Introduction
        The United Colors of Benetton, our name speaks for itself. Our company is known globally not only for our high-end line of clothing, but also due to our unique approach to advertising. The means by which we project our fashions to our clientele is extremely controversial. Our campaign focusses on issues of social and current interest world-wide, such as racism and AIDS, conservation, life and death. Oliviero Toscani's photos for Benetton picture reality but, perhaps because they do, the images themselves become a focus for debate and discussion.1 It seems that instead of advertising our current fashion line, we choose to express our political views. Our present "We on Death Row" campaign has given the company a lot of attention, however not the type meant to sell clothing. The graphic and controversial pictures that appear in our ads, along with inmates on our  web site are perceived by the public as extremely crude.  A reputable company, such as ours, must use their advertising campaign to maintain a high standing in the fashion world. The United Colors of Benetton will attain a higher level of success and a more respectable reputation by changing the offensive images our ads and web site exhibit along with utilizing television to advertise our clothing.

Purpose Statement
        This report will discuss current flaws with The United Colors of Benetton's advertising campaign while providing solutions to increase the profits and marketability of UCB.

Problems
        The United Colors of Benetton's present Death Row campaign is extremely unappealing to our clientele. The campaign first appeared on billboards and on the pages of major news publications in Europe, America and Asia in January 2000. Additionally, the images are accessible on the Benetton web site at www.benetton.com. In the United States these images also appeared in an issue of Tina Brown's magazine, Talk.2 It is apparent that this type of advertising is injuring the income of our company. The consolidated net income of our company was 1,963 billion in 1998, and then dropped 158 billion over two years leaving UCB with a 1,805 billion net income in 2000.3 This drastic loss of income bears a warning to us. We need to change our approach to consumers!
The campaign seems to appeal to a less affluent market, yet our company deals with a clientele consisting of upper-class families. Since we are a high-end, high-class company we need to employ an advertising campaign that fits our style. Having a Death Row inmate, such as Jeremy Sheets who was convicted of first-degree murder, affiliated with our company's reputation is not the most effective way to sell our clothing.4  Death Row inmates are in no way related to wealthy individuals, nor do they need to be. Associating criminals with our company inhibits the sale of our fashion line. The political message such criminals pose for our company is not a healthy one. Many of our customers' views do not coincide with the views of these ads. The images of criminals on death row in conjunction with our company name turn away potential and current customers. Simply put, it appears that our ads target young people who cannot afford to buy our clothes. Moreover, even if their parents could afford our clothing, they would not purchase clothes from a controversial company for their children.

It is also imperative that we change our web site. Customers use the Internet as a means to discover and inform themselves of companies, especially clothing companies. Six Death Row inmates greeting our customers when they contact our site is not good for business. Why do we have interviews of these criminals on the site when their lives are irrelevant to the lives of our customers? These men are convicted murderers and having them talk about ãa future which holds the certainty of execution and the end of their sorrowful and of their forgotten lives in prison,5 impairs the way clientele view our company.  Sales do not increase by displaying such images and text.  Convicts have no means by which to purchase Benetton fashions. Individuals with class and money are the people buying fashion by Benetton and they do not desire to be associated with convicts.

Currently, The United Colors of Benetton does not use television as a means of advertising to the public. The use of magazine ads is an effective way to reach clientele, however we are a missing out on the large part of consumers who watch television. Teens, for example, are a large part of consumers and 36% of them spend more than 10 hours a week in front of the television. Less than 2% spend that much time reading a magazine. Our company misses out on over 34% of teens who view advertisements over the television. It would be profitable to advertise our clothing to teens since they spend $36.7 billion every year on clothing.6 Thus, studies show that television is the best way to reach teens.

Solutions
        Providing our clientele with softer images would be extremely helpful to our campaign. We need to display our clothes on attractive people, being comfortable and having a good time in fashions by Benetton. We can still follow Mr. Benettonâs mission statement, which is, to photograph new collections in unusual places while incorporating diversity as well as uniqueness.7 However, UCB does not need to project our own political views or controversial subjects. By doing this, we tell our customers that by wearing our clothes they agree with The United Colors of Benetton and all the controversy that surrounds our company.  This limits us to the amount of people who will want to purchase Benetton fashions. When we chose to only display clothing trends, we chose to make our company neutral. Meaning, UCB will appeal to anyone who finds our clothes attractive, instead of a select clientele who agree with our opinions.
        The United Colors of Benetton is not a clothing line for convicts. So why do we have convicts on our web site? Changing the web site would also be very advantageous for our company. Benetton customers need to be greeted with pictures of the great apparel that we manufacture, not images of convicts wearing despaired faces. Having clothing on our web site also shows that we are indeed a clothing company. The inmates on Death Row might confuse some of our customers leading them away from our site and consequently away from our clothes. If the Benetton  web site greeted people with some of the newest designs, they would spend more time on our site and be inclined to purchase Benetton clothing.
        The United Colors of Benetton needs to utilize every resource available in order to expose our clothing line to even more millions of people than our picture advertisements already reach. Clothing lines such as GAP and Calvin Klein have great television ads and the sales to prove television advertising works, and works well. With innovative minds at work we can surpass other fashion lines as we multiply sales expectations. Teenagers are a large part of the purchasing community, and thus have a large amount of money to spend. The most effective way to approach this demographic is through the television. By also incorporating television into our campaign we would reach 36% of teenagers instead of the current 2% of teens we reach through UCB magazine ads.8

Recap on Proposed Solutions
1) Display more appealing (less controversial and/or political) images and use actual UCB clothing in our ads.
2) Display clothing instead of convicts on our .web site
3) Incorporate television ads into our campaign.

Conclusion
        The United Colors of Benetton needs to reconsider the way in which we present our clothing line to our clients. We are a respectable company offering a very presentable, but moreover, exclusive product. Not only is our clothing line weakened by our advertising campaign, but our company is also harmed. We are selling clothes not political issues associated with convicts. Our  company's web ssite alongwith the controversial advertisements seen by millions of people and potential customers does not increase sales or our reputation for that matter. Presenting both current and prospective clients with the best possible image of our clothing line in an attractive and unique manner will increase our sales and marketability. Presently, we are not advertising to the standards of this company or this ccompany'ssuccess. However by neutralizing our ads and using television commercials we will surpass all expectations as we appeal to all consumers while improving the reputation of The United Colors of Bennetton.

1 Unknown, "United Colors of Benetton Half Year Report,"[Online] Available http://benetton.com/wwa/benettongroup/benetton/index.html
2000, March 26.
2 United Colors.
3 United Colors.
4 United Colors.
5 United Colors.
6 Teen spending keeps climbing, a Forecast, January 1998, 2.
7 United Colors.
8 Teen Spending.