Maersk is on a transformational journey, repositioning from ocean shipping to end-to-end logistics. In the last three years, unconventional brand campaigns has helped build momentum assisting growth of Logistics&Services. The campaigns have won multiple accolades and awarded “icon” status in the WARC effectiveness ladder B2B.

Maersk has been a market leader in shipping for +25 years with an 18% market share. The Maersk’s 130-year history has made the brand iconic when it comes to ocean transport. This brand equity is beneficial but also poses a true B2B-creative-challenge. How can we get people to think Maersk as an end-to-end logistics partner?

Maersk is the world’s largest shipping company, moving almost 1 in 4 items around the world. In 2016, CEO Soren Skou launched a new company strategy to diversify the Maersk business and expand beyond ocean to air and land transport. The new strategy would place the company as a challenger brand within the logistics market and allow Maersk to offer integrated services to customers.

The commercial target for 2021 was an incremental revenue of $1bn in the Logistics & Services division. Marketing Objectives focused on driving perception change, from an ocean brand to a logistics integrator. For this campaign, the core KPI we tracked against in the brand study, was the Question: ‘(Maersk) can connect different components of my supply chain through its end-to-end (L&S) logistic solutions’. The target set was a +2% increase YoY which has been consistent with previous years.

Our hero creative asset, a two-minute video, was a modern Alice in Wonderland fairytale about a woman trapped in the everyday horrors of logistics until she gets flipped upside down and discovers a new approach. Various versions were edited and created serving a diverse media mix. In print executions featured upside down layout, urging the readers to turn the page for a new view of logistics. We took this mechanism even further by writing LinkedIn posts upside down, a platform first approach, and having Maersk employees rotating their LinkedIn image profiles creating conversation starters. In different parts of the world, Maersk containers appeared with upside down branding grabbing attention. In Maersk Headquarters, sitting areas were turned upside down with armchairs and coffee tables placed upside down, fixed on the ceiling. The combination of paid, owned and earned media, amplified the campaign and created buzz in the category.

Supply-chains/logistics working effectively go unnoticed. When they fail the world notices. 12% of global trade was put on hold when the Suez Canal was blocked. Covid impacted supply-chains resulting in soaring logistics costs. We wanted to change the conversation in the category from merely firefighting to creating new business opportunities.

Moving ¼ of global trade, Maersk has relationships with every large company in the world. The new strategy sought to extend ocean contracts to additional services. Research indicated unlike ocean shipping, where VPs of logistics and procurement decide on ocean vendors, supply-chain decisions were more complex. As the value of the prize increased, so did the seniority of executives involved.

The diversity of decision-makers requires marketing and sales to work parallel as supply-chain setups include both ‘buyers’ and ‘approvers’. Therefore, creating mental availability with C-suite(Approvers) and change perception of Maersk while delivering facts and expertise to senior logistics professionals(Buyers).

As per our strategy, we crafted a campaign consisting of two communications layers i.e. for getting approvers on board and convincing the buyers. A top layer building fame across the Approvers(C-suite) supported by a targeted category layer to reach the logistics and supply-chain executives(Buyers). We bought TV spots on CNN international in high affinity C-suites environments opting for most relevant business moments. VOD was used to tighten up the targeting, using contextual filters in related business topics.

We knew buyers(Logistics execs) would require more depth of information to boost their confidence over our claims. We used a mix of traditional channels, e.g. trade press, along with paid social and digital display. On LinkedIn we upweighted frequency to priority accounts providing the air cover for our sales teams. To demonstrate our expertise, client case studies were made and partnered with the Economist to produce a series of thought-leadership pieces and podcasts.

Commercial targets met. High shipping rates made 2021 a record-breaking year. Our campaign cannot lay claim to the stunning ocean results. Additional increase of 41% vs 2020, nearly hitting the $10bn mark. Out of total increase, 1/3 organic, approximately $1bn. 62% came from the top 200 ocean customers - a key focus point of this campaign. We’ve observed strong correlations between accounts with heightened frequency exposure and new contracts.

Perception shift on point. ‘(Maersk) can connect different components of my supply-chain through its end-to-end (L&S) logistic solutions’ grew by +2% as a direct result of the campaign. Looking at Approvers&Buyers, we achieved even higher growth of +3% and +4%.

Analysis by LinkedIn showed that Maersk achieved highest engagement score among ‘supply-chain thought-leaders’ post campaign. Across platforms the phenomenal view-through-rate for campaign videos (48%) and the large number of interactions across social platforms (2.7m reactions) were testament to the creative efficacy.

Changing the conversation from risk to opportunity and dramatizing the tension won us much attention in the logistics category. As a challenger brand, it was imperative to position ourself in a distinct way.

Building the Maersk brand as a Logistics Integrator our campaign also had to be integrated. Creativity and distribution were meticulously merged. A connected ecosystem with intend to surprise and optimizing benefits across paid, owned and earned. Sometimes the media was the message challenging formats by using our communicative offset ‘look for the upsides in integrated logistics’. Other times, it was a personal layer ‘Upside perspectives’ targeting buyers showcasing peers benefitting from integrated logistics.

Beyond regular B2B/logistics methods/channels. Hypertargeting is loved by B2B-marketeers, as its accuracy soothes wastage fears. Those media restricted us when telling our story, so we went beyond traditional media/“B2B appropriate” and managed to increase engagement through cut-through executions never seen before by competitors.