Marketing Communications: United Colors of Benetton - Essay Example

? Marketing Communications Marketing Communications United Colors of Benetton is awell-established brand of UK. It is not only well established but also well-known across the globe. Present in more than 120 countries worldwide, the brand has used its global presence to formulate its global image in the minds of the people from all over the world. United Colors of Benetton do not focus on any one country or any single culture or a group of individuals when it comes to building its brand image (UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON 2011) Whatever the advertising strategy of United Colors of Benetton has been so far, it is unquestionable to doubt its success. United Colors of Benetton is a fashion apparel brand that is targeted towards the masses. By masses it does not mean that the brand is for everyone but instead it means that the brand is targeted towards almost every community. It is ironic that the famous global brand did not go for the traditional forms of advertising and yet have been able to touch the peak of success. For United Colors of Benetton uniqueness is what counts. The brand does not want to go down the same lane as all the other global brands. It knows how to stand out. The company has intentionally gone for the non-traditional ways of advertising its brand. And it is through these advertising campaigns that the brand has formed its brand identity. United Colors of Benetton is referred to as the “Colors of the World”. This is how the brand’s slogan came into being. From the very start the company focused on the global target market (UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON 2011; HOFMEYR.J & PARTON.G. 2006) The advertising campaign of United Colors Benetton is a controversial one. It has raised many controversies and the company has dealt with these controversies with great determination. It is their fortitude that has led to the survival of the brand despite being convicted again and again of raising precarious controversies all over the globe. As mentioned earlier whatever United Colors of Benetton has tried to portray through its advertisements has not been a mere mistake or coincidence. Everything from the background to the front picture story is the work of the marketing department of the United Colors of Benetton. The brand thinks that it can only be through the advertising that they can connect with its global audience. The ad campaign of United Colors of Benetton reveals controversial events that raise brutal reactions most of the time from the audience. Considering this, one more thing can be applied is that usually the firm is targeting the markets that are open to controversial issues. With the same ad campaigns they cannot go into the market boundaries which have inflexible social structure and culture (FROSTHOLM.P & ANDERSEN.T. 2011) In the past United Colors of Benetton came up with ad campaigns addressing the issues like AIDS and racism. These campaigns will further be discussed in the semiotic analysis section. A point of conflict that has been arising for years is that United Colors of Benetton comes up with such ads but a part of the target audience considers that the portrayal of such ads depicts the indifferent nature of the brand towards the sentiments of the human beings. But on top of all of this indifferent brand identity that United Colors of Benetton has created, it is satisfied with its advertising campaigns because it believes that after seeing such ads, it becomes the centre of attention for all the consumers and non-consumers. This simply enhances the brand awareness (GIROUX.H.A.1994; MAGUIRE, M. 2003; BARELA, M. J. 2003) United Colors of Benetton claims that its ads conform to the global parameters. Their ads show that there is no difference between religions, races and country boundaries. All human beings are equal and the brand offered by the United Colors of Benetton is for everyone irrespective of their identity. Most of their ad campaigns also present with social issues. These social issues are mostly global e.g. the issue of AIDS. The firm is proud of having the courage to bring up such issues to the masses through their advertisements. Another important thing about the advertisements of the United Colors of Benetton is that the ads do not show the brand itself; instead carry the brand slogan only. Even in such scenarios, the brand’s advertising strategy has been successful because people associate darting and controversial ads with the famous United Colors of Benetton. The brand believes that it carries a huge social responsibility and it is the only reason for coming up with such ad campaigns; ads that do not show the brand itself but instead points out to some serious global issue. United Colors of Benetton is trying to promote peace between the nations and races through its advertisements. United Colors of Benetton has chosen this approach of advertising in order to differentiate itself and keep itself on the path of survival. United Colors of Benetton integrates the serious social issues into its marketing messages (KROMKOWSKI, J. A. 2003; TINIC, S. A. 1997; GIROUX.H.A. 1994) Marketing communication and branding play major roles in creating a meaningful image of the brand. Without the presence of the marketing communication or branding, the brand is likely to lose its essence. What the brand exactly wants to convey to its audience cannot be done without these two important aspects of the marketing campaigns. Marketing communication and branding works together to help to form a strong and effective brand image. They give a meaning to the brand; a meaning that can be interpreted by the consumers in a positive manner. Role of marketing communication and branding are said to be successfully fulfilled when the consumers grasp the same meaning of the brand as it has been conveyed to them. If there is a misinterpretation it means that the whole efforts of marketing communication and branding have gone vain (CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF MARKETING. 