Swot Analysis (benetton Group as a Whole)

Introduction:

Benetton has become a prominent global group. They are now present in one hundred twenty malls with seven thousand retail outlets. Their ad campaigns started in 1984, featuring the environment, war, AIDS, racism, and child labor. They were also awarded a multitude of prizes thanks to the campaigns they made. They have a wide variety of accessories such as bags, clothes, scarves and perfumes. Their collections have been designed separately for men, women and kids of every age. More than a hundred million garments are produced in a year. They are well known for the bright combination of colors they use. Benetton’s competitors are high end and well known in the market such as H&M, Zara, and Gap.

Company Background:

Benetton’s family consists of a sister and three brothers. At a very young age, the Benettons lost their father who had owned bicycles and car rentals. Giuilana displayed great talent in the age of five in which she showed interest in knitting. During her teenage years, she used to work in the day time in a local factory knitting woolen sweaters and in the night she used to borrow the knitting machine so she could work on her own colorful sweaters. Her brother, Luciano, quit school and was working as a salesman in a men’s clothing shop. In 1955, Luciano planned to support his sister Giuliana. They bought their first knitting machine at thirty thousand lire by selling their bicycles and started selling Giuliana’s collection of woolen sweaters. Within the same year, they started their company that was then headquartered in Italy. Giuliana had a collection of eighteen colorful sweaters which were sold first directly to consumers so as to attract their attention. Benetton’s main aim was that for every event there was a particular dress that was suitable for the crowd who were the consumers. At the year 1965, the Benetton family formed partnerships and were assigned to different jobs, such as Luciano to marketing, Giuliana to design, Carlos was to production, and Gilberto to finance and administration. Thereby, in 1972, Luciano had come up with a unique style that introduced clothes that could have been dyed with multi colors in huge ranges with reduced prices. By 1977, it was one of the largest producers for knitted garments in Europe. It was a limited liability company in the year 1978 with 1000 stores in Italy. Benetton recognized great expansionary opportunities. They have eventually been successful as they expanded worldwide including countries such as France since it was believed that once approved in Paris it would be a successful international business. Eventually, they moved into the U.S., Spain and reached two hundred shops commercializing different other brands which were later renamed United Colors of Benetton. Benetton earned consequent returns from their internationalization as they had also become the largest manufacturer.