INTRODUCTION
WHO ARE THEY? Benetton’s colorful world
THEIR BRANDS Different brands of Benetton
THEIR COMMUNICATION Benetton’s think tank “Fabrica” and its cultural activities
EVOLUTION-COMMUNICATION STRATEGY The unconventional advertising
OLIVIERO TOSCANI’S PHILOSOPHY Brain behind the advertising
LOOKING AHEAD A revert to the conventional ways
INTRODUCTION Benetton, the Italian retailer was engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of clothing, undergarments, shoes, cosmetics and accessories. Benetton also licensed its brand name to various manufacturers of sunglasses, stationery, cosmetics, linens, watches, toys, steering wheels, golf equipment, designer condoms and luggage. The group’s important brands included United Colors of Benetton (UCB), Sisley, PlayLife and Killer Loop. During fiscal 2002, Benetton reported revenues of €1.99 billion and net income of €128 million. Benetton spent €102 million on advertising and promotion during the year. In addition to retail outlets around the world, Benetton also operated mega stores (3000 square foot stores) in cities such as Paris, Rome, Kobe, Osaka, New York, London, Moscow and Lisbon. As of 2002, the company operated in about 120 countries through its 5000 retail stores and employed about 7250 people. Benetton was well known for its colorful and provocative advertisements. The company employed unusual, controversial advertising techniques and themes that used “shock value” and the power of photography to grab viewers’ attention. Unlike most advertisements which centered on a company’s product or image, Benetton’s advertising campaigns focused on social and political issues like racial integration, AIDS awareness, war, poverty, child labor, death, pollution etc. The advertisements initially succeeded in raising the brand's profile, but eventually began to cause dissatisfaction among customers, retailers, government bodies and various international non-profit organizations. Some of Benetton’s most memorable advertisements were a priest and a nun kissing, a just born baby with uncut umbilical cord, a black stallion and a white mare mating, a colorful mix of condoms, a black woman breast- feeding a white baby, the photo of an AIDS victim and his family taken moments before his death, the bloody uniform of a dead dea d Bosnian soldier. Following the controversy surrounding a particularly provocative campaign called “We, On Death Row,” Oliviero Toscani, Toscani, Benetton’s Creative Director and Photographer, resigned from the company in May 2000. Benetton realized that it had crossed even the boundaries of unconventional advertising. Various surveys suggested that some loyal customers had been put off by this campaign. One industry expert expe rt commented about Toscani: Toscani: “He has left a famous brand badly besmirched. Many of the things done in that name have encountered a great deal of public resentment, hostility and boycott. It can be overcome, but not easily.”
Following Toscani’s departure, 28-year-old Fabrica (Benetton’s Communication department) student James Mollison took over as Benetton’s Creative Director. Under Mollison, it seemed Benetton was reverting to a more traditional advertising strategy. strategy.
INTRODUCTION Benetton, the Italian retailer was engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of clothing, undergarments, shoes, cosmetics and accessories. Benetton also licensed its brand name to various manufacturers of sunglasses, stationery, cosmetics, linens, watches, toys, steering wheels, golf equipment, designer condoms and luggage. The group’s important brands included United Colors of Benetton (UCB), Sisley, PlayLife and Killer Loop. During fiscal 2002, Benetton reported revenues of €1.99 billion and net income of €128 million. Benetton spent €102 million on advertising and promotion during the year. In addition to retail outlets around the world, Benetton also operated mega stores (3000 square foot stores) in cities such as Paris, Rome, Kobe, Osaka, New York, London, Moscow and Lisbon. As of 2002, the company operated in about 120 countries through its 5000 retail stores and employed about 7250 people. Benetton was well known for its colorful and provocative advertisements. The company employed unusual, controversial advertising techniques and themes that used “shock value” and the power of photography to grab viewers’ attention. Unlike most advertisements which centered on a company’s product or image, Benetton’s advertising campaigns focused on social and political issues like racial integration, AIDS awareness, war, poverty, child labor, death, pollution etc. The advertisements initially succeeded in raising the brand's profile, but eventually began to cause dissatisfaction among customers, retailers, government bodies and various international non-profit organizations. Some of Benetton’s most memorable advertisements were a priest and a nun kissing, a just born baby with uncut umbilical cord, a black stallion and a white mare mating, a colorful mix of condoms, a black woman breast- feeding a white baby, the photo of an AIDS victim and his family taken moments before his death, the bloody uniform of a dead dea d Bosnian soldier. Following the controversy surrounding a particularly provocative campaign called “We, On Death Row,” Oliviero Toscani, Toscani, Benetton’s Creative Director and Photographer, resigned from the company in May 2000. Benetton realized that it had crossed even the boundaries of unconventional advertising. Various surveys suggested that some loyal customers had been put off by this campaign. One industry expert expe rt commented about Toscani: Toscani: “He has left a famous brand badly besmirched. Many of the things done in that name have encountered a great deal of public resentment, hostility and boycott. It can be overcome, but not easily.”
Following Toscani’s departure, 28-year-old Fabrica (Benetton’s Communication department) student James Mollison took over as Benetton’s Creative Director. Under Mollison, it seemed Benetton was reverting to a more traditional advertising strategy. strategy.
WHO ARE THEY?
Founders Luciano, Giuliana, Gilberto and Carlo Benetton, launched the activities of the Benetton Group in 1965. The company is today present in 120 countries around the world. Its core business is fashion apparel with the casual United Colors of Benetton, the glamour oriented Sisley, Playlife American college style and Killer Loop streetwear brands. Benetton Group is listed on the stock exchange of Milan. Luciano Benetton
Born in 1935, Luciano Benetton is Chairman of the Benetton Group. He is also on the Board of Directors of Edizione Holding, the family-owned financial holding company and was a Senator of the Italian Republic from 1992 to 1994. He is the father of four children. Giuliana Benetton
Born in 1937, Giuliana Benetton is currently on the Board of Directors of both Edizione Holding (the family-owned financial holding company) and Benetton Group. She is married and has four children. Gilberto Benetton
Born in 1941, Gilberto Benetton is President of Edizione Holding, the family holding company, President of Autogrill and Director of Benetton Group. He is also a Director of Atlantia S.p.A, Mediobanca S.p.A and Pirelli S.p.A. He is married and has two daughters. Carlo Benetton
Born in 1943, Carlo Benetton is Deputy Chairman of both Edizione Holding (the familyowned financial holding company) and of Benetton Group. He is the father of four children.
