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FEDEX

FedEx's brand positioning is shipping reliability. Its challenge, though, is to defend that ground against heavy-spending competitors.

Some might look at reliability as a functional benefit. FedEx, rather, achieves it with a dizzying array of systems, technology and people. As a result, BBDO chose an emotional route based on the common truth that shippers want an easy life without surprises. They want stress-free shipping. To dramatize this, the agency told a story of courage and cowardice in a culture of blame. In a TV spot, a tyrannical boss storms out of his office to ask, "Hey! Who shipped the 200 boxes to Boston?" The viewer watches as office workers scurry for cover like chameleons blending into their surroundings. All except one: poor unsuspecting Lewis, who stands his ground and receives rarely given praise from the big guy.

"Chameleons," supported by outdoor work, drove FedEx's highest ever unaided advertising score, far beyond scores for big-spending UPS and Purolator. This was achieved through an idea that was executed flawlessly, one that made a small, specialty-channel TV buy look and act like a big, mass national campaign. The awards are still being delivered right on time.

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Chameleons

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