2005) But first of all there is need to understand the exact meaning of the marketing communication and branding. Marketing communications simply are the messages that are used to communicate with the markets. Branding is a branch of the marketing communications because the messages are related to a single brand only and the emphasis is on making use of the every possible opportunity available to impress the customers. Whereas marketing communication focuses more on the famous 4P’s of marketing; product, price, promotion and placement. Branding is changing the thinking of the consumers about a brand and this need to be done in an optimistic manner. Marketing communications and branding, together deliver messages that help to build up a brand recall in the minds of the consumers (PELSMACKER, P. D., GEUENS, M., & BERGH, J. V. D. 2007) Ad campaigns of United Colors of Benetton are a clear cut example of establishing brand recall in the minds of the consumers. Wherever they see such ads, they associate with the United Colors of Benetton. For United Colors of Benetton, branding has proved to be more crucial aspect than the marketing communications. Whatever the firm has tried to do through its ad campaigns is that it has tried to formulate a strong brand identity. Marketing communications and branding are important because they help in designing effective messages; messages that struck the target audience and leave an impact such that it changes their perception and their purchasing patterns. Branding builds a perception of the brand in the minds of the consumer. Each brand is unique and each brand needs to be perceived in a unique way because only then can the brand be differentiated from other brands within the same category. Marketing communications and branding are also important because they form an integral part of the integrated communication mix. The core concept of integrated communication mix is based on branding and marketing communications. Successful integrated communication mixes are a result of the proper incorporation of the marketing communication and branding tools. The crux of all this explanation lays in that marketing communications and branding play a very central role in creating a solid brand identity. They both are used to conquer the minds of the consumers and are also important from the global perspective as there are numerous brands that are present globally and have a global brand identity (PELSMACKER, P. D., GEUENS, M., & BERGH, J. V. D. 2007; OUWERSLOOT, H., & DUNCAN, T. 2008; CLIFTON, R., & AHMAD, S. 2009) United Colors of Benetton have used both these tools together as a part of its marketing campaign and it is through these two tools that it has managed to develop its global brand image or simply the brand identity. Semiotic Analysis All the ad campaigns of United Colors of Benetton are formed on the same pattern. The evergreen pattern is that the ads do not show the fashion apparel which is the basic product of the United Colors of Benetton. Nor do the ads show anything related to the brand. All they carry is the famous slogan “United Colors of Benetton” accompanied with depiction of any global social issues. These ads are targeted towards the masses that are victim of these issues and also act as a means of creating awareness about the global social issues. The brand signifies through its ad campaigns that social issues are more important than the fashion apparel being shown in the ads. It creates an image that United Colors of Benetton is not indifferent to the global social issues and is playing a part in creating awareness about them. Most of the ad campaigns also focus on the global peace issue. United Colors of Benetton capitalizes on its image. Its ads convey the message of tolerance, peace and respect (FROSTHOLM.P & ANDERSEN.T. 2011) The ads of Benetton most of the time have raised many serious controversies but it is commendable that the brand tries to unite the world under one flag and that is the flag of its own logo. The semiotic analysis of each ad follows under the picture. As mentioned earlier that United Colors of Benetton portrays itself as the brand for masses. It portrays itself as an antiracist brand. The ad above shows a fabric too and all the three members in the ad are wrapped up in that fabric. The message that is being conveyed is that no matter what the race or ethnicity might be, United Colors of Benetton is for all. A deeper meaning denoted here is that the brand’s ad campaign is trying to tackle three taboos. All three belong to the different ethnic backgrounds and still can stand united. It gives a scenario of a happy and healthy family. It gives a meaning that whether the person is Chinese, Caucasian or a Black, they all can live in harmony. United Colors of Benetton have tested the limits by creating unique advertisements that provoke social discussions about social boundaries and diversity. A common viewer might assume that the white female and the black female represent a lesbian couple but that is surely not the case. Diversity is what they have tried to portray in the advertisement. Talking about the denotative meaning of the ad would be the concept of stereotypes generated by the common audience based on the diverse, physical parts of the picture. The denotative signs in the ad include a white female, a black female and an Asian baby. A diverse family is not an ideology of the current world and is not at all accepted. The ad is trying to convey that one day this might become an acceptable ideology. The ad carries the slogan of “United Colors of Benetton” and that is the only thing that helps to identify that the ad belongs to this company. Another issue with this advertisement is that the females and the child are wearing no clothes except a shawl being wrapped around them. United Colors of Benetton is a clothing brand. This way of dressing for a fashion apparel advertisement might cause confusion to the viewers as clothing is not the main focus of the advertisement (BARELA, M. J. 2003; MAGUIRE, M. 2003) This second ad is in link with the first advertisement campaign of the United Colors of Benetton. The ad shows three similar hearts. Again being a clothing brand, the ad does not show even a hint of clothing. Only the slogan of “United Colors of Benetton” has been incorporated in the ad to show that the message that is being conveyed is actually being conveyed by the famous brand of United Colors of Benetton. The three identical hearts have names of colors written on them; white, black and yellow. These colors denote the different races that are present in the current world. These colors are in accordance with the skin colors. The message that is being conveyed is of equality. The underlying meaning of the ad is that no matter to what skin color you have, every human being has a same heart. Whether it’s black, white or yellow skin color, the color of the heart is same. It also means