Ponzano, 20 June 2012. UNHATE, the United Colors
of Benetton communications campaign (created by Fabrica,
Benetton Group's communication research centre, and
produced in partnership with 72andSunny), has received the
Press Grand Prix at the Cannes International Festival of
Creativity, an accolade that rewards the best international
print campaign. At the competition, which is universally
recognised as the world's most authoritative showcase
in the field of creativity and communication,
UNHATE is also a finalist in the Film and Film
Craft categories, and a contender for the prestigious
Titanium Lion.
The Chairman of Benetton Group Alessandro Benetton, who
strongly championed this campaign, greeted the news by
declaring: "This first award at the Cannes Festival fills
us with pride and satisfaction. With the UNHATE
campaign we wanted to send a message about the need to
overcome the culture of hate, through dialogue and the
understanding of differences. To convey this we opted to
use the most democratic and modern media, those most
coherent with our message, which would allow us not only to
reach the largest number of people, but also to engage with
people, and especially the young, through online
interaction".
Launched in November 2011, UNHATE was United
Colors of Benetton's first integrated communication
project. The campaign made a significant impact on the
international community, reaching a total of 500 million
users worldwide. In addition to the huge interest shown by
traditional media - more than 3000 articles and 600 TV
reports in 60 nations - in the first few weeks the campaign
became one of the top five Google and Twitter topic trends
and generated a 60% increase in the number of fans on the
brand's Facebook page.
The success of the project was also due to two innovative
online applications: UNHATE KISS WALL, which
randomly chooses the pictures uploaded to the site by
individuals, and unites them in a passionate kiss (http://kisswall.benetton.com/);
and UNHATE LIST, a Twitter-based list of the
things and people that are not hated, which is constantly
updated by visitors (http://unhate.benetton.com/unhate-list/).
This first prize received at the Cannes International
Festival of Creativity is the latest in a long list of
international honours that UNHATE has received. In
particular, two Gold Pencils at the One Show
Awards, in the Integrated Branding and Public
Service-Outdoor & Posters categories, and a Gold
Clio Award in the Print category at the
International Clio Awards, whose importance is often
compared to that of the Academy Awards. These competitions
are two of the most prestigious, respected international
marketing and advertising showcases. Other accolades
include a Royal Jelly at the Bees Awards for
"having changed the game in social media marketing",
selection for the Earned Media Campaign category
(In Book) at the D&AD Awards and a prize from the
AICP Awards for the best original music in the short film
UNHATE, an integral part of the campaign.
The campaign was launched to support the UNHATE
Foundation (unhatefoundation.org),
which was strongly championed by the group and is one of
the cornerstones of a new Corporate Social Responsibility
strategy. The Foundation's intent is to organise concrete
initiatives that contrast the culture of hatred, promote
the arts as a means of dialogue and succeed in involving
society and the younger generations. The UNHATE
Foundation's first event took place in December 2011,when
COLORS magazine donated the UNHATE DOVE to Tripoli
as a sign of peace and hope: a large, dove-shaped sculpture
completely covered in spent bullet cartridges, created by
Fabrica. The fight against hatred in all its forms and
acceptance of diversity are central themes in all the
projects the Foundation will finance in 2012 through the
"Art Against Hate" initiative. This initiative will support
specific programmes created by local organizations in
different geographic areas to promote leadership and the
social inclusion of young people.
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