BACKGROUND NOTE
1960s
The idea of color.
1965
The Benetton Group is established.
1970s
A business model making the difference: unique, flexible and innovative.
1980s
Benetton communication campaigns: known all over the world.
1990s
A global company present in 120 countries.
2000s
Benetton grows with the market: about 160 million garments sold annually in more than 5,500 contemporary stores.
The Benetton family (consisting of three brothers and a sister) established the Benetton chain in a small Italian town in 1955. To support his family, Luciano Benetton, dropped out of school to sell apparel. His sister Guiliana worked as a knitter in a local factory. Recognizing the potential for a new business, Luciano and Guiliana decided to start their own apparel company. With thirty thousand lire, Guiliana bought a knitting machine and put together a collection of 18 brightly colored sweaters. These sweaters were immediately sold to the local stores. As the business grew, the remaining two brothers joined the company. Each of the four siblings took responsibility for one aspect of the business. Luciano concentrated on marketing. Guiliana directed the design department. Gilberto handled administration and finance. Carlo managed production. Benetton was formally incorporated in 1965 as “Maglificio di Ponzano Veneto dei Fratelli Benetton.”
The Benetton family initially sold their apparel through leading Italian department stores. But as the business picked up, the company entered into an agreement to open an exclusive store for marketing the apparel. The first store, opened in 1969, was an immediate success. Shortly thereafter, Benetton opened a similar store in Paris. Unlike most small producers, who opted for the widest possible distribution, the Benetton family decided to create a network of exclusive distributors, and used sub-contractors. By 1975, Benetton had become a major player in Italy with about 200 shops (not all of them carrying the Benetton name). To appeal to different segments of population, Benetton opened stores under different brand names, which included Sisley, Tomato, Merceria and 012. Over a period of time, these brand names were rolled into the Benetton name. During the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Benetton rapidly expanded by setting retail outlets in France, West Germany, Britain, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries. By the mid1980s, the chain had built a significant presence in the major US cities and in Japan. Benetton’s popularity grew with an impressive list of clientele- Princess Caroline of Monaco and Princess Diana of Wales. In addition to setting up retail outlets across the world, Benetton also set up manufacturing facilities in France, Scotland, Spain and the US. In 1986, Benetton went public by offering 15.6 million common shares (10% of the company). Employees were also offered shares. During the 1990s, Benetton went on an acquisition spree and purchased companies such as Rollerblade (inline skates), Prince Tennis (racquets), Nordica ski boots, Nordica skis (originally Kästle), racquetball-racquet maker Ektelon and snowboard brand Killer Loop. However, these brands performed poorly and Benetton decided to divest all of them. In January 2003, Benetton sold Nordica to skiwear firm Tecnica for €38 million. Two months later, Benetton announced that it would also sell Rollerblade to Tecnica for around €20 million. Benetton also reached an agreement with Lincolnshire Management Inc., a US private equity fund for the sale of Prince and Ektelon brands for about €36.5 million. In 1994, Benetton set up Fabrica, a communications research center. Fabrica (from the Latin word meaning workshop) concentrated on communication projects ranging from cinema to graphics, from industrial design to music, from publishing to new media to photography. The research center housed several film, video and music labs, art, photo and design studios. Luciano described Fabrica as: “a bridge between a visionary dream: between utopia and the reality a world facing changes that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago.” Fabrica invited students from different countries, with creative talents, offering them yearlong fellowships. Among Fabrica’s successful projects were the film “Blackboards,” which won a special award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000, the film “Dayereh,” which won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 and the film “No Man’s Land, co-produced by Fabrica, which won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film in 2002.
HEADQUARTERS
Villa Minelli
Benetton Group's Corporate headquarters is located at Villa Minelli in Ponzano, about 30 km from Venice. Villa Minelli is a complex of sixteenth century buildings of great historical and cultural interest. The villa was acquired by Benetton in 1969 and the task of restoring and remodernising the complex, entrusted to architects Afra and Tobia Scarpa, took over fifteen years. From the mid 1980s Villa Minelli became the headquarters of the Group and home to all its strategic functions.
STORES 5,500 stores worldwide
The development of Benetton's commercial network, characterised by prestigious locations in historic and commercial centres and by the high level of customer services offered, has been supported by a major programme of investment worldwide. The Benetton stores carry complete collections, as well as a wide selection of accessories, offering a full range of Benetton style and quality.
DESIGN A staff of 300 designers from all over the world creates the collections for the casual United Colors of Benetton, the glamour oriented Sisley, Playlife American college style and Killer Loop streetwear brands. The design team is also engaged in researching new materials and creating new lines for different targets from children, men and women to expectant mothers, offering them not only practical and modern styles but also maximum comfort. The result is the latest trends in design and a rich output of many models a year which are realized with computer assisted design systems fully integrated with the rest of the company's production phases.
PRODUCTION
Consistently high quality is one of the fundamental characteristics of the Benetton production process from the raw materials to the finished garment. A constant commitment to innovation, a crucial factor for development, has always characterized the Group’s business organization, from communication to IT, from research into new materials to integrated logistics. Special attention is given to innovation in production, where all systems and equipment are totally renewed every five years. The Benetton production system, co-ordinated by a high-tech facility at Castrette (Treviso, Italy) is capable of turning out about 160 million garments every year.
