Blue Dart aims to expand footprint in smaller cities, GoGreen

Blue Dart Express Ltd., an express logistics company catering to B2B and B2C customers, plans to spread its business to tier II and III cities this year.

To achieve this target, the brand, which holds a 48% market share in the air express courier segment in the country, is aggressively working on improvising its business fronts.

Ketan Kulkarni

“We are constantly working on our expertise to increase the share. In air express, we are the market leader with 48% share,” said Ketan Kulkarni, Head of Business Development and CMO, Blue Dart.

The brand’s marketing spend is 2% of the total revenue, out of which 10% is allocated to digital marketing and the remaining 90% on BTL activities, sales promotion, incentives and loyalty programmes.

According to Kulkarni, B2B business has a very large share of the brand’s business for which the brand keeps a very narrow and focused approach on marketing depending upon the sector it targets to approach. The company individually work with industries.

Speaking on the strategic focus for business expansion, Kulkarni said, “We are India’s largest expert logistics company and the market leaders in air express. We work across all industry verticals. Our strategic focus this year is to expand in tier II, III cities. We will also renew our focus on SME (Small-Medium Enterprise).”

Apart from this, the brand will focus on consumer engagement and preferences. To create engagement with consumers on social media platforms, the brand has increased its digital spends to 10%, which was less in previous years.

The brand launched its #ILoveMyBlueDart campaign to target the millennials and Gen X. The company has three more campaigns in the pipeline.

“We recently launched the #ILoveMyBlueDart campaign, which was very successful in terms of reaching out to consumers. We have planned other two major campaigns—one is #RakhiExpress around Rakhi and the other will be on breast cancer cause with Pinkathon,” Kulkarni said.

“In order to engage with B2B customers, the company has a special customer loyalty programme called Blue Point. In the seventh edition of this loyalty programme, the company has enrolled over 500 customers this year. The company slots its marketing, sales promotion and BTL activities together. Blue Dart is also very active on social media platforms.

Speaking on the most effective marketing medium for the brand, Kulkarni said, “I believe, in Blue Dart, our movement of touch points and truth are the most important elements of how we build the brand. Apart from that it depends on the sectors and the TG we are engaging. If it is a consumer franchise targeting millennials then digital marketing is the way, if it is about targeting industries then there is a loyalty programme and BTL activities. It depends on the touch point we want to influence for the brand, depending on that we select our marketing and advertising platforms. To different audiences, there are different mediums but all the mediums are beneficial,” said Kulkarni.

However, for Blue Dart, digital is the most engaging medium for different types of consumers. According to Kulkarni, Blue Dart is uniquely positioned and has competition in its all sectors of business. “Blue Dart is uniquely positioned and has competition in its all the three areas of business. We operate on the e-commerce sector and that has its own set of competition, we operate on small packages on air and documents for banks, which also has its own set of competitions although it is different from other delivery companies. We also operate on heavy shipments on ground express that again has another set of competitions,” he said.

Blue Dart works with all leading e-commerce brands in the country. Apart from these the brand works for Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Automotive, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Consumer Durables and Electronics.

Going green with its services

“Because of our strength and governance, we are the largest logistic service provider globally,” said Kulkarni.

The brand is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group, which is committed to 50% reduction in carbon emissions by the year 2050, under its climate protection goal called ‘Zero Emissions 2050’ which sets a target for the brand to work on the same front.From now until 2050, the mission will be to drive business towards zero emissions logistics by setting the standard for the future of the transport sector and doing its part to help the world community reach its goal of limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius.

“The big move for Blue Dart will be a carbon neutral supply chain in the future. Right now, we have a service called carbon neutral service. Customers who want to neutralise their carbon foot prints can use our Go-Green Carbon Neutral Service,” he shared.

The GoGreen Carbon Neutral Service allows customers to neutralise their carbon footprint by paying an offset charge over and above their shipping rates. The offset charge will be calculated on shipment or weight and distance.

Speaking on the USP of the brand, Kulkarni said, “Blue Dart has genuinely differentiated itself with world-class, state-of-the-art technology to deliver superior services to the customer.

Blue Dart is the only Indian air and ground express company that has invested extensively in technology infrastructure to create differentiated delivery capabilities, quality services and customised solutions for the customer. Our value pricing with high standards technology architecture and innovation has allowed us to achieve service quality and operation delivery par excellence.

“The net service level of Blue Dart is 99.6%. We keep on trying to add value to our supply chain for our consumers.”

“With a fleet of six Boeing 757 freighters, Blue Dart offers a revenue payload of over 500 tonnes per night; a strong network of 11,122 vehicles meets delivery schedules and speed shipments to their destination. Blue Dart facilities across India include seven aviation hubs and bonded warehouses, 13 domestic hubs, 86 ground hubs and over 13,400+ committed and talented Blue Darters. Blue Dart services 14,000+ pin codes across 35,000+ locations in India by Blue Dart and to over 220 countries and territories worldwide through its group company, Deutsche Post DHL Group,” he added.

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