that all races are equal and should be treated equally. This again is a social issue because in the present world black and yellow often have to face discrimination. It gives a message that no one color is superior. When hearts are identical, so is the rank of every race identical. This ad was launched under the heading “The cycle of free speech and the right to express it”. As mentioned earlier, the ad promotes the concept of equality but in a more vivid way. Apart from just the heart, it conveys that no matter what color we are from outside, on the inside we are all the same. The skin color is only a representation of our geographical boundaries but it cannot define who we are. The denotative and connotative meaning of the ad has been explained in detail. Equality again is a social issue and is a global one. United Colors of Benetton took yet another chance to promote its brand in the light of the social issues (KROMKOWSKI, J. A. 2003) The first two ad campaigns of the United Color of Benetton focused on the issues of diversity and equality but this third ad was really an important ad campaign run by the company. AIDS is a global issue that every individual country on this globe is facing or has been facing in the past. The main essence of the message that is being conveyed through the ad is that AIDS is not restricted to any one race or ethnicity, color or country. United Colors of Benetton is trying to portray a united front against AIDS in the world. By using face photographs to make a collage and then to make AIDS stand out of it depicts that the whole world is united to fight this cause no matter what color, religion, creed or race they belong to. In this matter the whole world is united to get this monstrosity of a disease out of their world. It also shows that AIDS itself is not a problem of a few nor it is restricted around a particular geographic area nor it attacks a particular skin color or age. The collage is made of hundreds of photo’s depicting people of every age, color, cast and creed. It portrays that AIDS is a global problem and cannot be dealt with alone. The whole world will have to join hands to eliminate this noxious disease. This was an important campaign because United Colors of Benetton have made attempts previously to spread awareness about the fatal problem (UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON. 2011) This ad campaign added to it. Again the ad does not show any clothing related content except the slogan “United Colors of Benetton” that have been used in all its ad campaigns (SWAN, E. 2010) United Colors of Benetton has always tried to bring into lime light issues which are still considered to be taboo in the world we are living in today. How United colors of Benetton does this is by bringing graphical real life drama situations into focus by capturing those moment into the eyes of the camera and making them tell their own tale. What united Colors of Benetton do is really admirable. Even in the midst of all the controversies that its ad campaigns created, United Colors of Benetton did not deviate from the path of fulfilling its social responsibility. Not every brand could afford to follow the same marketing strategy. The advantage that United Colors of Benetton had was that it first worked on building its strong image. When it was able to so, it incorporated social issues into its campaigns and the whole strategy of advertising of this famous brand changed. There even came a time when its brand image started getting tarnished as a result of the controversies that it created. United Colors of Benetton projects an image of serving individuals, not depending on their ethnicity, color, religion etc (SWAN, E. 2010; NATIVIDAD.A. 2006; TINIC, S. A. 1997) An important thing about the ad campaigns of United Colors of Benetton as mentioned earlier is that its marketing campaigns seldom communicate product-related attributes (PAGNUCCO SALVEMINI, L. 2002) Whatever the social and controversial issues are depicted in the ad campaigns of United Colors of Benetton, they focus on the fundamental and intrinsic values of the firm. These values include equality, individualism and commitment. The company ads focus on equality and it is strongly committed to bring up the social issues. Bibliography MAGUIRE, M. (2003). United colors of Benetton: a company of colors and controversies ; [scholarly paper]. [Mu?nchen], Grin-Verl. (1993). Global Vision: United colors of Benetton. [Tokyo], Robundo. PAGNUCCO SALVEMINI, L. (2002). United colors: the Benetton campaigns. London, Scriptum Editions. KROMKOWSKI, J. A. (2003). Race and ethnic relations, 03/04. Guilford, Conn, McGraw-Hill/Dushkin. BARELA, M. J. (2003). United Colors of Benetton: From Sweaters to Success: An Examination of the Triumphs and Controversies of a Multinational Clothing Company. Journal of International Marketing. 11, 113-128. SWAN, E. (2010). Commodity Diversity: Smiling Faces as a Strategy of Containment. Organization. 17, 77-100. TINIC, S. A. (1997). United Colors and Untied Meanings: Benetton and the Commodification of Social Issues. Journal of Communication. 47, 3-25. GIROUX.H.A. (1994). Consuming Social Change: The “United Colors of Benetton” UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON. (2011). Who we are. < http://www.benettongroup.com/en/whoweare/overview.htm> UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON. (2011). Campaigns: An expression of our times. < http://www.benettongroup.com/en/whatwesay/campaigns.htm> HOFMEYR.J & PARTON.G. (2006). Brand Value Creation, Communications and Equity < http://www.synovate.com/bvc/Synovate%20White%20Paper%20-%20Brand%20Value%20Creation,%20Communications%20and%20Equity.pdf> FROSTHOLM.P & ANDERSEN.T. (2011). United Colors of Benetton: A multimodal approach to persuasively building a strong brand. < http://pure.au.dk/portal-asb-student/files/36237261/BA_thesis_in_Marketing_and_Management_Communication.pdf> NATIVIDAD.A. (2006). United Colors of Benetton: Choice, Change and Power in Consumer Advertising CLIFTON, R., & AHMAD, S. (2009). Brands and branding. New York, Bloomberg Press. CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF MARKETING. (2005). Marketing communications. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. PELSMACKER, P. D., GEUENS, M., & BERGH, J. V. D. (2007). Marketing communications: a European perspective. Harlow, England, Prentice Hall/Financial Times. OUWERSLOOT, H., & DUNCAN, T. (2008). Integrated marketing communications. London, McGraw-Hill. Read More