Client Corner: TNT

TNT may be one of the most recognised brands in the world, but before this week it had been years since the company had launched a large-scale advertising campaign. The brand’s iconic delivery trucks were the closest thing you’d have seen to some orange promotion before now but a new campaign through agency Etcetera/DDB has shaken all that up.

Led by a commercial from PostPanic Amsterdam director Mischa Rozema, the new work sees real employees feature to form a human delivery truck promoting the brand’s people power spirit and the campaign is hung on the line: The People Network and the community feel of its logistics service.

Below Maria Grodecki, global director, marketing operations at TNT, and Peter van Leeuwen, creative director, Etcetera/DDB, tell us about a new era for the brand, their unique client-agency relationship and how they completed a mammoth task in just 100 days.

Tell us about your new campaign?

BM: To TNT it is more than a campaign, it is a comeback and a beginning. We may not be the biggest, but we bring something special, our people and our network. The campaign both launches and illustrates the new TNT brand and strapline, The People Network. The strategic intent is clear: we want to serve even more businesses, even more SMEs, with a personal approach and the fastest European road network. On a personal level, it fills me with energy and pride. In 21 years with TNT, I had never worked on anything like this.

How long has TNT been a client of Etcetera/DDB and how often do the companies work together?

PvL: We have worked with TNT since the beginning of this year. Quite coincidentally, we were awarded the business on my birthday, 16 January. It was the best birthday present I could wish for, especially when you think of the fact that we were granted the account without a pitch.

This unusual relationship originated from Etcetera’s MD Dick van der Lecq and my relationship with TNT CEO Tex Gunning, who we had worked with earlier internationally with Akzo.

TNT outsourced their marketing department to us and worked closely with the key management of TNT throughout the creative process. We were in this together and we worked as a true in-sourced taskforce in order to capture the extraordinary spirit of the company. 

Tell us about the campaign brief for The People Network?

PvL: This is actually a very beautiful aspect of this project: there was no brief. Since we are the marketing department and the agency, we did the strategy together with TNT and wrote our own brief.

We started off by really getting to know the client. We conducted interviews with TNT employees, intense research and analysis searching for what TNT’s brand really stands for. This way we gathered the knowledge, and moved on to strategy. Finally, we created our own brief.

It’s rather unique and to be honest a thrilling challenge. In a way this scenario puts you at the edge of your seat, as there is less managerial control and direction, you need to make sure you’re always on top.

I think we’re going to see much more of this way of working in the future, even though it’s not a new phenomenon it is still quite rare. It’s a new way of thinking, especially from the client’s perspective. From our end, you’re always wearing two hats, which puts you in a unique position to get things done.

BM: Both Etcetera, which developed the campaign, and Design Bridge, which designed the brand identity, bring a lot of creativity and fun to the table. It felt like working as one team. The relationship with Etcetera goes beyond a traditional client-agency relationship.  They play a role in deciding our marketing strategy.

Why was now the right time for the brand to make a return to large-scale advertising?

BM: TNT has gone through several changes in the past years; we still have a lot of work to do, but the uncertainty is over. With a new management team in place and a clear direction, we are going back to our challenger roots. It is time to reinvest in the brand to highlight what makes TNT special and introduce new customers to TNT. This time of the year is perfect to reach out to customers, as they complete their shipping plans for Christmas.

Tell us about your previous marketing strategy and how the ideals and approach has changed?

BM: The focus was on below the line activities, including direct marketing and e direct marketing campaigns, and their integration into the sales process. BTL is also fully part of the new campaign, so we continue these good practices, but we want to be bolder, more daring in our approach from now on. That is why we’ve decided to invest in above the line and social media.

Did the idea to use a real employee come from the agency or TNT?

BM: I don’t remember… Casting an employee almost went without saying. Daan Daams (the man who winks to the boy in the film), is a TNT driver, his father was a TNT driver and he too starred in a TV commercial. Behind the scenes, many colleagues, especially in the marketing team, were part of the project team. Now that the TV ad is visible to all, we are receiving excellent feedback from colleagues all over the world.

How much substance do you think Daan’s inclusion adds to the honesty of the work?

