Australian startup courier service, Sendle, is launching its inaugural brand campaign after winning its patent battle with Australia Post last year.

Dubbing itself “Australia’s top courier service”, Sendle is launching its first advertising campaign, ‘Why post when you can Sendle?’, to compete with Australia Post in parcel delivery. The start-up was founded in 2014, offering affordable door-to-door delivery for small businesses using spare capacity in existing delivery trucks.

“Sendle has built a strong reputation as the alternative to Australia Post, mainly by focusing on satisfying the needs of small business,” says Craig Davis, co-founder and CMO at Sendle.

Sendle has been less than shy in confronting the government-owned Australia Post. According to Davis, this is the “first time small businesses have been presented with a cheaper and more convenient alternative to Australia Post’s 200 year-old functional monopoly.”

In March of last year Australia Post took Sendle to court, asserting ownership of the terms ‘post’ and ‘office’ in the slogan ‘post without the office’. During the trial period Sendle CEO James Chin Moody told The Guardian, “I think it’s showing we’re successful. What we’re doing is creating a service that people want but also is different to everything they don’t want, which is lining up at the post office and all the inconvenience associated with that.”

Last year, Rob Grant named Sendle the eighth most disruptive brand in the ANZ region.

In collaboration with The Glue Society, Sendle’s new campaign will include a TVC starring Australian Red Dog actor, John Batchelor. Batchelor plays an online retail business owner struggling with everyday gripes, described by Sendle as “wasting time lining up at the Post Office… and making sense of Australia Post’s complex pricing schemes.” Batchelor will co-star beside his friend Wendell, the sock puppet.

The ‘Why post when you can Sendle?’ campaign will be distributed across digital, social and owned channels starting this month.

Further Reading:

• The plucky few: the top 10 most disruptive brands in Australia and New Zealand »