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Benetton 

Colours Of The World 

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 Snapshot

Brand Value - $574m

Brand Value - Methodology

Books: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Events: 50,000 more US troops sent to Vietnam; millions watch space probe crash on moon; Krays in custody

Films: Dr Zhivago

Music: Rolling Stones sing “I can’t get No Satisfaction”; The Who sings “My Generation”


It was the end of an era for one sector as cigarette advertising on TV was banned. For the clothing and retail sector it was boom time. Carnaby Street had become the epicentre in London for fashionable boutique stores and Twiggy had modelled the first-ever plastic dress.

It was in Veneto, Italy where the tale of another retail clothing brand was blossoming. Luciano Benetton, a Treviso salesman spotted the opportunity for colourful clothing and ten years after he knitted his first collection of jumpers, the Benetton Group was born.

The concept of united colours was always central to Benetton’s brand. By 1965, the brand had developed a procedure to dye finished garments rather than unwoven fibres enabling it to react more quickly to fashion trends. Benetton adopted its slogan, “United Colours of Benetton” as its logo and for the first time in the history of commercial trademarks, the slogan became a trademark.

A bowler hat hero called Fred became the long-standing star of Homepride Flour appearing on its packaging for the first time. John le Mesurier, the actor from Dad’s Army provided the original voice for the animated TV ad. He also narrated Bod. Fred is still going strong today.

As Coronation Street became the most watched programme on TV, children were decorating pieces of papers with mad swirls and sweeps thanks to a new toy called the Spirograph.

 What do you think?

To celebrate our 50th Anniversary we have already chosen 50 Golden Brands from 1959 to 2008, but now we want you to help us choose the Golden Brand of 2009 which will be awarded at our 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner on November 16 at the Battersea Evolution.

Which brand do you think is worthy of our Golden Brand of 2009?

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 Latest comments

Lost touch

This brand has lost touch with its customer base. The shoppers in the store never look like the models in the ads. What does that tell you?

Posted by Tim Malone on 5/13/2009 | 7:59 PM