QUESTIONS

1. What are the basic objectives of advertising? What are the advertising objectives of Benetton?

Basic objectives of advertising

Advertising is one part of the promotional mix, and therefore advertising objectives will be set in line with overall Promotional and Marketing Objectives, which in turn will relate to the organisations' overall Corporate Objectives. Advertising objectives are the communication tasks to be accomplished with specific customers that a company is trying to reach during a particular time frame. A company that advertises usually strives to achieve one of four advertising objectives

Trial Inform Continuity Brand switching Remind Switchback.

Selecting of the objective usually depends on where the product is in its life cycle.

Trial: - The purpose of the trial objective is to encourage customers to make an initial purchase of a new product. Companies will typically employ creative advertising strategies in order to cut through other competing advertisements. The reason is without the first trial of a product by customers, there will not be any repeat purchases.

Inform: - It explain how the product works, provide information on pricing, and build awareness of both the product and the company. Such objectives are normally pursued at the launch of a new product, or re-launch / up-date of an existing product.

Continuity: - Continuity advertising is a strategy to keep current customers using a particular product. Existing customers are targeted and are usually provided new and different information about a product that is designed to build consumer loyalty.

Brand Switching Companies adopt brand switching as an objective when they want customers to switch from competitors’ brands to their brands. A common strategy is for a company to compare product price or quality in order to convince customers to switch to its product brand.

Remind: - It is used to maintain interest and awareness of a well established product in the market, often in the latter stages of its product life cycle. It is often used at the Point-of-Purchase to remind consumers of the Brand.

Switchback Companies subscribe to this advertising objective when they want to get back former users of their product brand. A company might highlight new product features, price reductions, or other important product information in order to get former customers of its product to switchback.

Advertising objectives of Benetton

United colours of Benetton followed entirely a different type of objectives for their advertising. Various objectives that Benetton followed for their advertising are

Carrying out corporate social responsibility

Benetton wanted people to think about the advertisements of the brand so that

It can help in eradicate the indifferences prevailing in the world. An image can be perceived in the way we want to perceive. By using different nations people they want to create an idea that everyone is same and tried to bring equality in the world from very beginning of the company. Those advertisements elevated the indifferences in the world and also promoted world peace.

Creating distinctive company image

By following shock advertising since 1982 company created a different image

in the minds of the consumers. Because of the shock advertising and bringing out innovative themes especially controversial images it positioned itself in an entirely different way in the minds of the consumers.

Brand awareness

The controversial images or themes they used for promoting the brand created

vast awareness in public.

Creating a new advertising scenario

In 1982 Benetton came out with an different type of advertising called shock

Advertising which any other even won’t think of doing that kind of promotion for their brand. It is a kind of revolution in the advertising sector at that time.

Serving global audience- with a single campaign throughout the world

Benetton followed single theme for their promotional campaign throughout

the world. Promotional strategy was same throughout the world mainly highlighting the concept of thinking about the discrimination in the society.

2. Discuss the pros and cons of the shock advertising campaign that Benetton used for

many years.

Advantages

Shocking content in an advertisement significantly increases attention Benefits memory Positively influences behaviour.  Consumers are more likely to remember shocking advertising content over advertising

content that is not shocking. 

Disadvantages

Overexposure to shock advertising will result in a public that is “desensitized” to advertisements that employ shock tactics, particularly those with overtly sexual and violent images, some advertisements promoted homosexuality.

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3. Oliviero Toscani has defended Benetton’s use of shock advertising by noting that it constitutes nothing less than a debate between advertising and art. He argues that potentially offensive images are acceptable in the world of art and journalism while in other realms such as advertising they are not. Do you agree with Toscani’s position?

Art is something where we can express all the emotions or even portrait the image of world by using some characters. People will really enjoy the art and they also think about the art and the mood of the artist who made that. There are so many images/ arts/ paintings which

are successful in making the people think and react to certain situations. As he said “potentially offensive images are acceptable in the world of art and journalism but they are not accepted in advertisements”. The perception of consumers about advertisements are- it is a tool which conveys the message of the product like what it is, how it satisfies their needs, how it works etc. it is very difficult for consumers to relate a product with entirely a different kind of activity. But Benetton was very successful in creating awareness among the people on both communal indifferences and the products. It was in discussions because of the way they promoted and provoked consumers to buy or go for trail of the product. Many people accepted the awareness campaign and also the product. As the main objective of advertising is to create awareness and pull customers for the brand. Benetton achieved this by doing shock advertising.

Today people are ready to accept the truth and consumers also can analyse how much of the advertisement can be true. This awareness generated because of the competition increased in the market. Because of the method of advertising followed by the company it is projected in the minds of consumers as a responsible brand and also a quality brand. There might be some barriers in between while going through shock advertising but it do not mean that it is not accepted by the consumers.

4. Can you think of any other companies that use shock advertising? For what type of companies might this type of advertising be effective?

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein of Calvin Klein Jeans has also received media attention for its controversial

advertisements in the mid-1990s. Several of Calvin Klein's advertisements featured images of

teenage models, some "who were reportedly as young as 15" in overly sexual and provocative

poses. Although Klein insisted that these advertisements were not pornographic, some

considered the campaign as a form of "soft porn" that was exploitative, shocking, and

suggestive. In 1999, Calvin Klein was the subject of more controversy when it aired

advertisements of young children who were only wearing the brand's underwear. This "kiddie

underwear ad campaign" was pulled only one day after it aired as a result of public out lash. A

spokesperson from Calvin Klein insisted that these ads were intended "to capture the same

warmth and spontaneity that you find in a family snapshot."

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U.K government used shock advertising for the promotion of no cancer campaign

throughout the country by using the images of cancer effected patients. Later many countries

followed U.K and made compulsory that those images should be printed on the products of

tobacco.

This kind of advertising is also used by different N.G.O’s for promoting their activities;

especially N.G.O’s who work for the conservation of wild life used these kind of advertising.

This kind of advertising can be used for Diesel, killer in garments, axe in deodorant segment

etc.

5. Do you agree with Benetton’s decision to drop the use of shock ads and return to the use of more conventional ads?

From the year 1982 Benetton was projected as the company which is known for

Its quality, style of promotion and responsibility it has towards society. Continuously it

created awareness on both indifferences and the product by which Benetton is in the TOMA

of the consumers. By changing the way of advertising from shock to conventional it may not

stand for the word “corporate social responsibility” which Benetton followed from it origin.

This may create a different perception in the minds of the consumers about the principles and

values of the company. It may lose the trust that had in the consumers. If people perceive that

the company cannot stand for its values, then Benetton will physically exist but mentally it

will be erased in the minds of the consumers. So this is not at all a good decision by Benetton

to tighten the thread around its neck.

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