Dyeing
Since the beginning dyeing has always been a crucial phase in the Benetton production process. The dyeing vats are operational 24 hours a day.
Computerized Knitting Machines
Benetton is the world's largest consumer of pure virgin wool and operates with a structure of computerized machines that are programmed to operate all knitting phases. Seamless Sweater
One of Benetton's innovations is the computerised knitting procedure capable of producing a complete, seamless sweater in half an hour thanks to a software program conceived by Benetton specialists.
DISTRIBUTION From the very beginning, Benetton decided to maintain direct control of the logistics phase and has invested heavily in automating logistics processes in order to achieve total integration within the production cycle, from customer orders to packing and delivery.
Automated Sorting System
These automated machines are capable of assembling individual orders for Benetton's more than 5,500 shops worldwide.
About 160 million flat and hanging garments are automatically sorted every year, packed into boxes and sent directly to the automated distribution system through a tunnel of approximately one kilometer.
Automated Shipping
The Automated Distribution System covers an area of 20,000 square meters, with a total capacity of 400,000 boxes, and is able to handle 40,000 incoming/outgoing boxes daily with a workforce of only 24, compared to the 400 people normally required in a traditionally organized operation.
` The finished product is sent directly to the Group's more than 5,500 retail outlets in 120 countries worldwide.
THEIR BRANDS
United Colors of Benetton A global brand, and one of the most well known in the world, United Colors of Benetton has an international style that combines color, quality and fashion. Each season the womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and underwear collections offer a total look for everyday, for work and for leisure, in the city and outdoors. The Benetton Baby label is a new product line dedicated to the prenatal and the under-fives world. The brand is present in many other sectors, from the elegant accessories to the eyewear lines and perfumes, from the home collection to baby products. The above products are available in selected specialized shops worldwide.
Undercolors of Benetton An extension of the Benetton brand, featuring underwear, beachwear and sleepwear collections, as well as accessories for women, men and children. A wide selection of recurring basic colors is enriched every season with the latest trends. Undercolors is available in its own chain of stores which now has more than 500 locations in thirty countries and in selected Benetton Shops.
Sisley This is the Group's most fashion forward brand. Sisley presents elegant and seductive collections, with special attention given to the choice of design, fabrics and new shapes. Its creative artists and independent sales teams concentrate their efforts on its image and on strong-impact advertising campaigns. The brand has created the very fashionable Sisley Young line for children from 8 to 12 years old.
Playlife This is the Benetton sportswear brand that redefines a style. Its clean and elegant collections display a blend of the American college, exclusive sports clubs and a strong sense of individuality. The brand’s new store concept reflects the same values and highlights their emotional content.
Killer Loop A fashion brand for young adults, with a resolute and distinctive style. It is inspired by teenagers’ favorite role models and icons. Killer Loop is the Benetton brand that edgily interprets "street" vibrations.
THEIR COMMUNICATION
- A creative think tank Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research centre, was set up in 1994. The fruit of the Group’s cultural legacy is based in Treviso, Italy in a complex restored and enlarged by Tadao Ando. Fabrica’s challenge is both an innovative and international one. It is a way of marrying culture and industry, using a form of communication which no longer relies only on the usual kinds of advertising, but conveys industrial culture and the company’s intellect through other media: design, music, cinema, photography, publishing, the Internet. Fabrica has chosen to back the hidden creativity of young artists/researchers from all over the world. Fabrica is not a school, advertising agency or university. It is an applied creativity laboratory, a talent incubator, a studio of sorts in which young, modern artists come from all over the world to develop innovative projects and explore new directions in myriad avenues of communication, from design, music and film to photography, publishing and the Internet. These artist-experimenters are accompanied along their research path by leading figures in art and communication, blurring the boundaries of culture and language and transgressing the traditional borders between a diverse range of communication mediums. Communication research at Fabrica services a wide variety of social causes and disciplines such as economics, social or environmental sciences. Fabrica’s aim is to grasp the future by giving innovative exposure to cultural or scientific projects which open a window onto tomorrow’s world. This project included the creation of study areas, laboratories, offices, facilities such as a library and an auditorium, a cinema, meeting and refreshment areas. The use of natural elements, such as light and air, as part of the architecture reaches its climax in the huge elliptical piazza. As Tadao Ando says, in Fabrica “there is architecture of the past and the present; the two put their trust in, and draw inspiration from, each other. The role of the new architecture is to bring out the charm and strength of the ancient villa and to give birth to a reciprocal, cathartic
relationship between old and new in an atmosphere of complete harmony, transcending the limits of a specific period. Therefore, even the transit areas, which normally play a secondary or insignificant role, have been given due attention. They act as places for communion and communication between people, between people and history or nature; places which encourage dialogue between people from different backgrounds”.
Cinema and Video Fabrica has co-produced a number of films and videos that competed at the leading international film festivals, in order to support and encourage independent voices from the "rest of the world" (particularly Africa, the Arab world, Asia, Latin America).
Design Fabrica's young designers are working on innovative projects regarding product, interiors and industrial design. These range from new shop and exhibition layouts to collections of objects using new styles and expressions, new ideas and materials to create the forms of the future. Design Highlights
Fabrica Features (2000 - 2008) Retail spaces that sell the brand’s design articles and double as multiethnic and multimedia spaces where concerts, screenings, live performances and workshops offer major opportunities for people to meet. Product Collections (2002 - 2008) Fabrica’s young designers have created numerous design collections for major international brands, including “Ideas on the Table” and “Fab Tab” for Paola C., “Liquid Lights” for Metalarte and garden furnishing accessories for C asamania .
Interactive Media The exploration of the new opportunities offered by interactive media is the focal point of the work of Fabrica’s young Web designers, experimentation and research are keys to this process and the team is committed to exploring innovative ways of interaction using new forms of networked systems, input and display devices. Apart from the development of Internet sites that have won many international awards, Interactive Media projects also address video art, interactive games and multimedia events. Interactive Media Highlights FLIPBOOK! An interactive animation project that enables anyone to draw an animate story, than upload it and share it online. In just a few months, the site dad 15 million visitors and over 200,000 animations were uploaded.
