Scope

3 projects for DHL Express, The Netherlands. A brand awareness campaign, a trade fair experience at Webwinkel Vakdagen and "Fixed Rates" commercial campaign. Role as Design Lead at DPDK, 2025-2026.

Scenario

Ask a Dutch entrepreneur why they ship with someone and the answers are rational: price, convenience, reliability. DHL had every reason to win that conversation - a vast network, international scale, deep logistics expertise and the tools to match. And yet, that scale came with a risk. To the small and medium-sized businesses DHL wanted to win, the brand risked feeling big, international and distant.

In a market where the big players compete on being the best or the cheapest, there was room for a different role. So across an awareness campaign, a trade fair and a commercial campaign, we showed DHL as the partner who understands what entrepreneurs are dealing with, and gives them the confidence to keep going. Not a logistics provider. A partner that helps them move forward.

Awareness campaign

DHL is present in more than 220 countries and territories. Every piece across the three projects was built strictly within its brand guidelines. The brand was never ours to bend.

The first expression, a brand awareness campaign, launched in February 2026, and the timing was deliberate. After the year-end peak, entrepreneurs slow down, look ahead and reconsider who they work with. Instead of abstract service claims or the usual parcels-and-trucks imagery, the campaign turned the camera on the people inside the network: real DHL drivers, sorters and account managers. Faces, names, a team. Behind every shipment, not a system, but people showing up every day for someone else’s business.

The campaign was built on a dedicated photoshoot, and at DPDK we explored multiple image directions internally before narrowing them down. DHL works with testing, so the final choices weren’t made on taste alone: they were guided by DHL’s own data on what drives higher conversion.

Webwinkel Vakdagen

In March 2026, DHL was at Webwinkel Vakdagen in Utrecht, the largest e‑commerce trade fair in the Netherlands. There, we turned its stand from a passive presence into a place where entrepreneurs could actually experience the brand. From the coffee bar to every material on the stand, the brand became something you could walk into: easy to approach, energetic, human. Less parcel company, more partner.

Fixed rates

Fixed Rates is a commercial proposition about fixed prices. What it really offers is control over shipping costs, fewer surprises and more focus. Certainty and confidence. It’s built to convert with a simple offer: lock in your shipping rate and stop worrying about it. Across a whole year of moving parts, it’s the one thing that stays put. It gives a growing business room to move.

From a creative direction point of view, the key visual had two clear goals: speak to small and medium-sized businesses at first glance, and pass one test. Take the logo away, and it’s still unmistakably DHL.

Impact

Most logistics carriers deliver. Being understood is what sets one apart. For small and medium-sized businesses, DHL is the human partner that helps them move forward. One strategic position, one brand story. Three different moments, under one scalable direction for every campaign and marketing activity.

Collaborations: Michael Vromans (CCO), Rhys Davelaar (CD), Laura Vecchio (designer and illustrator), Marco van Zomeren (Design lead)

Image credits: mockup visuals created by DPDK.