CSR in war-torn Africa: Benetton leads the way

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By Samidha Sharma, CNBC-TV18

 

Benetton chose Senegal's capital, Dakar, to launch its new global advertising campaign called 'Africa works'. It is centered around a micro-credit programme-Birima, spearheaded by Senegalese singer Youssan N' Dour. The 2 billion euro Italian fashion brand Benetton was making its brand socially relevant in a war-torn west African country last week. Social marketing is the new trend to look out for amongst brands.

 

Grammy Award winning Senegalese singer Youssan N'Dour's latest composition was created specially for his micro-credit project-Birima. As Benetton lends support to the program,  'Africa Works' will be its communication theme around the world.

 

Alongwith outdoor and press ads, the campaign will include a series of projects and events around Birima. Plans to take this micro-credit project beyond Senegal within the next six months to Ivory Coast are already in place. It is starting off with a corpus of around half a million euros, funded by the Senegalese singer himself, and the Benetton Group. Financial help would be key, if this project has to be a success.

 

"People from different parts of the world have come to us after they heard about the programme. We would need financial help and people who would take risk," said Youssan N' Dour.

 

Benetton is known to create some of the most controversial and provocative ads. Its ads deal with issues such as war, AIDS and death row convicts. It has now embraced Africa's spirit to work. The campaign shot over three weeks features Senegalese workers who have used micro-credit to start small, productive businesses. The idea was to produce a confident view of Africa working. Benetton denies that the brand's move is driven only by the fact that supporting a social cause is becoming increasingly essential for global brands today.

 

" Benetton has never wanted to give a moral statement through its communication. It just wanted to give individual voices. I am optimistic that this new endeavour would work as well," said Alessandro Benetton , Executive Deputy Chairman of Benetton Group.

 

Despite not having even one store in Senegal, Benetton chose this African country to launch its new advertising campaign focussing on entrepreneurial Africa. As the brand lends advertising, communication and financial help to Birima, it is hoping to create a differentiated brand positioning yet again with this campaign.