5 Reasons Why Benetton’s UNHATE Campaign Is A Mistake!

Fashion brand Benetton is known for its controversial campaigns. I vividly remember the black&white campaign they had running at the back end of the 80ies; and their aids campaign beginning of the 90ies, created by the famous / infamous Oliviero Toscani. These campaigns were new, edgy, contentious, and to some extend and some people shocking; although, in my opinion, a lot of the images had something “understandable”, something “endearing” (like the little white and black toddler sitting on their potty opposite each other).

Benetton was always after a “cause” clearly related to their brand purpose: bringing people together (therefore: United Colors of Benetton). They’ve pretty much maintained that “balanced rebelliousness” and controversy throughout their brand campaigns over the last few decades, as their site suggests.

Last Wednesday, they launched a new campaign. They call it UNHATE.  “There is a disturbance in The Force” is what I call that one;  a change in direction. I guess their “old” campaign approaches would now be labeled as no-news, so they must have been looking for something new and more impactful to get their fading, dusty image to stand out in the fashion clutter. But they’ve gone overboard this time, mismatching their objectives and their brand story, history and future.

The 90ies campaign:

The 2011 UNHATE campaign: The ad campaign features world leaders kissing each other on the mouth. Benetton says it supports the Unhate Foundation, which opposes the culture of “hate” and is “aimed at exorcising the ‘fear of the other’ . According to them, this latest campaign aims simply at promoting love. Really? I think there’s a whole lot more behind it. [check out the press meeting in Paris, where Alessandro Benetton himself explains the rationale behind the campaign]

In my opinion, this time around, the controversial Benetton ad approach will not work. Here are 5 reasons why:

1] Misalignment of campaign vs. brand image vs. brand experience

Walk into any Benetton store. What they sell is mainstream, average, affordable clothing. Nice and vibrant colors, yes, but by no means “controversial”, “rebellious”, “remarkable”. (Diesel would be a good reference for those terms). If that is the Benetton consumer experience, why run a campaign that projects something totally different? That simply doesn’t work. And without knowing their brand kpi performance, my guess is that their brand is anchored in the past, quite dusty, silent, average. But they are still very global and thus, to “upgrade” their image, I would argue that it would be better to “take your consumers by the hand” and lead them to where you want them to be. Shock therapy is a very different approach! Net, their brand story is not believable -read here why that is important.

2] Mismatch between the Unhate campaign-intent and the Benetton campaign outings

The Unhate campaign, as shown below in the YouTube video, seems to aim at bringing people together. A noble cause in today’s world. The video shows people hugging (and sometimes kissing); in a normal way. To take that idea and turn it into the leaders-of-the-world-kissing is a mismatch and a mistake. An over-excited advertising agency? Not enough due-diligence in the process? An over-excited CEO that wants to make a name for himself? I see a glitch, a mistake in this one.

3] Awareness is not enough

The UNHATE campaign creates a lot of buzz. True. Talkvalue, free advertising, big on social media. Hey, we marketers all want that. And so, awareness for Benetton will grow -fast. True. And Benetton knows that, from its past campaigns. But to what extend will it make a difference? Will a 30% jump in brand awareness lead to a 30% jump in sales. Hell no. Why? Awareness is simply not enough. What you want is people that love your campaign, that recognize themselves in it, that find it aspirational. A 5% increase in “brand love” will lead to a 3-5% in sales increase. I seriously doubt whether that is the case for Benetton.

4] Temporary lift: yes / Sustained result: questionable

I’m sure Benetton will get a temporary lift out of this. That is the name of the game: create a huge wave, ride it for a while, and get better. My doubt is more around the long term brand impact and sales results for Benetton. When the campaign is done, and the wave is over, what will remain: hate or unhate? Will consumers drop them in an out-of-sight-out-of-mind reaction, or stick with it because they believe that Benetton has made a contribution to them? My guess is they will have a spike now, but will head for a deep valley later. I would have loved to have been in the boardroom when they were discussing this as being a “calculated risk”. Do they still think it is, today?

5] There’s a limit… to everything

I have no problem with searching for the edges, with creating talk value. I have no issue if a campaign is a bit shocking, if it starts a (new) conversation. But showing political leaders kissing each other…hmmmm…probably a bridge too far! Question is: do people “forgive” you because you’ve done this successfully in the past (“hey, no worry – it’s just Benetton doing it again”)… I doubt it. The day after the pope ad was posted, it was recalled: read about that here.

 Net, I hate Unhate, as a marketer… and can not unhate it!

Unhate campaign video:

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Tagged as: 2011, ad, advertising, Benetton, controversial advertising, edgy, fashion, hate, Italian, Italie, marketing, news, rebellious, social, Unhate, viral, wikipedia, world leaders kissing, world peace