Ten by Ten A new piece of Internet art that automatically collects the top 100 words and pictures in the world, every hour, based on what's happening in the news.
Music Music is another area in which Fabrica explores new forms of communication through the creativity of artist experimenters from around the world. At Fabrica Young musicians come together to give new forms of expression to music through the artistic use of multimedia resources and the exploration of alternative languages in sound. Fabrica Musica has set up collaborations with high profile international artists like Michael Nyman, Philip Glass, U. Shrinivas, the Kronos Quartet, Heiner Goebbels and Koichi Makigami, in association with prestigious festivals and concert halls such as the RomaEuropa Festival, London's Barbican Centre, Berlin's Cinema Festival and the Brisbane Music Festival. All soundtracks for videos produced by Fabrica are composed by the department.
Publishing Activity in traditional media forms, like publishing, has produced a major series of publications, for which Fabrica often handles the photography. Examples include Prayer (a collection of modern prayers), 1000 Extra/Ordinary objects (the craziest objects of the twentieth century), Kosovars (portraits of Kosovan refugees in Albanian camps), Lavoratori (black and white photo report on immigrants in north-eastern Italy), Mail Me (research for the design of a new mailbox).
Photography Photography is undoubtedly central to Fabrica’s research work. A photographer’s eye is behind many of Benetton Group’s communication campaigns and also behind photo reportages, exhibitions and publishing projects. Photography Highlights
I SEE (2006) A long journey in search of the current directions of the historical, cultural, artistic, social and economic development of our planet presented for the first time at the “Fabrica: les yeux ouverts” exhibition Centre Pompidou, Paris. Fabrica Forma Fotografia (2006-2008) An international award for a social documentary photographic project ointly launched by Fabrica and Forma, the International Centre for Photography.
PROJECTS Colors Magazine Established in 1991, under the editorship of Tibor Kalman, with the premise that diversity is positive and that all cultures have equal value, today COLORS is part of the publishing activity of Fabrica, Benetton's communication research centre. COLORS' editorial offices are situated in Fabrica's architectural complex, restored and enlarged by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, and it has a network of external collaborators in the four corners of the earth. Pictures are, above all else, COLORS' expressive medium: a method that is universal and reaches the greatest number of people with a strong, immediate impact. Using this visual language, COLORS' themes alternate between the challengingly serious, such as ecology, wars around the world, the fight against aids, and the frankly frivolous such as shopping, fashion and toys. COLORS is a quarterly magazine read by young adults across the world. It is sold
in over 40 countries; until now, its three editions were published in four languages. COLORS is also a website, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed sites on the Internet. Over the years COLORS has become a unique point of reference in the global publishing world. It has stirred public attention to topics and themes originating in areas of the world that other publications seldom write about with depth and freshness. The full series of COLORS issues was included in the 25/25 exhibition at the Design Museum, London (29 March-22 June 2007), which featured the 25 most influential design objects of the past 25 years. The magazine has received media accolades from all over the world, such as for example Good Magazine, an American bi-monthly cultural and lifestyle publication, which included the first thirteen issues, under Tibor Kalman’s editorship, in the ranking of the 51 best magazines of all times. Recently Colors has been included in Inside the great magazines , a documentary trilogy produced in Canada that explores the evolution of magazines from their European origins to their current popularity and the powerful influence they have on our social, political and cultural identities.
Colors Notebook
COLORS Notebook is the fruit of a project launched by COLORS Magazine in collaboration
with the Pompidou Centre, Paris, and Reporters Without Borders, the association which sustains freedom of speech and defends journalists across the world. COLORS Notebook is a “special” issue of COLORS; it contains 50 blank pages so whoever
receives it can express themselves as they like in any way they want. Since 2006, thousands of COLORS Notebooks have been distributed around the world, to give voice to those categories of humanity no one wants to listen to. Thousands of people, all different yet all alike, who filled and continue to fill their Notebooks with messages of creativity, imagination, desperation, anxiety, oppression. Each COLORS Notebook sent back to COLORS is totally unique. A COLORS issue with no filters, editing or censure. An issue in which anyone is free to tell their story and send a message to the world through their words, drawings or photos. A different way of really giving voice to “the rest of the world”.
Fabrica Features Fabrica features is an ongoing series on design collections, featuring useful and practical objects. Each piece is designed by the young artists of Fabrica, infused with their fresh and imaginative visions, for an open-minded audience. Fabrica Features exhibits are constantly changing and evolving, just as the artistic community at Fabrica, while maintaining quality and vision. Fabrica Features is also a network of commercial and cultural spaces which are currently opened in Bologna and Montecatini (Italy), Lisbon (Portugal), Istanbul (Turkey) and Hong Kong, with temporary stores in Paris, Rotterdam, London and now Porto.
Fabrica Features is a multiethnic, multimedia and multipurpose space where concerts, video shows, live performances, conferences, single-artist shows and workshops become key opportunities for gathering together.
Les Yeux Ouverts Fabrica: Les Yeux Ouverts is the exhibition curated by the Centre Pompidou and presented in
Paris in autumn 2006. It showcases Fabrica’s many different “souls”, demonstrating its documentary work through COLORS and photo reportages, and its more artistic, visionary and conceptual side through films and installations. Following the attention shown to this project by international media and the high number of visitors, the exhibition has become a wandering project, presented at the Triennale in Milan during summer 2007 and hosted in autumn 2007 in China, at the Shanghai Art Museum. From 18th January to 2nd March 2008 Fabrica: les yeux ouverts was hosted at the Shiodomeitalia Creative Center in Tokyo. Further editions will take place in the next future.
