The UPS Store is putting a face on 12 years of real-customer advertising.
It created Blu, its first-ever character, as the central figure in a multi-year national campaign from Doner Advertising.
Blu is a woman in a blue polo who appears on demand to hand small business owners advice and services.
"Blu captures something our customers feel every time they walk into a store," Michelle Van Slyke, SVP of marketing and sales at The UPS Store, told DesignRush.
"The UPS Store isn't just a service provider, but a genuine partner invested in their success.
As our first-ever brand character, Blu embodies the small business resources, one-stop convenience and award-winning customer experience available at every location."
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The campaign also pairs Blu with NFL player and new small business owner Aidan Hutchinson.
Both feature in film spots created by Paramount Media Labs for CBS and Paramount streaming.
The new brand asset gives the company a repeatable way to dramatize a service promise that can otherwise be difficult to make memorable.
Blu Gives Service More Character
Blu gives The UPS Store a fictional helper who can solve practical business problems on demand.
The character can appear through a portal, break reality and time, and connect small business owners to services.
These services include shipping, printing, mailbox support, and document shredding.
The creative idea came from franchisee and customer research, followed by testing from Doner Advertising.
This approach keeps Blu tied to experiences customers and franchise owners already associate with the company's service.
"Small business owners carry a lot on their own, and Blu is a reminder that they don't have to," Van Slyke added.
"I'm incredibly proud of the creative work our agency partners put into bringing that relationship to life."
Parent company UPS eliminated 48,000 positions in 2025 and plans up to 30,000 more in 2026 after agreeing to halve the Amazon deliveries it handles.
Small business shipping and printing now matter more to UPS than they did when the last campaign ran.
The UPS Store's locations are almost all independently owned, so one recognizable character gives franchisees a single message to run locally.
The Hutchinson partnership adds another layer.
As the owner of golf brand 4th and Fore, he can credibly occupy the same small business world that Blu is designed to represent.
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His spots will begin airing on September 5 across CBS and Paramount streaming, with digital and social content running through early November.
The creative offers the brand a character it can reuse across formats while keeping the service proposition at the forefront.
The Character Has 36.2 Million Owners to Convince
The U.S. has 36.2 million small businesses, which employ 62.3 million people and account for 45.9% of private-sector employment.
The market is large, but owners also face practical pressures that make accessible support valuable.
In the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Q2 2026 Small Business Index, 57% of owners named inflation their top challenge, up from 48% a year earlier.
In the Q3 2025 index, 58% of owners named marketing and sales a very important investment area.
In-person customer experience is tied at the same 58%.
The data suggests Blu is relatable for entrepreneurs who prioritize business operations and customer-facing investment.
These numbers point to three useful lessons for service brands.
- Practical help earns attention. Brands can turn complex services into recognizable characters to make support easier to understand and remember.
- Customer experience has marketing value. Teams should dramatize useful interactions to give service promises a human face and strengthen recall.
- Large audiences need specific relevance. Marketers should connect campaigns to the customer pain points to make national advertising feel local.
The opportunity for Blu is to keep translating a wide service offering into situations small business owners immediately recognize.
Our Take: Can Blu Keep the Customer Story Alive?
Real customers made great ads for 12 years, but The UPS Store could never put the same one on air twice.
We can see Blu keeping this story alive, though only if she stays specific.
A character who solves everything sometimes ends up solving nothing memorable.
The launch spots already have Blu handling shipping, printing, shredding, and mailboxes.
We think that the next round of spots should pick one service and stay there for some time.
Franchisees will know within a year whether customers will walk in asking for Blu by name.
Similarly, Underdog's "The Dog" shows a character designed to carry the brand across sports, social, and live-game content.
Looking to develop character-led brand campaigns?
Explore these top small business branding agencies experienced in brand identity and integrated campaigns.
