Benetton Group S.p.A. (pron.

Benettn; not Bnetton nor Benettn)is a global luxury fashion brand, based in Treviso, Italy. The name comes from the Benetton family who founded the company in 1965. Benetton Group is listed in Milan. Benetton has a network of around 6,000 stores in 120 countries. The stores are managed by independent partners and generate a total turnover of over 2 billion euro.

EARLY YEARS
In 1965, Luciano Benetton, the eldest of four children, was a 30-year-old salesman in Treviso. He saw a market for colourful clothes, and sold a younger brother's bicycle in order to buy his first second-hand knitting machine. His initial small collection of sweaters received a positive response in local stores in the Veneto region, and soon after he asked his sister and two younger brothers, Gilberto and Carlo, to join him. In 1965, the entity known as the "Benetton Group" is formed.[3] In 1966, the Benettons opened their first store in Belluno and three years after in Paris, with Luciano as chairman, his brother Gilberto in charge of administration, their younger brother Carlo running production, and Giuliana as a chief designer.

BRANDS
The company's core business remains their clothing lines. Casual clothing is marketed under the brand United Colors of Benetton; there are also a fashion-oriented Sisley division, Playlife leisurewear. Their products include womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and underwear and they have expanded into toiletries, perfumes, and items for the home such as kitchen accessories and baby products.

UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC The company is known for sponsorship of a number of sports, and for the provocative and original "United Colors" publicity campaign. The latter originated when photographer Oliviero Toscani was given carte blanche by the Benetton management. Under Toscani's direction, ads were created that contained striking images unrelated to any actual products being sold by the company.

MARKETING
These graphic, billboard-sized ads included depictions of a variety of shocking subjects, one of which featured a deathbed scene of a man (AIDS activist David Kirby) dying from AIDS.[5] Others included a bloodied, unwashed newborn baby with umbilical cord still attached, which was highly controversial. This 1991 advert prompted more than 800 complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority during 1991 and was featured in the reference book Guinness World Records 2000 as 'Most Controversial Campaign'. Others included a black horse mating over a white one,[6] close-up pictures of tattoos reading "HIV Positive" on the bodies of men and women, a cemetery of many cross-like tombstones, a collage consisting of genitals of persons of various races, a priest and nun about to engage in a romantic kiss, pictures of inmates on death row, an electric chair, an advert showing a boy with hair shaped into the devil's horns, three different hearts with 'black', 'white' and 'yellow' written onto them (from March 1996), and a picture of a bloodied t-shirt and pants ridden with bullet holes from a soldier killed in the Bosnian War (this one appeared in February 1994).[7] The company's logo served as the only text accompanying the images in most of these advertisements. Most of the advertisements, although not all, saw a plain white background behind the image.

THE 1983 SEASON TYRRELL 011, SHOWING THE COMPANY'S LOGO AT THE TIME.

SPORT AND SPONSORSHIP

Main articles: Benetton Formula, Benetton Rugby Treviso, Pallacanestro Treviso, and Sisley Volley Treviso Benetton Group entered Formula One as a sponsor of Tyrrell in 1983, then Alfa Romeo in 1984; this arrangement was extended to both Alfa and Toleman in 1985. Benetton Formula Ltd. was formed at the end of 1985 when the Toleman and Spirit teams were sold to the Benetton family. The team saw its greatest success under Flavio Briatore, who managed the team from 1990 to 1997. Michael Schumacher won his first Drivers' Championships with the team in 1994 and 1995, and the team won their only Constructors' title in 1995. From 1996, the team raced under an Italian licence although it continued to be based, like Toleman, in Oxfordshire in England. The team was bought by Renault for US$120m in 2000 and was rebranded Renault F1. In 1979, Benetton first sponsored their (then amateur) local rugby team, A.S. Rugby Treviso. Benetton Rugby has since become a major force in Italian rugby, with 11 league titles and supplying many players to the national team.[8] In 1982, the company bought its local basketball team, Pallacanestro Treviso, now commonly known as Benetton Basket. Their Sisley brand sponsors the local volleyball team, Sisley Volley Treviso.

UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON IN BELGRADE, SERBIA

CRITICISMS
Benetton has faced criticism from Mapuche organizations, over its purchase of traditional Mapuche lands in Patagonia.[9] The Curianco-Nahuelquir family was evicted from their land in 2002 following Benetton's claim to it, but the land was restored in 2007.[10] See also Benetton's position regarding the Mapuche in Patagonia.[11] Benetton aroused suspicion when they considered using RFID tracking chips on clothes to monitor inventory. A boycott site alleges the tracking chips "can be read from a distance and used to monitor the people wearing them."[12] Issues of consumer privacy were raised and the plan was shelved. See also Benetton's position on RFID technology.[13] PETA launched a boycott campaign against Benetton for buying wool from farmers who practiced mulesing. Benetton has since agreed to buy nonmulesed wool and has further urged the wool industry to adopt the PETA and Australian Wool Growers Association agreement to end mulesing.[14] See also Benetton's position regarding the controversy on mulesing between the Australian Wool Industry and PETA.

SALES BY BRAND
"United Colors of Benetton Adult" represents the 52% (983 millions) of total sales in 2010. Another 30% (591 millions) of sales have been achieved through the "United Colors of Benetton Kid" brand. The third highest percentage of 16% (299 millions) is represented by the "Sisley" brand and the 2% (30 millions) by "Playlife.

