Manchester United: From tour to tour

Earlier this month, Manchester United wrapped up the DHL Champ19ons Tour in Amsterdam, Holland – a four-month tour that travelled some 48,000 miles from its kickoff in Delhi, India to 27 cities around the globe. Particularly special about this year’s tour was its first time appearance in Africa, where the Reds are estimated to have 33 million fans. DHL offices engaged customers, staff and media throughout the tour.
And fast approaching is the club’s pre-season tour! Starting in July, Manchester United will play matches in South Africa, China and Norway, supported by DHL. Although there are no official games over the summer, undertaking a pre-season tour for several weeks abroad, gives Manchester United the chance to train in friendly matches and extend their fan base in locations around the world.
Recently announced that the club has over 659 million fans around the world (nearly one tenth of the global population), the Manchester United brand has the pulling power to make any event a success, and pre-season events are a great way for local DHL offices to leverage that opportunity. Whether it’s a B2B customer breakfast, an employee prize winners’ party, or a team building seminar, putting one of the world’s leading football clubs at the heart of any event will make it soar – and score!

Formula 1™: Delivering the
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup™ package

This season, DHL has supplemented our existing hospitality options at Formula 1™ European events with a new hospitality offer: Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (www.porsche.com/international/motorsportandevents/motorsport/racing/pmsc/). The package provides DHL guests with grandstand seating and access to the Porsche team hospitality tent in each circuit’s Support Paddock area, featuring buffet-style catering and beverages, as well as meet-and-greets with the Porsche Cup team and driver sponsored by DHL. Christian Danner, DHL Formula 1™ Ambassador, and Hans-Bernd Kamps, To Limit motor sports expert and racing promoter, are available for pit lane walks, Support Paddock technical tours, customer dinners and race talks.
The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup™ hospitality offer can be packaged as a one or two-day program for up to 30 guests per day. Upcoming Grands Prix featuring the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup™ package include:
Valencia: June 23rd to 24th 
Silverstone: July 7th to 8th 
Hockenheim: July 21st to 22nd 
Budapest: July 28th to 29th 
The new activation platform has been a tremendous success. Following the Catalunya GP in Spain this month, one customer said: «a few words to thank you for the warmth, caring and professionalism demonstrated at all times. Thank you indeed».

Red Bull X-Fighters™: Piloting a new partnership

The Red Bull X-Fighters™ World Tour is a freestyle motocross (FMX) event that pushes the limits, challenging the best FMX riders to throw down their maddest tricks at spectacular locations around the globe. Riders’ performances are greeted with drum rolls, trumpet fanfares and waving flags, creating one of the most enticing sporting spectacles of the century. The reach of these events continues to grow, with 
up to 100,000 spectators onsite at events in 2011, 
news clips broadcasted on 141 channels around the world in 2010, 
1.1.million visitors on www.redbullxfighters.com to date, and 
250,000 fans on «Red Bull X-Fighters™» Facebook page so far.
This season, DHL is accompanying the Red Bull X-Fighters™ World Tour to five venues (USA, Turkey, Spain, Germany and Australia) as its Official Logistics Partner, testing the potential of a longer term partnership. Our brand visibility at these events is hard to miss: the DHL logo can be seen on the kicker ramp and the big screen as well as in riders’ boxes and on media backdrops.
In addition, DHL receives grandstand tickets and VIP packages, including trackside seating, track walks, meet-and-greets with riders and full catering. The first partnership event took place this month in Glen Helen, California and was a resounding success, with one customer noting «the event was great… everything looked great and we had a blast».​

Fashion Week: Swimming into summer

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to shed those layers and step into the summer season in something sleek and stylish. This summer, DHL is supporting Fashion Week in:
Fashion Week Milan: June 16th to 20th (Spring/Summer 2013 collections)
Fashion Week Berlin: July 4th to 7th (Spring/Summer 2013 collections)
Fashion Week Miami:  July 19th to 23rd (Swimwear 2013 collections)
Show invitations can be requested by any country for local promotions, although numbers are limited. Please contact the DHL Ticketing Hotline for more information (ticketing@dhl-activate.net).

Volvo Ocean Race: on shore and at sea 

In Miami this month, DHL presented the DHL Shore Crew Award to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing for overcoming potentially race-ending obstacles in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. The team’s racing yacht Ayyam suffered from a severely damaged hull in Leg 5, yet with help from DHL and the team’s shore crew, repairs were made in time for the start of Leg 6 in Itajaí.
DHL Global Forwarding Chief Executive Officer Roger Cook presented the award, saying: «As the Official Logistics Partner of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012, DHL is proud to honor Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing for its hard work, tenacity and expertise shown when faced with adversity. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing came together and worked around the clock to ensure the boat was ready for the next phase of this grueling round-the-world race. Just as DHL is forced to deliver in high-pressure situations, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing also rose to the challenge».
Over 60 DHL guests attended in-port hospitality events in Miami. Opportunities to host similar events in Europe will be coming up soon: Leg 7 of the race is currently underway from Miami to Lisbon, Portugal with May 31st as the expected arrival date. The final two legs of the race will also be based in Europe with Leg 8 from Lisbon to Lorient, France and Leg 9 from Lorient to Galway, Ireland. As always, the race can be tracked live online at DHL Brandworld: www.dhl-brandworld.com/en/activities/world-class-partnerships/252-volvo-ocean-race-viewer.html. 
© 2012 DHL