Case Study: DHL & Copa America | Custom Promotional Products in Latin America

By Dean Schwartz (SWAG Master): If you’re an active follower of our blogs (I know they’re all serious page scrollers), you’ll know that we were very active in this year’s Copa America 2015 soccer tournament. 

Case Study: DHL & Copa America | Custom Promotional Products in Latin America

THE CHALLENGE

MasterCard wasn’t the only brand we partnered with at 2015’s Copa America tournament. DHL, the international shipper, was also a sponsor of Copa America. They needed items for retail promotions, giveaways for their VIP guests and something to get DHL noticed inside the stadiums.

But this wasn’t as simple as producing a variety of custom products. Logistically, we needed our factories in China to divide up every order into different amounts. On top of that, the orders were being shipped to 16 countries throughout Latin America. Thank goodness we were partnering with the best international logistics company in the business! They helped handle the shipping, customs clearance, and delivery. Normally, we handle all this, but when your client is a logistics behemoth it makes sense to let them help.

As for the products – the challenge given to us by DHL was that the Copa America logo needed to be produced as a full-color logo and we had to combine that with DHL’s iconic yellow and red logo and coloring to everything we produced. The items were as varied as they were unique and specialized.

THE SOLUTION

For the retail portion of the order, SOBO produced iron die-struck keychains. Each chain featured a soft enamel and epoxy dome on one side and a 2D soccer ball print, with an epoxy dome on the second side. In all, the custom key chain measured 1.5” in diameter, was nickel-plated, and had a split ring and jump ring attachment. We also produced custom drawstring backpacks for DHL. It features a full-color imprint on one side and the words “Entregando El Fútbol al Mundo” (Delivering soccer to the world) on the other. Furthermore, we produced mini soccer balls (size 2) from PU material using full-color design in the DHL colors.

The retail portion of the order was only one part of it, though. We also customized products for the DHL Latin American Staff, including metal pens and soccer jerseys with sublimated print. Our SWAG artists designed custom performance polos for VIP guests, as well as caps with a classy, embroidered Copa America logo on the front with a modern rubber patch on the back featuring the DHL logo.

The sandwich visor was customized to feature DHL red, which was PMS matched, as well. VIPs also received custom USB drives that were shaped like soccer balls as well, so not only were they functional, but they were fun, too. And finally, we sent cheer sticks to all 16 countries for Copa America fans, as well, courtesy of DHL. Each featured the bold yellow PMS color of the brand and were an eye-catcher from the stands all over Latin America throughout the cup.

THE RESULT

DHL won big at Copa America, and if you ask us – maybe as much as Chile, but hey, we’re biased. We couldn’t have done it, however, without great DHL partners.

Nevertheless, there’s no arguing that we went all out, far and wide, to produce custom products for DHL. And guess what, we can do the same for you! Whether you need promotional products in the US or Latin America, SOBO’s got you covered. Call us today at 888.752.0432!