New Delhi, February 25: The new colours of Benetton are here and guess what? They are black and white. In fact, with the Italian apparel manufacturer determined to collar costs, United Colours of Benetton's (UCB) entire advertising strategy for the India market, has a new stripe in 1998. On February 27, the company will unveil the first of its new four-ad print campaign which is expected to last for eight weeks.For one, for the first time, the company which is synonymous with colour, is using a black and white product campaign in print. Two, also for the first time, the company is not just promoting its motherbrand, but is actually investing in developing a brand around its collections.
In India, Benetton showcases two collections every year - when all old stock is completely removed from the shelves and replaced by totally new stock. The Summer Collection extends from March to June and the Winter Collection extends from September to December.
Then, every year, all Benetton outlets hold a grand sale inFebruary (to clear the Winter Collection) and in July (to clear the Summer Collection). And that's where the brand ran into a crunch. Says Robert Angeli, director (marketing), DCM Benetton India Ltd: "The collection concept was just not being accepted here. A lot of people didn't believe us and, in fact, the message ended up being `Benetton is equal to sale' rather than that we were coming up with a new collection."
To move away from the negative consumer perception generated by the high-profile advertising during the sales, in 1998 Benetton's advertising mission is to turn the focus on the new products on its shelves by branding the two collections.
Therefore, branding the 1998 Summer Collection is a three-ad, print campaign. As usual, the focus is on highlighting successful and controversy-generating visuals from UCB's global campaigns in the past. The first mocks the Pinochet regime through puppet-like figures and is captioned "March right into any Benetton outlet".
The other two focus on racialissues. The one shows a black man's hand manacled to a white man's and is captioned: `Chained to fashion with Benetton'; the other uses a zebra and a parrot to exhort `All you party animals may walk into your nearest Benetton store'. In all cases, the copy firmly highlights `The 1998 Benetton Summer Collection'.
Says Suhel Seth, CEO Equus Advertising Company, "The task is to generate outlet traffic and to ensure that image advertising stands out distinct from sale advertising."
The fourth advertisement in the series capitalises on Benetton's success last year in sky-rocketing T-Shirt sales through frank price-point promotion, `Hot Tees. Rs 199 each. Cool Polos. Rs 299 each.' Now, UCB is trying to extend the success to a more starchy product: shirts. To rationalise prices and offer the consumer a value perception, Benetton's 10 different price ranges from Rs 549 to Rs 900 for shirts has been brought down to just four: Rs 549, Rs 649, Rs 749 and Rs 849.
Also, for the first time, Benetton is cutting itsadvertising strategy to fit focussed markets. For 1998, it has devised a separate strategy for the two metros where it operates in a major way - Delhi and Mumbai - and a separate strategy for non-metros. While UCB operates in 26 cities (a total of 75 outlets) currently, the reach is expected to extend by another 20 cities (total of 95 outlets) by December, 1998. Says Agneli, "We needed two different strategies because we are moving into smaller cities where Benetton is not even known." The black-and-white print campaign, therefore, will appear in leading newspapers in the two metros. So far, the company had relied on colour advertising in magazines and colour supplements. Moreover, the ads will appear only on Fridays and only on Page Three.
For non-metros, from Varanasi to Visakhapatnam, the company is relying wholly on hoardings. UCB has booked 65 hoardings across the country for a 12-month period. Each hoarding is in a strategically significant position and will be changed every three to four weeks.While the company is still finalising the images for 1998 hoardings, the focus is very clearly on projecting what Benetton stands for, as well as highlighting its product range. Says Renata Moulik, "Each hoarding is going to be a talking point."The company is clearly seeking a cost-effective solution to its diverse advertising needs.
Pertinently, while sales (on wholesale prices) are expected to close at Rs 40 crore in 1997-98, compared to Rs 27 crore in 1996-97, the advertising budget grew to Rs 2.2 crore from Rs 1.6 crore, in the corresponding period. While the ad-spend as a percentage of sales declined marginally from 5.9 per cent in 1996-97 to 5.5 per cent in 1997-8, the real crunch lies in the projections for 1998-99: while sales are expected to increase by 25 per cent, to an estimated Rs 50 crore, the ad-spend for 1998-99 is being kept constant at last year's level.
Copyright(c)1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
