INTRODUCTION

United colors of Benetton is a popular Italian fashion brand being present in 120 countries all over
the world with over 6,500 stores. The company was founded by Benetton family in 1965 in Triviso,
Italy. Benetton clothing has a strong Italian character in various styles and designs. The company
produces over 110 million garments every year, 90% of which is manufactured in Europe. The total
turnover is around 2billion Euro each year.
Benetton is famous for its shock advertising here it uses provocative images as a technique to
raise awareness of social issues such as peace, racial integration and AIDS among the public.
These advertisements brought much criticism and caused a damage to the brand image, however,
it developed a distinct identity.

HISTORY OF THE BRAND

United colors of Benetton is an Italian clothing brand in Triviso, which was found by Luciano
Benetton in the year 1965. The name of the company comes from the Benetton family. The
company has integrated distinctiveness including colours, genuine fashion, quality at reasonable
prices and passion for its work. To attract a fast growing youth market, the company decided to
make the sweaters in bold, bright and enjoyable colours. To cooperate with this new image, the
company changed its name from Benetton to United Colors of Benetton. It moves at the worlds
speed, overcoming geographical, political and idealogical limitations. Nowadays, Benetton is one
of the most famous fashion company in the world.
In 1978, Benetton was recognised as a limited liability company and in 1986 they took on the name
Benetton group. Before June 1986, the company was entirely owned by the Benettons family.

Benettons apparel business includes 5 brands:

- UCB (flagship brand)
- Sisley (the trendiest brand)
- The hip site (the newest group brand)
- Killer loop (sportswear)
- play life (sportswear)
At the moment they have over 6500 stores in 120 different countries. Benetton is Europes largest
clothing manufacturer and the worlds largest buyer of wool in the garment sector and they have 9
factories in different parts of the world and an annual revenue of 2.0 billion Euros in retail sales.
Alessandro Benetton has been chairman of the Benetton Group since April 2012 and is now
guiding the company into their next stage of development.

CORE VALUES OF THE BRAND

Benettons core values are being globally responsible and a concerned company in social,
environmental and economic terms. They are committed for present and future generations,
growing together with society in which the company operates, in Italy and all other markets.
Benetton is friendly to human dignity and to change of society. All this creates their companys
values and aims to grow by making a contribution into a progress of a developing market.
In the beginning, the company started with the advertising strategy which was based on picture of
young people who are of different skin types, colour, and race wearing colourful clothing, They tries
to convey that there is no difference between skin colours; everyone is equal. Benettons aim was
to show their tolerance to cultural diversities.
The denotative sign of this image is eight people wearing colourful clothing who belong to different
races. The connotative here is diversity multiculturalism equality political and social change.
Nevertheless, later, Benetton changed their advertising strategy. They started to design
advertisements showing the worlds biggest issues; war, Aids and other social problems. These
advertisements were shocking and controversial which was a source of negativity coming from the
publics side. Benetton tried to make exciting emotions but developed the opposite feeling in
people.

In the picture is the pope kissing Imam Ahmed el Tayyeb, from Benettons Unhate campaign.
There are two main signifiers who are the heads of two religions. They were connoted with the idea
of power, representation of their country or religion and that they signify opposition. Benetton
putting them on the same image related to inducing the concept of cultural, political or national
barriers. The aim of this ad was to show the equity and totally reverse the message by uniting the
opposite leaders into a kiss what means sign of love, intimacy, trust and in this context peace.
It was the most controversial and inappropriate of advertisements, compared previous campaigns.
This campaign caused a lot of disapproval and enmity. The Vatican protested and next day it was
removed; they found it unacceptable and disrespectful. Besides of all the negativity, Benettons aim
to attract attention was attained. People talked about it and discussed the advert for a long time.
However, now, Benetton in peoples minds is a brand with shocking advertisements and forgotten
its reputation for its colourful, high quality clothing.
BRAND IDENTITY

Externalisation identifies what Benetton is to the outside world it interacts with

Physique : Colours, Individuality, shocking ads, controversies

Relationship : Unity, Equality, friendship

Reflection : multicultural, exciting, unconventional, modern, independent minded.

