GeoPost is one of the largest parcel delivery groups in Europe, operating through its constituent brands —DPD, Chronopost, Exapaq, SEUR and Interlink Express — to deliver more than three million parcels each day.

Historically, the group’s success had been built on the autonomy of its business units — offering close proximity to customers in each country and the ability to adapt locally to changing market conditions and demands. In an evolving parcel delivery industry, GeoPost wanted to address new growth opportunities in consumer and international delivery created by the e-commerce boom.

A thorough diagnosis across 15 business units, involving employees from leadership to the front line, revealed the group’s strengths and ambitions. Leveraging these insights, we created a new positioning for the group, “Closer Connection,” to set a common direction internally and inspire collaboration. The brand idea positions the business as the experts of parcel delivery, who build closer connections with their customers through personal responsibility, brilliant simplicity and the flexibility to adapt.

We then helped GeoPost progressively integrate the positioning into all aspects of the business. This ranged from the customer’s digital journey to employee service behaviors, including the development of signature digital experiences that built upon GeoPost’s existing strengths.

To build their recognition as international delivery experts, we redefined their brand architecture and designed a new visual identity system. A key part of this work was the creation of DPDgroup, the new name to bring the international network together and endorse the group’s commercial brands.

At the heart of the new visual identity, we created the “red cube,” a symbol to serve as the visual connection between the businesses. An evolution of the previous DPD logo, the red cube expresses pride in the past whilst being resolutely modern and future-oriented. Its simplicity reflects DPDgroup’s straightforward and pragmatic approach. By owning the category symbol, the parcel, the identity also reinforces their stature as delivery experts. The new lowercase typography suggests a more human and less institutionalized approach. The refreshed red serves as the group’s signature color.

DPDgroup was officially revealed on March 18, 2015, opening the way to a deeper transformative journey for the group. The new brand, positioning, logo and visual system have been well received across the company and business partners have embraced the new direction. For the first time ever, DPDgroup has implemented a pan-European performance measurement program across 20 countries, 22 business units and 8,700 employees. They’ve also introduced a group-wide governance model, brand center and procurement diagnosis, which have resulted in significant cost savings for the company.