Market Portfolio of Ghd and United Colour of Benetton

This portfolio looks at the advertising approach of two contrasting companies. The companies that will be discussed are United Colours of Benetton and GHD. These are both popular global firms. 1.
1 United Colours of Benetton: Benetton is present in 120 countries around the world.Its core business is fashion apparel: a group with a strong Italian character whose style and passion are clearly seen in its brands, the casual United Colours of Benetton, the glamour oriented Sisley, the leisurewear brand Playlife. The Group produces over 150 million garments every year. Its network of around 6,000 contemporary stores around the world offers high quality customer services and generates a total turnover of over 2 billion euro. The Benetton team create new lines for different targets from children, men and women to expectant mothers, offering them not only practical and modern styles but also maximum comfort. Benetton, 2009) 1. 2 GHD: GHD is the brand behind the world’s favourite styling irons, the ‘can’t-live-without’ hair and beauty accessory.
It is adored by celebrities and favoured by stylists. GHD was established in 2001 when a small business in West Yorkshire, discovered ceramic hair-styling technology. GHD irons were so effective that despite supply difficulties and with virtually no marketing, they became an immediate success. (SuperBrands, 2006) 1. 3 Company 1: 1. 4 Benetton Advert: The advert being discussed here is one of Benetton’s TV adverts, (Appendix 1).The media used to publish this advert are television, magazines and billboards.

You also view the same ad that was published in magazines around Europe, (Appendix 2). Looking at this TV advert it is clear United Colours of Benetton offers casual wear in all kinds of loud colours (hot pink, neon green, bright yellow, etc). Their models are of different races (i. e. Africans, Americans, Asians, etc), depicted holding hands, laughing, and engaging in fun playful manner. This reflects what Benetton stands for, a global brand with customers from all religions, races and nationalities.From the beginning Benetton has shown interesting ideas with a promotional concept that unites all people.
(Benetton 2003) The TV advert shown in the appendix, collaborates different images of young women of multicultural ethnicities wearing Benetton’s colourful clothing. The theme is promoted by incorporating uplifting music (Basement Jaxx, Do Your Thing) and images of girls of different ethnicity having a good time. This ad shows Benetton’s interest in fashion, clothes and cultures, by blending these together in the advert they are communicating the message that everyone can wear Benetton.The advert targets young females aged 21-30 of all different ethnic backgrounds. The target audience is reflected in the ad itself, which features young females from culturally diverse nations colorfully dressed in Benetton attire. By linking the varying colours in the Benetton collection to the diverse “colours” of its world customers, the advert portrays a picture of racial harmony and world peace. The purpose of advertising is to increase sales.
According to Marc Gobe (2001), bright colours and loud music are used to capture the target audience’s attention.Looking at this Benetton ad, the colours red and yellow stand out. These are two colours psychologically proven to be arousing; they are stimulating and attract the eye faster then any other colour. Benetton also use uplifting music in this TV ad. The song used is loud, fun and energetic, it stimulates emotion for those not seeking information about the product, distinguishing the product and drawing consumer interest at the same time. 1. 5 Company 2 1.
6 GHD Advert: This GHD advert runs in a number of top women fashion magazines including, Vogue, Elle, and Marie Claire.Other marketing activity includes online, TV, and packaging. (Appendix 3 to see advert) For 2009 GHD have acquired a ‘twisted fairytales’ theme which features iconic fairytale characters such as ‘Red Riding Hood’, ‘Rapunzel’, and ‘Cinderella with GHD styled hair. ’ They have attempted to sex up the original fairytale images in order to promote a modern twist of rebelliousness. The campaign features as a full page magazine spread as well as being broadcasted on TV featuring red riding hood to an analogous dark background holding a bloody axe.Each advertisement is accompanied by a large poem related to the fairytale, but rhyming with the subject of hair (Appendix 3). A large poem is displayed in white writing above the character; the poem twists the original fairytale story to relate it to this modern sassy fairytale.