PvL: It definitely makes it real for internal communications. For a company with such loyal and dedicated employees as TNT, the fact that we used an actual employee illustrates that it’s genuine. I would say that it definitely adds substance to internal communications. In fact, I don’t think we could have done it without a real employee.

It lifts the whole campaign, also externally. It makes the story more authentic, which was essential in getting the message across. When you know that he’s actually working for TNT, and has been for more than a decade, he becomes a great ambassador for the campaign.

What do you think he (Daan) took away from the experience of being involved?

BM: That is for Daan to say. One thing’s for sure; he’s become TNT’s most famous employee… perhaps more than our CEO. He has become a face for more than 60,000 employees.

Why did you want to create additional films with making of footage? Do you think that’s necessary for a campaign today, or did it just fit with this particular idea?

PvL: With heavy CGI involved, people always ask how you did it. It is interesting to be invited behind the scenes, especially with a campaign like this in mind. So we would have made a making of anyway.

BM: The film combines real people and stunts with digital effects. We knew this would raise curiosity so we decided to offer a glimpse behind the scenes.

The people network message goes deep into the company’s values and what makes it successful. How did technology allow you to achieve your vision compared to the past?

PvL: With the technology available now, we could portray the people network in a way that had never been done before. There are of course films and commercials with people forming a house, a car, or a tower – but what we have done with Post Panic is that we took this to a level of “I’ve seen people forming things, but not like this. How the hell did they do that?”

We had the combination of live action and CGI to make a strong, epic and memorable campaign. It gave it that extra edge. The CGI really pushed it to the next level, and allowed us to share the company’s vision in a way that would not be possible without intricate CGI technology.

And why was Mischa Rozema the right man to bring the vision to life?

PvL: Seeing that Mischa is in the movie business, he was on the top of our list from the beginning. Funnily enough, with this script we didn’t need to ask, directors approached us. Mischa is moving on from commercials to movies so he is a perfect fit. He has the right ambition to drive a project involving CGI and live action. I wanted a director who had never done this before, but who had the support from experience to figure it out and push it to perfection. That’s what Mischa did.

BM: The moment I met Mischa, I knew the TV ad would be good. It was obvious he liked the idea as much as we did, and he gave us confidence. He set a schedule and met all the deadlines.

How do you hope people perceive the brand after watching the new commercial and content?

PvL: Honestly, and without being biased, I reckon it’s the most impactful way of bringing the People Network to life. I think people are now able to see TNT’s true DNA, and see what separates them from their competitors: the people network.

When we presented the campaign at a sales conference in Spain recently, two TNT sales guys came up to us after our presentation. One looked at the other and said: “Come on, tell him what you told me.” The other guy then told us with, and I’m not exaggerating, tears in his eyes: “After 19 years at TNT I’ve never felt anything like this, I still have goosebumps. I’m touched.”

It’s a pan-European campaign, so the idea had to be a universal one. Why do you think the advert will appeal and connect in all the countries/regions it’s launching in?

BM: The ATL campaign is running in eight European countries, but the awareness campaign is going on in 60 countries. We’ve sent the TV commercial to customers everywhere, together with a personal note from Tex Gunning, TNT’s CEO. I think the film conveys energy, but also a real sense of connection, with a touch of humour.  Once the campaign’s concept was chosen, we immediately involved our marketers in all ATL countries to benefit from their feedback along the campaign development cycle. We called this the ‘orange energy’. The campaign’s project team is truly international and is mostly made of country representatives.

But what makes this special is that it’s told through the eyes of a TNT employee, Daan, and that’s what makes the making of series a great addition to the campaign. I haven’t seen many making ofs from an outsider’s perspective. It all fits because of Daan, otherwise it would just be interesting, being told how things work. But with Daan you’re taken on a journey.

And how long did the whole project take to complete?

PvL: Normally an agency and a client will take a minimum of 12 months to do something like this, and they would probably start at a strategic level. We did everything in 100 days. Big international companies tend to work with huge, cascaded marketing and agency teams, which again make them so time, money and energy consuming. TNT made it possible for us to work within an exceptional ‘lean & mean’ team, delivering a new positioning, brand identity and campaign for 30 countries in nine months’ time (from when we first won the account).