Benetton at Bauhaus

Tiles and Benetton: at a first glance they do not seem to go together particularly well, since the Italian company always has been, and still is, thought of primarily in connection with clothing. But the product palette has seen expansion. With a part to play nowadays in addition to textiles are bedding, candles, picture frames, table linen and wallpaper, along with the aforementioned tiles.Bearer of the “United Colors of Benetton” image is a tile by Marazzi, a globally active tile manufacturer. Since the eighties Marazzi had intensified efforts to establish the name as a brand, originally by involving well-known designers. But the hoped-for success did not eventuate. And this is when the idea of taking advantage of brand synergies was thought up, not least with an eye to costs.Benetton’s series of tiles by Marazzi was presented for the first time in the Berlin Bauhaus, a store of around 20 000 m².As explained by Claudio Monari, who is responsible for communication and PR at Marazzi, building up the company’s own brand image would have been appreciably more expensive and have taken too long. “We are noticing a levelling out and standardising tendency where tiles are concerned,” is how Monari describes the latest developments in the tiling market. “We intend to counteract the decline in prices with brand and brand image.”The choice of Benetton as promoter of the image meant the target group was predetermined: young female customers who are design-conscious and price-orientated, but also have an eye for quality. Which is why a point has been made of providing appropriate self-service packaging, to a greater degree than is usual for tiles. Consequently these tiles can be found directly below the display in boxes that are also got up in a style that befits the Benetton image.Torsten Tschechne, Bauhaus manager in Berlin, regards the concept as a reinforcement of Bauhaus’s position as a major supplier of DIY products. “We want in particular to set new creative fashion trends, and also underscore our claim to occupy a unique position in matters of colour, design and price.” The concept has been on trial since March 2003. As Tschechne points out, so far the company’s expectations have been more than exceeded. Bauhaus is not entering uncharted territory in the collaboration with Marazzi, rather building on teamwork that has grown and developed over decades.Presentation of the Benetton tiles in the DIY store.The new exclusive concept has been implemented in almost…