The advert incorporates the strapline “You can do anything with your hair” with red riding hood standing in the middle with stylish clothing and great looking glossy hair. The advert is attempting to promote that anything is possible with GHD which parallels the view that anything is possible in fairytales. GHD Styler Stockists, 2009) The audience being targeted in this advert is sophisticated and empowering fashion conscious females aged 18-30 from magazines. By publishing in several magazines from Heat to Vogue, there is assurance that they have a large media coverage which aims at different age groups and appeals to females of diverse demographics. GHD strengtheners are some of the most expensive in the market; they must therefore ensure they present the advert in a way that captures the exclusivity of the product. (Emily Berisford, 2008) The advertisement uses young fashionable models which mirror the image of their target audience.The advertisement expresses female empowerment rather than the objectification of women as sexual objects as feminism is about independence and control.
Character’s in fairytales are portrayed as vulnerable and powerless women relying on heroic figures to save them. GHD have slanted the fairytales to conform with a contemporary view of female empowerment which is representative of today’s society. GHD use the strapline to encapsulate the key benefit of using GHD, that whatever nature has given you, GHD can improve it. In cooperation with this, GHD display young clad models, mirroring the needs of the target audience.This is important in marketing efforts as we now live in a culture that applauds beauty, and has forced us to place ever more importance on the way we look, how we present ourselves and how we feel. GHD communicates a message of confidence and independence to women; this is likely to inspire women, creating an emotional link to the advert, increasing GHD’s brand awareness amongst their target market. 1.
7 Theories of consumer behaviour and purchasing: Benetton associates cross-cultural values with their brands to drive consumer behaviour.Advertisers such as Benetton & GHD must be fully aware that promotions follow a pattern in the mind of the audience. This is explained using a model called the “hierarchy of effects”. This model suggests consumers pass through different stages before making a purchase. The first stage is cognition, where awareness and knowledge of the product is created. The second stage is Affect, which assesses liking and preference towards the product. The third stage is Connotations, referring to conviction and then the purchase of the product.
(Bradley, 2007)At the cognition stage in the hierarchy of effects, Benetton try to get consumers to identify with the advert through shared values. This Benetton advert is designed to convey different ideas of what the brand represents, various cultures, races, and lifestyles are invited to identify with it. Benetton recognise there is potential for advertising to be effective when directed at consumer’s values. The ad attempts to pitch the idea that by carrying a Benetton label on your clothing, people will recognise the brand and associate it with the “ideology” conveyed in the advertisements, in Benetton’s case, racial equality.The message depicted strongly in the ad is that of equality, regardless of where you are from, as a well known global marketer, this is likely to correspond with most of their target markets values; therefore their advert will be likable, transferring the potential customer to the brand, creating recognition of the advertisement. The next stage is affect, consumer values and those conveyed by Benetton are aligned, this creates a positive carryover to liking the brand. Benetton use value-driven advertising, which customers are likely to respond positively to, creating preference for the label.
Rosemary Polegato, 2006). This can be reflected in their sales increase, it’s estimated that Benetton’s sales increased by $200 million from 1990 to 1991 alone due to this and other similar adverts that conveyed the same message. What Benetton do to influence the connotation stage and get consumers to identify with the advert and purchase their products, is intimately and individually target their audience. Benetton use emotional branding in their adverts, so that consumers feel they share the same values as Benetton, and this can be reflected by buying their products.The use of models of all different ethnicity to promote the Benetton brand shows that they are culturally relevant, socially sensitive, and aim their clothing to anyone and everyone in the world. This is likely to create conviction to purchase as approval is gained from being ethical, and through purchasing Benetton items consumers will feel they are buying into an ideology and becoming part of a club for human betterment. (Grissett, M, Sarthou, G, 2000) (Rebecca Stanfel 2000) 1.