Stock Exchange of Visions The Stock Exchange of Visions project was initiated to provide a platform for the world leading artists, sociologists, activists, scientists and others to share their visions about the future of our planet with a broad public and let them decide if either they agree up on their thoughts or not. The visions are categorized into five areas: culture, economy, resources, environment and society. Every category has its own color.
Resources Food
Economy
Money Natural resources Globalization Energy Migration Mobility Corporations Growth Balances Consumerism Responsibility
Culture
Environment
Society
Art Design Mass media Morality War and peace Religion
Cities Houses Animals Earth Water Evolution
Family death Sex Politics Technology Human rights Communication
Visionaries from diverse nationalities and cultures who hail from a wide range of specialties have provided insight into their vision for the future. Stock Exchange of Visions is in constant evolution; thus contributing to the awareness of our relationship with the planet while supplying positive and thoughtful answers regarding ma jor global issues. Stock Exchange of Visions consists of an interactive installation and website which allows the participant to access the growing content of the project and interact with it. The installation is a site-specific knowledge hub while the website provides global access to the visions of the future collected by the project.
Installation
The Stock Exchange of Visions installation creates an on-site, interactive knowledge experience. The installation features a revolutionary interactive menu to access the visions of the future, which are projected onto a life-size video screen. The life-size video screen aims to create a dialogue sphere between the selected visionary and the installation participant. The Stock Exchange of Visions Installation is a traveling installation, which has been presented at the main cultural outlets of Europe. The installation was first seen at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris, the second presentation will be the Trienale of Milan and the next stage, the world. The objective of this traveling installation is to allow visitors to have an interactive physical experience with the visions of the future, while the website provides constant global access to the content of the project.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY A bridge between culture and society
The Benetton Group has long been involved in a series of cultural, social, artistic and sporting activities. Some of these, such as the Benetton Foundation, which focuses on issues relating to the preservation and promotion of the local culture and landscape heritage, reflect the strong links which the Group has traditionally maintained with its territorial roots. The territorial ties are also an important component of Benetton’s approach to sport. From its involvement in rugby, volleyball and basketball, to its historic victories in Formula One, the group promotes not only the quest for competitive excellence, but an important social element. Others reflect the Group’s international outlook, such as the Leleque Museum under the patronage of Benetton in Patagonia or the Pivano Library. Always with an international spirit, open to research and a desire of documentation, are Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research centre, and Colors, the magazine about the rest of the world. The social commitment of the Benetton Group has been developing for decades thanks to the strong relationship and cooperation with renowned international non profit organizations.
Benetton Foundation
The Benetton Foundation, established in 1987, promotes initiatives on both international and local levels, with the aim of safeguarding and raising awareness of natural heritage. It also organizes multiple initiatives at its headquarters which is comprised of two prestigious historic buildings. The main field of scientific activity concerns the knowledge, study and management of landscape. During the year, the Foundation organizes seminars, short courses, study trips and experimental workshops. Moreover, a campaign of study and publications is organized on a site designated by an international jury who then awards the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens. In this field of research and experimentation, the Foundation collaborates to the construction of a new concept Europeon University. In the Palazzo Caotorta, the Benetton Foundation also boasts a comprehensive documentation centre, comprised of a library which contains more than sixty thousand volumes, maps and images archive. It has received some important donations: the works of Lino Bianchi Barriviera, one of the great engravers of 20th-century Italy; the libraries of Ippolito Pizzetti and Fernanda Pivano; and Gaetano Cozzi’s house. Moreover, in the Palazzo Bomben the Foundation has exposition rooms and an auditorium where it organizes cultural, scientific, artistic and musical events, devoted particularly to the city and the youth and school world.
Museo Leleque
Under the patronage of Benetton in Patagonia, the Leleque museum was inaugurated as the result of the will and passion of both Pablo Korchenewski, who has devoted an entire lifetime to collecting artefacts of Patagonian populations, and of Carlo Benetton. It is the first and only such structure dedicated to the history of Patagonia. More than 15,000 exhibits, including archaeological remains, testimony, documents and photographs narrate 13,000 years of history and culture of a mythical land. The Leleque Museum narrates the experience of indigenous peoples and immigrants in Patagonia, the changes undergone by the societies living in the territory and the relationship between different ethnic groups. Their conflicts, beliefs, and religious rites are some of the issues approached in this long history. One hundred meters away from the “La Trochita” rails, at the very foot of the Andes, in the same environment inhabited by Indians thousands of years ago, visitors, immersed in the sound of the wind, can appreciate and discover their history. Ponzano Children
Benetton has always held strong links with its town of origin and was keen to offer its help in creating a children’s centre. Its purpose is to provide an essential service which will improve the quality of life and work of the Group employees, and give support to the community. In planning an educational facility aimed at excellence, and conscious of the ethic and social role of its corporate culture, Benetton Group placed great importance on social interaction, research and the wellbeing of the community and therefore appointed Reggio Children as the pedagogic consultant for the new school. The centre was designed by Alberto Campo Baeza, an internationally renowned Spanish architect.
SPORTS SPONSORSHIP
Benetton Group has for many years sponsored the Rugby, Basketball and Volleyball teams in Treviso, highlighting Benetton’s profound link with its roots and its hometown in a context that is not only competitive but also social. For the Group, sport and business have the same philosophy: passion, challenge, competition and results. Over the years this has translated into numerous victories, thanks to which Benetton Rugby has collected 13 league championships, Sisley Volley 9 and Benetton Basket 5.
