mumbai Indians players in partnership with NGOs including SankalpTaru Foundation and Sashakt Foundation. The partnership has also evolved into a platform for promoting women’s entrepreneurship through DHL’s “Unstoppable” campaign.
For Juneja, the biggest evolution has been moving beyond sponsorship visibility.
“The partnership moved beyond jersey visibility to positioning DHL as the ‘Team Behind the Team,’ highlighting the operational and logistics backbone that supports elite sports performance.”
While sports has helped strengthen DHL’s visibility, the company has also changed the way it tells its own story. Instead of relying solely on functional messaging, it has increasingly used humour and storytelling to make complex logistics solutions easier to understand and remember.
Storytelling that earns its keep
One of logistics marketing’s oldest challenges is category invisibility. Consumers remember the marketplace, rarely the courier behind the delivery. Juneja is candid about this dynamic and deliberate in how DHL is working around it.
The company leans on a multi-channel approach that combines traditional media for mass reach with digital platforms for real-time engagement. But its most potent tool, Juneja argues, isn’t advertising spend at all.
“Word-of-mouth remains its most powerful marketing tool, which is why our focuses heavily on delivering consistent service excellence that turns customers into organic brand advocates,” he says.
That commitment to service is complemented by high-visibility partnerships designed to build cultural relevance. On the role sports sponsorships play in that mix, Juneja is clear: “We want to be a partner behind them and not the showstopper.”
Logistics advertising has traditionally been dominated by functional messaging around speed, networks and efficiency. DHL has consciously taken a different route by introducing humour into campaigns while ensuring the underlying business proposition remains intact.
Its “Heavy Weight Express” campaign featuring The Great Khali alongside Mumbai Indians players Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Ryan Rickelton used humour to simplify what could otherwise have been a highly technical logistics proposition.
Juneja explains, “We adopted a humour-led communication strategy to make its otherwise complex and technical Heavy Weight Express proposition more relatable, engaging and memorable for a wider audience.”
But entertainment was never the end goal. “At the same time, the campaign reinforced an important business message that for companies managing critical cargo, reliability is just as important as speed,” he adds.
As more logistics brands embrace storytelling, questions inevitably arise about whether emotional narratives are replacing demonstrations of operational capability. Juneja rejects that notion, arguing that the two must work together.
“Storytelling has become important in logistics because emotional and relatable campaigns can be a key differentiator among companies that offer similar services. However, in logistics, branding alone is not enough as customers still choose partners based on reliability, delivery performance, visibility and crisis handling,” he says.
For DHL, creative communication is expected to reinforce, not replace, operational credibility.
“We consistently ensure that we develop films around operational proof points as well, maintaining a balanced approach in our communications,” he adds.
The company’s marketing evolution, however, is only one part of a much broader strategy. Behind every campaign sits a long-term investment roadmap that positions India as one of DHL Group’s most important markets over the coming decade.
Road to 2030
DHL Group has committed approximately EUR 1 billion in India by 2030 under its Strategy 2030 framework. In the near term, the company is prioritising sectors where supply chains are becoming increasingly sophisticated, including healthcare, e-commerce, electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy.
As Juneja puts it, “In the short term, the company is focusing on fast-growing sectors such as life sciences and healthcare, e-commerce, EVs, batteries and renewable energy, where supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and time sensitive.”
Alongside sectoral expansion, digitalisation remains central to the company’s growth plans. DHL is strengthening India’s position as a technology and innovation hub through investments in AI, automation, digital logistics tools and new IT service centres.
Looking further ahead, sustainability will remain the defining pillar of DHL’s long-term strategy.
“Sustainability will remain central to DHL’s vision, with the company aiming to position itself as the ‘Green Logistics of Choice’ through EV fleet expansion, low-emission operations and greater adoption of sustainable fuels under its broader Strategy 2030 roadmap,” says Sandeep Juneja, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, DHL Express India.
The marketing story, in that sense, is part of a much larger business strategy. As India’s logistics ecosystem grows more sophisticated and competitive, DHL is betting that operational excellence alone is no longer enough. Building a brand that customers recognise, trust and remember will be just as critical as delivering every shipment on time.
