Case Study: UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON

The Brand & Campaign Context

Benetton began in 1965 with a sister who knitted and a brother who sold. Giuliana Benetton made jumpers in colours Italian knitwear was not using at the time. Luciano sold them. Six decades later the company runs around 5,000 stores, and the colour is still the point. It is what lets you recognise the shop from the other end of a shopping centre.

China is not a new market for the brand. Benetton arrived early, opened a Shanghai megastore and built a franchised network while most European labels were still deciding whether the country was worth the trip. Chinese shoppers know the name. They have their own name for it, 贝纳通, and the products still turn up on JD.

That history is an advantage and a trap. A brand that arrived early gets remembered as it was, not as it is. The shopper who recognises 贝纳通 may be remembering a store her mother took her to. Meanwhile Uniqlo, Zara and a generation of strong domestic labels have redefined what a colourful, affordable, well made wardrobe looks like in China, and they did it on local terms, with local sizing, local seasons and local platforms.

So the question Benetton put on the table was not a campaign question. It was the harder one that comes before it. What should actually be sold here. Which pieces from a European range suit a Chinese wardrobe and a Chinese climate. Which colours read as confident rather than childish. What the prices should be next to the shelf the shopper is really comparing against. Where the range belongs online, and what a marketing and promotion plan looks like once those decisions are settled, for United Colors of Benetton and for the group’s Sisley label alongside it.

Answering that honestly means research before merchandising, and merchandising before advertising.