Growth Hacking at its Finest – DHL Tricks Competitors to Advertise for Them

DHL has just pulled off an awesome growth hack.

They created large packages covered in a substance that when cooled, turns black, then gradually returns to its original colors at room temperature.

The packages original color were bright yellow, with a large red headline that read “DHL is Faster”.

They then had couriers from rival companies pick up the packages and deliver them to hard to find addresses.

Check out the video below:

A great takeaway from this campaign is the follow-through.

Not only did they come up with a great idea to create color changing packages, but they made sure they captured the content by setting up hidden film crews, and even sent packages to locations where it looks like they had access to the elevator cameras.

They then used that footage to make a viral video which at the time of writing has over 600k views on YouTube.

This is an important takeaway when you have a great idea or momentum, it’s important to leverage it as much as possible.

DHL could have just made the boxes and sent them out, hoping that some of the public would take photos and create a little bit of buzz. But instead, they took control of the reigns resulting in a far more effective campaign.