...5.1 BENETTON’S HYSTORY The firm Benetton was founded in 1965 in Ponzano Veneto, a small town near Treviso, by four brothers’ initiative. In the beginning, Benetton was only a small company that was producing sweaters for local independent retailers. The keys to the success consisted in some innovations related to the product and its distribution and to an efficient production organization based on the work of a large network of small local subcontractors specialized in knitting, cutting and sewing garments. In the 1970s it expanded in the Italian market of sweaters and soon of casual apparel in general. In fact, shortly after the production of knitwear, followed the production of shirts and jeans. In the beginning Benetton sold them under different brands (Tomato, Jeans West, etc.) because the quality of these new products was not yet comparable to the one obtained for the sweaters and there was a fear that it might damage the reputation that the firm had achieved as a knitwear producer. The first Benetton’s shop opened in Belluno in 1966 and in just few years Benetton’s stores covered all Italian’s provinces. In the beginning of the 70s, there were about 500 stores under different Benetton’s brands (as well as Benetton, also Tomato, My Market and Merceria). It is estimated that in the second part of the seventies around 60-70% of the overall Benetton production was made by a hundred of subcontractors located mainly in Treviso and in the surrounding provinces...
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...Benetton Group: Evolution of Communication 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 (see Exhibit I for revenue split-up and Exhibit II for financial highlights). In addition to retail outlets around the world, Benetton also operated megastores (3000 square foot stores) in such cities 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 (Benetton termed its advertising and marketing activities as Communication Strategy). 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 around a company’s product or image, Benetton’s advertising campaigns focused on social...
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...GLOBAL CEO n November 2002 Case Study n Benetton group: Unconventional advertising Senthil Ganesan* The purpose of advertising is not to sell more. It’s to do with institutional publicity, whose aim is to communicate the company’s values (...) We need to convey a single strong image, which can be shared anywhere in the world. – Luciano Benetton, Founder Chairman I am not here to sell pullovers, but to promote an image... Benetton’s advertising draws public attention to universal themes like racial integration, the protection of the environment, Aids... – Oliviero Toscani, Benetton Art Director and Photographer Benetton Group: Unconventional Advertising The group’s principal brands included United Colors of Benetton (UCB), Sisley, PlayLife, Nordica, Prince, Rollerblade, and Killer Loop. The Benetton family (comprised of three brothers and a sister) established the Benetton chain in a small Italian town in 1955. To support his family, Luciano Benetton (born 1935), dropped out of school to sell apparel. His sister Guiliana (born 1937) 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. They started off small by selling sweaters and as the business grew, the remaining two brothers joined in the activities of the company. Each of the four siblings took responsibility for one aspect of the business—Luciano concentrated on marketing; Guiliana directed the design department;...
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...Success Strategy of Benetton. Julia Belenkova Group 111. Type | Public (BIT: BEN) | Industry | Fashion | Founded | 1965 | Headquarters | Ponzano Veneto, Italy | Key people | Alessandro Benetton, Chairman Carlo Benetton, Deputy Chairman Luciano Benetton, Founder and non-executive Director Franco Furnò and Biagio Chiarolanza, delegating operative management of the company Giuliana Benetton, Director Gilberto Benetton, Director | Products | Clothing, Accessories and Footwear | Revenue | 2,032 million euro (2011) | Employees | 9,557 (2011) | Benetton Group S.p.A. is a global 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 over 6,500 stores in 120 countries. The stores are managed by independent partners and generate a total turnover of over 2 billion euros. The Strategy of the company is very multi-faceted and is seen in every of the following activities: The Start The Benettons produced ordinary woolen sweaters of traditional somber colors and scratchy wool as many others in the industry until one day Giuliana Benetton developed more colorful and fashionable designs. So the Benetton’s first success was a bright violet pullover made of a soft blend of wool. Thus their first key to success was that in contrast to their competitors they developed a radical change not only in clothes but also in attitude to life – pleasant soft materials...
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...Benetton’s General History: Benetton is a global clothing brand, a family company formed by Luciano, Giuliana, Gilberto and Carlo Benetton. Luciano was born in 1935, is a chairman of the Benetton Group, he also on the board of director of Edizione Holding, the family owned financial holding company. Giuliana Benetton was born in 1937, is currently o the board of director of both, Benetton Group and Edizione Holding. Gilberto Benetton was born in 1941, is a chairman of Edizione Holding, chairman of Autogrill, an Italian multinational catering and retail company. Carlo Benetton was born in 1943, actually he is a deputy chairman of both companies, Benetton Group and Edizione Holding. They came from a poor family; their father owned a Car and bicycle rental, but pass away when they were children. Giuliana developed a skill that years later made the family rich, when she was five, she fell in love with knitting, in her early teens, she started working in a small knitting business in which they were doing colored sweaters during the day and at night she borrowed one of those machines to started making her own designs. Her brother Luciano, in which at that time at the age of 20, was working as a salesmen in a clothing store, realized his 17 year old sister talent. In 1955 both brothers began looking for money to buy their first knitting machine. The two brothers sold their bicycle accordion and scraped sufficient cash their first second hand knitting machine, they sold the first...
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...as follows: Luciano Benetton, Gilberto Benetton, Carlo Benetton and Giuliana Benetton are brothers and sister; Alessandro Benetton is the son of Luciano Benetton. Directors’ fees due to members of the Board of Benetton Group S.p.A. totaled 4,927 thousand euro in 2004. Principal organizational and corporate changes. The branches of Bencom S.r.l. in Spain, France and Great Britain became operational in January 2004. Through these branches, Bencom S.r.l. directly manages a certain number of Benetton stores in the above-mentioned countries, previously controlled by Benetton Retail Spain S.L., Benetton Retail France S.A.S. and Benetton Retail [1988] Ltd., respectively. During June, a branch was set up in Belgium, operational from August 1, to purchase and manage, also by rental to third parties, businesses operating Benetton stores. On February 17, 2004 Benfin S.p.A. bought from third parties, for 15 million euro, 15% of the Olimpias S.p.A. share capital, of which it previously held 85%. This company produces, mainly for Group companies, textile products and, in particular, fabrics, knitted fabrics, yarns, woven and printed fabrics, as well as acting as a dye house and laundry. With effect from December 1, 2004, Olimpias S.p.A. was merged by incorporation into the parent company Benfin S.p.A., which changed its name at the same time to Olimpias S.p.A. The operation is part of and is based on the same rationale as a more general reorganization of the Group, largely completed during...
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