EDITORIAL PROJECTS Over the years, editorial activity has produced projects which are particularly representative of Benetton Group’s entrepreneurial culture. These books contain experiences and passions that have become stories to tell through words and images. Highlights:
Benetton Basket – Twenty-five years (2006) The volume records the history of the famous Italian basketball team, year after year, through the words of its founder, Gilberto Benetton. Published by: Skira Benetton Formula 1, a story (2006) A volume to narrate the near twenty-year-experience in F1. Color, team spirit, passion, enthusiasm, the heady scent of victory, av ant garde technology: these are the ingredients of Benetton’s adventure in the motor-racing world. Published by: Skira Architecture for Benetton (2004) A chronicle in pictures of the relationship, dating from 1964 to the present, between Benetton Group and art. An anti-celebratory book, originating from a passionate interest for architectural projects that transform the workplace into a functional, enjoyable, attractive environment where very diverse people meet and communicate. Published by: Skira
EVOLUTION OF BENETTON’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY -UNCONVENTIONAL ADVERTISING
From the early 1980s, Benetton believed in pursuing an unconventional communication strategy. As one company document put it:
“Benetton believes that it is important for companies to take a stance in the real world instead of using their advertising budget to perpetuate the myth that they can make consumers happy through the mere purchase of their product. The company has opted for a communication strategy in which issues and not clothes, play the lead part. The company has decided to devote some of its advertising budget to communicate on themes relevant to young and old people worldwide.”
Until the 1980s, Benetton advertisements had largely focused on its products and logo (stylized knot of yarn with word Benetton printed under it, contained within a dark green rectangle). In 1982, Luciano hired Oliviero Toscani, a prominent fashion and advertisements photographer to head Benetton’s advertising department. Toscani’s initial advertisements were conventional. They showed groups of young people wearing Benetton clothing. But Luciano and Toscani soon realized that Benetton advertisements had to stand apart from the rest of the competition. They decided to promote Benetton as a ‘life style accessory’ and not as a clothing brand. Toscani’s first theme featured teenagers and kids from culturally diverse nations. Colorfully dressed in Benetton attire, the kids engaged in a variety of playful acts. By linking the varying colors in the Benetton collection to the diverse “colors” of its world customers, Toscani portrayed a picture of racial harmony and world peace. It was from these advertisements that the trademark “United Colors of Benetton” emerged.
In 1984, Benetton launched a similar campaign titled “All the colors in the World,” showing groups of teenagers and kids from different countries and ethnic groups dressed in Benetton clothing, with the company logo in the corner. While the company received several letters of praise for company’s message on racial integration, it evoked negative sentiments especially
in South Africa, England and the US. Bruno Suter, Director of Eldorado Agency that handled Benetton’s advertising account, commented on this multi-race theme: “Nothing more is more like a fashion photograph than another fashion photograph. You show some lovely looking models and that’s it. With Benetton, we started out with the notion of color. By definition, Benetton means colors. So, to convey this idea of colors, we showed a group, made up of people with different colored skin. It was fantastic, so exhilarating to show the products in such a new and simple way.”
In 1985, advertisements included two black boys kissing each other, with little US and USSR flags in their hair and painted on their cheeks with the tagline “United Colors of Benetton.” In 1986, the two little black boys appeared again, united by a globe and a chain with the peace symbol. The globe became a symbol of unification, and appeared on all the posters that year. Similar themed advertisements were launched for other countries in political battles with each other: England and Argentina, Israel and Germany, Iran and Iraq, Israelis and Arabs, etc. The message read: “All colors are equal, just as all men are equal.” Through such advertisements, Benetton aimed to create a feeling of world peace and harmony.
In 1988, Benetton started blending culture and legends. New advertisements featured Adam and Eve, Joan of Arc and Marilyn Monroe, Leonardo de Vinci and Julius Caesar, all captioned with the slogan: “United Superstars of Benetton.” Similar campaigns featured animals- a wolf and a lamb with the tagline: “United Friends of Benetton.”
In 1989, Benetton decided to cancel its agreement with outside advertising agencies and develop campaigns in house. Toscani’s photos were discussed by the advertising team and then shown to Luciano for final approval. With less than ten people managing the entire process, Benetton could produce advertisements, at about one-third the cost of its competitors. Since Benetton’s clothing was sold in various markets with different style preferences, Toscani turned his focus to photos that stimulated thinking. His new advertisements neither showed the products nor the logo. The knot logo was replaced with a small green rectangle with the tagline “United Colors of Benetton.” Luciano explained this decision: “Using these images in this unconventional way is an effort by Benetton to break through the complacency that exists in our society due to the constant flow of even the most horrendous realities communicated through conventional media such as the evening news or the morning paper. By removing these images from their familiar contexts and putting them in a new context they are more likely to be noticed and given the attention they deserve as the viewer becomes involved in the process of answering the questions: What does this image mean? Why does this image appear with a Benetton logo? How do I feel about the subject of the image? What can I do?”
Famous advertisements during the late 1980s included a black hand and a white hand linked by a handcuff and a black woman breast-feeding a white baby. The black woman- white baby advertisement was severely criticized by many who thought that Benetton was reminding blacks of the days of slavery when black women breast-fed white babies. However, Benetton maintained that such photos symbolized universal brotherhood. Other advertisements with a similar message included a white wolf and a black sheep nose to nose, a black child sleeping among a pile of white teddy-bears, a little black hand on a big white hand, a piano duo showing little white hands being helped by big black hands, two children (one black, the other white) facing each other sitting on their potties, tubes of personality tests, miners and bakers united by the black of the soot or coal and the white of the flour.
In 1991, Toscani introduced a number of advertisements that attempted to draw public attention to important social problems. The advertisements included a cemetery (signifying war deaths), many different brightly colored condoms and a baby with an umbilical cord. One advertisement featuring a priest and nun kissing offended the religious sentiments of many, including the Pope. The image of the baby with the umbilical cord evoked mixed responses. In the company’s view, the advertisement simply conveyed the beauty of new life and the universal idea of love. The photo triggered off a huge controversy throughout Europe. Many wanted it to be banned. But some liked it. For example, the image was exhibited in a Flemish museum as part of a show celebrating the images of motherhood.