FABRICA
Since 1994, the Benetton Group has financed a communication research centre in Treviso. The centre aims to combine culture with industry and offers young people the opportunity for creative growth and multicultural interchange. The centre accepts young people from around the world, and its base was restored and enlarged by Tadao Ando. Young artists and designers are invited to the centre and given a one-year study grant together with professional training and resources. Residents work in the areas of design, visual communication, photography, interaction, video, music and publishing under the guidance of experts.

CONTROVERSIAL ADVERTISEMENT AND LEGAL ACTION

In autumn 2011 Benetton started the advertisement campaign featuring pictures of the world leaders kissing each other which they called "'Unhate' campaign". [17] On November 17, 2011 The Vatican announced that it would take legal action against Benetton after the company used a photo purportedly showing Pope Benedict XVI kissing Ahmed Mohamed el Tayeb, the imam of the Al Azhar mosque in Egypt. The image offended "not only the dignity of the Pope and the Catholic Church, but also the sensibilities of believers." In response, Benetton pulled the photograph and said "sorry that the use of the image had so hurt the sensibilities of the faithful.... The point of this campaign was solely to battle the culture of hate in all its forms."[18] Benetton also stated that the advertisement using kissing world leaders was inspired by the historic photo of leaders of Soviet Union and German Democratic Republic Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing.

UNHATE CAMPAIGN FEATURING CHINESE PREMIER HU JINTAO KISSING US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.

PROJECT REPORT

ON

SUBMITTED TO:-

SUBMITTED BY:-

Dr. GUNJAN LECTURER IN COMMERCE

SURBHI GOYAL B.Com-I SECTION-C Roll No. 4421

CONTENTS Sr.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15

At a Glance Communication Early years Brands Marketing Business Model Company Approach Board of Directors Sport and sponsorship Criticisms Sales by Brand Fabrica Controversial advertisement and legal action Colors Magazine Bibliography

Topic

COLORS (MAGAZINE)
Colors is a multilingual quarterly magazine developed in Italy by Fabrica, Benetton's research center. There are three editions published: French/English, Italian/English, and Spanish/English. Each issue has a theme and covers the topic from an international perspective. The magazine is known for its photoessays and features a sardonic point of view (similar to Benetton advertising). Tibor Kalman and Oliviero Toscani created the magazine in 1991, and it was produced at Kalman's design studio, M&Co, in New York City until 1993, when the magazine operations moved to Rome, Italy. For the first three years, the magazine was published in five editions: French/English, Spanish/English, Italian/English, German/English, and Japanese/English. Issue 4, released in spring 1993, covered the topic of race, and created an international uproar[1] by running full-page photos of the face of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain doctored to look like a black woman, filmmaker Spike Lee as a white man, Pope John Paul II as Asian, among others. Issue 7, released in early 1994, covered AIDS in a bluntly straightforward manner, something no other form of media had been willing to do until that time. It also caused a huge uproar because it featured a full-page photograph of the face of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan doctored to look like an emaciated AIDS patient with Kaposi's sarcoma lesions.[2] The magazine has produced two books of photography documenting collections of interesting objects and facts from around the world (Extra/ordinary Objects and Signs book, both published by Taschen). In 2007 Erik Ravelo, a Cuban designer, took over the creative direction of the magazine, while Benjamin Joffe-Walt became its editor. In 2009 Colors magazine became the first design/photography focused magazine to use Augmented Reality technology to "augment" printed portraits through video content.

AT A GLANCE

Today, the Benetton Group is present in 120 countries around the world with over 6,400 stores. Its core business is fashion apparel: the Group has a strong Italian character whose style, quality and passion are clearly seen in its brands, United Colors of Benetton, Undercolors of Benetton, Sisley and Playlife.

COMPANY VISION

COMMUNICATION

Benettons universal communication has accompanied the Group's global expansion. When companies export around the world, they normally adapt their advertising to suit different areas. Benetton chooses a single, universal message that is valid for all: beyond borders, skin colour and language. In the early 1990s, corporate campaigns were developed that represented a new approach to communication: no products, just civil, social and political themes, which every wise advertising executive of the time would have been careful to avoid. This is because here too, Benetton strives to cover new ground, look ahead, experiment and anticipate the times. By choosing social themes, actively promoting freedom of speech and giving visibility to humanitarian causes, which otherwise would not have been communicated on a global scale, Benetton has given meaning and value to its own brand, building a lasting dialogue with customers with people across the world.

BUSINESS MODEL

The Groups commercial presence is guided by a flexible operational approach, applying market development strategies through two different distribution channels: Wholesale and Direct Sales. Wholesale The wholesale channel is based on a network of independent partners, coordinated by independent sales representatives (agents) and a dedicated team of area managers directly employed by Benetton Group. Direct sales The purpose of the direct sales distribution channel is to develop a presence in areas of high growth potential not yet covered by partners, and to open iconic sales outlets that are attractive to end consumers and serve as a benchmark for the partner network. Benetton Groups market approach is to increase the appeal of its sales outlets and focus on end consumers to enhance its image and positioning.

Josh Olins once again photographed multiple models for the latest campaign images of United Colours of Benetton.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The current Board of Directors was appointed on 22 April, 2010 and its term in office expires with the meeting of shareholders called to approve the 2012 financial statements.

COMPANY APPROACH
Benetton Group is committed to being a globally responsible company in social, environmental and economic terms: this is a commitment for present and future generations, to grow together with the community in which the company operates, in Italy and all other markets.