8 Theories of consumer behaviour and purchasing: At the cognition stage, recognition and recall of advertising takes place.This GHD advert has created awareness amongst its consumers by using several media methods to connect with their target audience. The second stage is the affect stage, at this stage GHD’s target members know what the product is, and will therefore know how they feel about it having seen the advert. Ideally, at this stage GHD would like the audience to have understood the message from their advert, from its dexterous poetry, and compare the benefits of these straighter over competition. This is not the purchasing stage as it will all depend on the type of product.Although the ad may be successful, it can only bring the potential customer to the seller. GHD straighter come at a high price and are not something you purchase everyday, only when necessary, there is more thought compared to if you’re purchasing something like consumable purchases.
The final stage is the conation stage. Having successfully communicated with the target audience, it is possible that the consumers might prefer the GHD product but not develop a conviction to buy it. GHD’s job in the advert is to build conviction among the target audience.Some members of the target audience might have conviction but not quite get around to making the purchase. This may be because they are happy with the straighter they already possess, or it could be because their waiting for more information or plan to act later. GHD’s ultimate goal here will be to create sales by getting consumers to commit to purchase, they could offer the product at a low price, offering a premium, or they could offer free testing in a hair salon as the customer will be able to assess the benefits for themselves which may push them to buy it.Thus advertising is thought to work and follow a certain sequence whereby the prospect is moved through a series of stages in succession from unawareness to the purchase of the product.
Overall the GHD campaign was successful with a turnover of over ? 115 million indicating the first three stages were successful. (Ghd, 2009) 1. 9 Assessment and measurement of advertising impact: This section of the portfolio will assess and measure the impact of the Benetton advert. This can be done by turning to qualitative and quantitative methods.Quantitative research can measure cognition, affect and conation which makes it a strong tool for measuring the impact of an advert. By carrying out quantitative research, Benetton could see the frequency of purchases and number of users of their products after the advert was launched. It would measure the strength of their brand by analysing reactions due to the advert.
Quantitative research can be carried out in many ways including in store questionnaires, telephone interviews and many others.Another method Benetton could use to measure the impact of this advert is qualitative research. Qualitative research gather’s an in-depth understanding of human behaviour, it would enable Benetton to look at why people act positively or negatively towards their advert. Focus groups, in-depth interviews, and content analysis are among the many approaches used in qualitative research. Benetton could use focus groups to ask respondents their views of the advert. Respondents may offer criticisms towards Benetton’s advertising technique as they may not like the approach used.For instance some of the audience may respond negatively, arguing that Benetton’s logo transforms any social awareness propaganda in the ad into a marketing tool for profits.
Secondary data can be used to analyse conation through consumer transactions. This will show Benetton the number of repurchases of their products, by doing this Benetton will be able to see whether or not their adverts are having a positive impact enough to push the consumer to purchase their products. If the figures are low, they will know that the adverts are not working and need to be looked at. Bradley, 2009) 2. 0 Assessment and measurement of advertising impact: In order for GHD to measure the effectiveness of their advert they could look at what the consumers impressions are of the product. This can be done by conducting qualitative research, which looks at the responses behind consumer purchasing. One method is focus groups, this method allows concepts to be proposed to respondents.
Another method is depth interviews, which is used in conjunction with focus groups and directly linked to the respondent’s personal detailed response.Another way of assessing the impact of the GHD ad would be to look at what the consumer decided to do as a result of the advert. This can be measured through secondary data analysis which looks at consumer transactions on databases. If GHD used this method, they could see whether their advert was successful enough to persuade the consumer to purchase their products. To assess the impact of the advert, GHD would need to look at the ‘affect’ their advert had by measuring the target groups response through the frequency of purchases.GHD would need to look at the link between the intended effect of the advert and the actual behaviour of the target group. This can be done via quantitative research on the sales figures since the advert was published, compared with previous figures and whether they have increased.
The quantitative methods of research that could be used are telephone interviews, postal research, and internet. (Branthwaite, A, 2001)