In 1992, Toscani introduced political themes in Benetton’s advertisements. He selected various photojournalistic images related to the AIDS crisis, environmental disaster, political violence, war, exile, etc. These appeared in various journals and magazines as well as on billboards without written text except for the conspicuous insertion of the green and white Benetton logo. Toscani explained the company’s strategy: “Unlike traditional adverts, our images usually have no copy and no product, only our logo. They do not show you a fictitious reality in which you will be irresistible if you make use of our products. They do not tell anyone to buy our clothes, they do not even imply it. All they attempt to do is promote a discussion about issues which people would normally glide over if they approached them from other channels, issues we feel should be more widely discussed.”
In spite of the controversy his advertisements had generated, Toscani went one step further by embracing “reality advertising.” Advertisements included: a dying AIDS victim with his family at his bedside, an African guerrilla holding a Kalashnikov and a human leg bone, a boat overcrowded with Albanians, a group of African refugees, a car in flames after a Mafia bombing, a family weeping before the bloodied corpse of a Mafioso and two Indians caught in a flood in Calcutta.
Benetton also launched an advertisement with a series of masculine and feminine genitals, of different ages and of different colors with the label “United Colors of Benetton.” A more shocking advertisement showed close-ups of various parts of the human body tattooed with the English abbreviation “HIV Positive.” The tattoo mark was similar to the numbers tattooed by Nazis on concentration camp prisoners. Some advertisements also promoted homosexuality: two smiling men cheek to cheek, two women- one white and the other black, holding an Asian baby, wrapped in the same blanket, etc. Other controversial advertisements included a black stallion mounting a white mare, three identical human hearts, with stickers announcing different ethnic groups “white, black, yellow”. The hearts portrayed that all were same inside, no matter what the outside skin color was.
In January 2000, Benetton launched a year- long $15 million global advertising campaign called “We, on Death Row.” This campaign, which featured 26 US prisoners who had been sentenced to death, appeared on billboards and in major publications in Europe, America and Asia and on its website. Toscani developed the campaign after spending more than two years visiting death row prisoners in several American prisons. The advertisements featured full color faces of death-row inmates, printing their names and dates of execution. A special booklet and video was also released that projected the reality and futility of capital punishment. The booklet included photos of the inmates and interviews about their life and the punishment. The booklet also contained carefully selected quotes from the Dalai Lama and the Pope, challenging the right of the state to execute its citizens. Benetton believed that if the public saw these inmates as “people,” then they would be less inclined to see them executed.
The campaign resulted in widespread protests from individuals and governments. The families of the victims and prisoners objected strongly to the campaign and accused Benetton of glamorizing murderers while ignoring the crimes they had committed. Many resented that the campaigns did not mention how the prisoners felt about the serious crimes they had committed. One website called Pro-death penalty.com wrote: “While Benetton tries to improve their market share in the US, they are causing unnecessary pain and distress to the families of the innocent people killed by the men the campaign intends to humanize.”
Responding to such allegations, Mark Major, Director of Communications for Benetton US in New York defended the campaign: “We don’t develop contrived marketing campaigns that are merely designed to sell products. When we talk about death row or AIDS or war or peace, it’s not a contrived topic. It’s definitely something that people at Benetton feel very strongly about. We don’t apologize for the fact that dual purposes can be achieved. We can raise brand awareness that we are a company that cares about capital punishment and we can get people engaged in the topic.”
The state of Missouri (US) where the inmates in question were imprisoned filed a suit against Benetton, arguing that it had been misled regarding the use of the photos. This lawsuit was settled in June 2001 when Benetton agreed to write letters of apology to the four Missouri families whose relatives were murdered by the inmates featured in the ads and to donate $50,000 to the Missouri Crime Victims Compensation Fund. Over the years, many newspapers in various countries had refused to accept Benetton advertisements. In 1995, government authorities in Germany banned some Benetton advertisements, which featured child labor, the human body stamped “HIV Positive,” and a bird stuck in an oil slick. The advertisement featuring the newborn baby with the uncut umbilical cord was withdrawn from the media in Italy, France and the UK. The photo showing a priest and a nun kissing was promptly banned by the Italian Advertising Authority (The Vatican took a stern view but in England, this advertisement won the Eurobest Award). Benetton was also sued by many retail outlets, which believed the provocative advertisements drove away customers. But the more the company’s advertisements were banned, the more publicity Benetton seemed to get.
Luciano Benetton responded to retailers and other protestors about its questionable advertising themes: “We are aware of the controversy that some of our images have caused, but we believe that all worthwhile stances will have supporters and detractors. Our hope is that people will move from the sterile discussion of whether or not a company is entitled to illustrate its point of view in its advertising campaigns, to a discussion of the issues themselves. In various countries, this has already happened. As more and more people understand our position and the urgency of these issues, we hope to become the vehicle for discussion and not its focus.”
In the US, retailer Sears canceled an exclusive $100 million contract to sell a line of Benetton clothes, calling the death row images “terribly insensitive.” Sears ended its contract even after Benetton agreed to allow the retailer to preview future ads. Toscani had hoped that this campaign would have a positive impact in the US where about 98 inmates had been executed in 1999. Toscani believed that the sharp criticism in the US was not justified as Europe had more or less banned the death penalty. But, due to the increasing furor, Toscani resigned in May 2000. In September 2001, Benetton launched a campaign called International Year of Volunteers, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN). “Volunteers” was Benetton’s first campaign after Toscani’s exit and was developed by new Creative Director James Mollison. The campaign emphasized that devoting one’s time and energy to others led the way to selfimprovement and a better quality of life. A special issue of Colors Magazine was published for the campaign, devoted entirely to voluntary effort. Collaboration with the UN was an ongoing effort for Benetton. The company and the UN first worked together in 1996 for the World Food Summit organized by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) to discuss the problem of hunger in developing countries. The following year Benetton and the UN came together again for a worldwide campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. In 1999, Benetton organized a fund raising campaign for Kosovo with the collaboration of UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees). Such campaigns were shown throughout the world in newspapers, weekly magazines, women’s and lifestyle magazines and also on billboards located in major cities.
