Brand Confusion & Singularity (UPS)

Whatever happened to brand singularity? Am I supposed to get my mail from UPS now? I thought that they shipped packages. Ah, brand confusion, how I despise thee.

Mail Boxes Etc. was a genius brand built in 1980, in San Diego. Following the principles of branding, they created a new category: business services. In six years, they grow to more than 1,500 stores, and became a hotly traded stock on NASDAQ. In 1992, UPS bought 9.5% of the company for $11.3 million.

Targeted specifically at small business owners, MBE created a steady flow of business through word of mouth marketing. They were an easy-to-talk-about brand. Features such as real street addresses (versus a sketchy looking PO Box) and package acceptance/delivery were small business hot buttons.

They have been awarded time and time again for their public relations campaigns. Businesses are built through PR, and maintained through advertising. Mail Boxes Etc. didn’t launch a national campaign until 1995—15 years after its inception.

MailBoxes, Etc. was bought out by the United Postal Service in the spring of 2003. UPS proceeded to immediately kill off the MBE brand. This, of course, was euphemistically called “re-branding.” When a brand stands for something in the mind, it is nearly impossible to change it. UPS stands for package delivery. Mail Boxes Etc. stands for business services.

So what did UPS do upon its acquisition of Mail Boxes Etc.? Like most corporations with deep pockets and antiquated marketing ideologies, they threw money at the problem, launching the biggest of such efforts in franchise history. A 10-week advertising campaign was aired across the nation.

They held an event for the opening of the first of the newly redesigned UPS Stores in Seattle, which was hardly newsworthy. (In fact, a search of The Seattle Times’ website yields zero mention of the opening.)

They also changed the UPS logo for the first time in forty years. A bit more newsworthy, but still not very earth shattering.

The features that made MBE so attractive were absorbed by UPS. Instead of keeping a winning brand, UPS shoved them under their umbrella. This has created a short term success, but at what cost?

This year, Entrepreneur magazine’s “Franchise 500” named The UPS Store at number five in all franchise opportunities, and number one in the postal and business services arena. They have been first for 17 years.

But are they succeeding in light of the UPS brand, or in spite of it? In the battle of weak brands, a weak brand can achieve success. When UPS stamped their logo all over MBE stores, they diluted the brand. Needless to say, the great factors of an MBE mailbox still remain (a real street address vs. a PO Box, package pickup/delivery). The problem is, however, that a hole has been left in the market. Until a true, focused brand champion arises from the ashes, UPS can (and most likely will) dominate unchecked. This brand confusion has created a soft spot in an otherwise rock solid brand.