Internalisation identifies Benetton image internally

Personality : innovative, rebellious, daring, provoking, full of energy

Culture : Italian, quality, tolerance, brotherhood, awareness

Self image : feel good, extrovert, comfortable, vibrant

MARKETTING MIX

Product

- Rich choice of colour

- Clothing for women, men and children
- Accessories
- Footwear
- Various sizing
- Swing tags
- Product guide
- Product care instructions
- Quality

Benetton clothing is made for women, men and children from different fanfics such as alpaca,
angora cashmere, cotton, organic cotton, viscose and wool. All clothing is of a high quality and very
colourful which is available in various sizes. Nowadays, it is important to make clothing available in
variable sizes for all types of customers.

Price

Benetton price range for quality clothing is reasonable as they focus on the mid market customers.
Their dresses can be bought for cheaper price points; coats and jackets are available for a higher
price. Benettons benefit is that it has a great variety of clothing and footwear at different prices
which potentially can attract a new customer target market.
Place

- In-store distribution
- Franchises
- Online distribution

Benetton sells their clothing in-store worldwide and also through the online channel, on their official
website. They are distributing through many franchises who sell their clothing in the stores. They
are opportunities to increase sales by implementing different marketing tools, for instance, an
advertising campaign which is not related to any global issues but focusses the attention on
clothing itself.

Promotion

- Facebook
- Twitter
- Pinterest
- Youtube
- Foursquare
- Benettons website
- Advertising campaigns
- Colours magazine
- Fabrica communication research centre of Benetton

Benetton promotes its products through the social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, its
website, Youtube and Foursquare where they show the latest collections and special deals. In
2012, Benetton organised a competition called The unemployed of the year, for young unemployed
people of age 18 - 30. This competition was designed to motivate the unemployed youth ti take
back their dignoty and show the world they have practical skills to offer. It was a great idea to
attract positive attention from the younger generation; it built the brand awareness and made
people to look at it from a different perspective.
Benetton is selling online and if a customer decided to buy online there are many available options
on how to pay for the order. They accept visa, master card, American express and even paypal.
They also offer exchanges and returns but they do not cover shipping expenses which might
change a customers desire to buy.

COMPETITORS OF THE BRAND

The competitors of Benetton are brands with similar targeted customer market and in the offered
product range. Benetton competitors are listed below:

1. Inditex Zara - a Spanish fashion brand with 6 fashion chains and over 1,200 stores
worldwide.

2. The Gap - an international American fashion brand worth 11 billion dollars

3. H&M - a Swedish fashion company whose sales are about 6 billion dollars.

4. Mango - an international Spanish brand which designs womens and mens clothing and
accessories.

5. Espirit - an international American fashion brand.

CONSUMER OVERVIEW

Existing customers :

Existing consumers of United Colors of Benetton are women and men aged 25-40 belong
to ABC1 social group. They are educated and in full-time employment, so they have a sufficient
amount of money to spend every month on their desires. Their belief is by being equal no matter
what race or colour the person is will help make this world much happier. A particular favourite
quote of consumers is expressed by Pablo Picasso: Colours, like features, follow the changes of
the emotions.
Existing Benetton customers perhaps have children, as Benetton offers a wide range of
clothing for children which is colourful and bright like the adults assortment. In their free time of
work they love spending time with children and doing different outdoor activities so they give a
preference to casual wear which is comfortable. Benetton is the shop where they find clothing for
all family and this clothing makes them feel good and comfortable.

Potential customers :

Potential Benetton customers are students in full time education in their early twenties.
Some of them are in part-time employment to earn extra money for their every day needs. They
love to express themselves when around their peers. Their belief is by being honest and it will help
make new friends and contacts which are important going through different life cycles. Their
favourite saying is: Everyone shall love their neighbours as themselves. In spite of their young
age they are self motivated and enthusiastic. Their dearest wish is after graduation to become
professionally organised and successful people. In their free time they like socialising and going
out with like minded peers. They prefer listening to pop culture music like Rihanna, Beyonce,
Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake. They are wearing clothing rich in colours so Benetton is the
place where they can enjoy the paradise of colours.

IMAGERY

United Colors of Benetton imagery represents and symbolises independence, friendliness,

attentiveness, simplicity, extravagance and elegance; the brand which is for every personality and
occasion.
United Colors of Benetton is all about colours; it attributes a large amount of brightness and
bravery. The brand offers a broad variety of effortless chic clothing to its customers which could be
found in their favourite hues. For those who is not colour wild Benetton presents less rich tones.
RETAIL AND BRAND MANAGEMENT

UNITED COLORS
OF BENETTON

ACKSHAYAA S G
BD/14/2698