Other campaigns following Toscani’s exit suggested that Benetton was changing its communication strategy. The company started showcasing advertisements featuring exuberant models frolicking in colorful knitwear against a white background. The models used in the campaign were not professionals. One model was a poet who performed at local coffee houses. Others were discovered on the street in bars or riding the subway. Developed with a budget of $10 million dollars, this campaign was available in print, catalog and TV media.
An important aspect of Benetton’s communication strategy was its Colors magazine. Launched in 1991, Colors targeted young people across the world. The magazine was launched in four bilingual languages: English-Italian, English-German, English-Spanish and English-French, in an attempt to break the barriers of language and culture throughout the world. By 2002, the magazine was sold in eighty countries. Each edition of the magazine took an issue- war, religion, race, birth, immigration, ecology, travel, slavery etc. “The Race Issue”, which featured a computer-generated picture of the Queen, changing her race to Indian, created a huge furor in the English press, but brought Benetton massive publicity. Over the years, the magazine had featured more than 5000 models, including Wodaabe warriors in Nigeria, Colombian soldiers, boy scouts in Oman, etc. In May 2003, Benetton launched the 56th volume of Colors, which featured “Violence” as the central issue.
OLIVIERO TOSCANI’S ADVERTISING PHILOSOPHY The strong force behind Benetton’s advertisements was Oliviero Toscani who created advertisements the less traditional way. Toscani’s responsibility, as Benetton’s creative director, was to document social realities rather than promote sales. Toscani believed that the industry as a whole had to change the way advertisements were used as consumer-spending patterns had changed over the years. He emphasized the need for creativity: “They have to be more creative, but the advertising industry couldn’t care less about creativity. It wants to perpetuate the system to keep on living off it. The fact is that advertisers must explain the client company’s philosophy. If they’re successful, consumers will work out for themselves that the products are good. To capture their attention, advertising must become an artistic product in itself, like a play or a film. That has never happened because the only things that condition the industry are money and marketing managers, who are idiots. All they know how to do is repeat what’s already been done.”
Toscani explained his role in Benetton: “Nobody ever told me my job was to sell anything. I’m responsible for the company’s communications; I’m not responsible for its economics. Mr. Benetton has given me incredible freedom to propose issues that should be communicated. To be really contemporary, an up-to-date company, we must take our communication in another direction. Not the one usually followed by most companies, in the apparel business, at least- when there’s an obvious connection between product, model and merchandising. I’m aware that, having a relatively big budget, it would be like throwing money away if we only explained that our product is better than the competition’s. Advertising should give something more... That’s my work, to report something that exists. We can’t be like ostriches who put their head in the sand.”
Toscani saw himself not as an advertiser, but as a reporter-photographer. He believed in communicating to the world in a less traditional way. Toscani identified a number of drawbacks in traditional advertising: “There is a crisis in advertising. The industry is lagging behind social trends, but it’s so rich and powerful that it’s very difficult for it to change. In the early twentieth century advertising focused on a company’s buildings and machines. After that it started presenting products. Then, since all products started looking alike, they could no longer be at the heart of the message. So in the 1960s advertisers started showing leggy models to sell cars. The long legs offered added value. The product took a back seat and what was sold was a symbol. The problem with this technique is that the message is always based on consumers’ shortcomings and makes them feel guilty. It tells them, ‘if you haven’t got this product, you’re out of it. On the other hand, if you buy a certain brand of sports shoes you can play like Ronaldo even if you can’t kick a ball.”
He latter added: “To be successful advertising has to disconnect the message from the product and forget about marketing, which standardizes everything. I don’t do the same thing other people do. I use products to focus on the major problems besetting humanity. I’ve proved that it can be profitable. Since I’ve been working for Benetton, the company has grown tenfold. Advertising people hate me but they have to admit that I’ve won.”
LOOKING AHEAD One leading business school publication summarized Benetton’s advertisements: “They seem to take the virtuous stand for the betterment of humanity and thus create a sense of power in the viewer who agrees with the safe, politically correct message, even if the message is made with shocking images. By empowering the viewer, the consumer, the company associates itself with engineered feelings of empowerment and righteousness. Through the use of such images Benetton as a company has become an icon for this kind of protest in advertising which tries to claim the ability for social change. In reality Benetton creates an empowered viewer who will buy their product through shock value, empowerment, and memorability.”
Following Toscani’s exit, Benetton announced it would revert to a more conventional advertising strategy. The company’s website highlighted its advertising strategy for the future: “We need to have models wearing our clothes by UCB in our advertisements. We need to show consumers that we are an actual clothing line, and not a political or governmental company. By picturing our stylish clothes, we will attract more business. Consumers want to buy our clothes because they are attractive and have a high quality reputation. People who respect our clothing line are the only ones that actually buy it, despite the political issues that we represent. If we can undo the damage that we have already caused in the minds of many consumers by ceasing to offend them, our sales will greatly increase. Let’s show the world that we make great clothing, not that we have controversial opinions on various subjects.”
From 2001, Benetton’s advertisements started featuring conventional images- teenagers in colorful Benetton clothing. Benetton, however, maintained that the company would still continue with its “socially responsible” status by focusing on non-controversial themes like racial discrimination, poverty, child labor, AIDS awareness, etc. To that effect, in early 2003, Benetton in association with UN’s World Food Programme, launched a year- long $16 million communication campaign, called Food for Life. This campaign covered around 30 countries and the stories and photos taken from these countries were used in Colors, under the title “Hunger.” The images in this campaign showed crisis and poverty. When questioned about Benetton’s new strategy of using models and products to advertise, Toscani just commented: “It’s a waste of money.” However, he was supportive of the company’s decision not to move away from highlighting social causes.
