Marketing Plan Foundation: FedExMany people know that Federal Express (FedEx) is a global courier and package delivery company. According to information on their site, "FedEx Corporation provides customers and businesses around the world with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services." (About FedEx, 2012). This indicates that they provide a much wider range of services than just parcel delivery. FedEx has grown to become a global provider of diverse forms of transportation and business services. Brand Name Because of their many partnerships and product lines, FedEx has created “Hallmarks” in addition to the basic brand name. They keep the FedEx part of the brand name the same size and font, except for the color of the "Ex" part. The “Signature Element” is placed below and in a smaller font (see Figure 1). Product Line With the growth of online shopping mainly involving Amazon and eBay, such companies need carriers to deliver the product. One of these carriers is FedEx and they provide a product line for all package management. Often with online shopping the product is too far away for the customer to pick up, this is where FedEx Express comes in. FedEx Express was the original brand and included the airline's package management system. While this lasted for a while, owner Fred Smith decided to shake things up a bit. While major shipping service UPS already had the idea, Fred expanded the airline and introduced trucks to transport packages to the ground with quick recovery. With already extensive expansion in the United States, FedEx has gone international, the plan is to add 88 branches nationwide in Brazil and claims to have a network of 2,400 vehicles... middle of paper... and. The express parcel and freight market is highly competitive, which could impact the company's growth. The company's major competitors include United Parcel Service, Inc, US Postal Service, DHL International Limited, Con-Way Inc., Geodis SA, and TNT NV, among others (GlobalData, 2014). Increase in fuel prices. A current and future threat is rising fuel prices. Fuel prices and supply levels can be significantly affected by international, political and economic circumstances. The main factor influencing fuel prices is the cost of crude oil. Rising fuel prices could have a negative impact on the group's operating results (DataMonitor, 2011). Crude oil supplies may depend on general political conditions, whether war or terrorist attacks occur, instability in the Middle East and South America, and the strength of the U.S. dollar (GlobalData, 2014).