Product RED case study
Case Study : (Product) RED
Can a T-shirt Save the World?
1. The concept RED was founded in 2006 by Bono and Shriver. It’s mission is to raise awareness and funds to help get rid of HIV/AIDS in africa. The product RED is licensed to partner with various companies, one of which is Gap. Red’s partnership with Gap is an amazing way to improve its image as it attracts the public in different ways. I believe that Gap is not in it for the money as they were ready to give 100 percent of its profits to the cause. Although this idea was rejected by Bono and Shriver, we still know what Gap’s intention was. Gap treats Red like a business as it spends millions of dollars on marketing it. In addition Oprah’s INSPI(RED) T-shirt went on to become the best selling item in Gap’s 35 year history.
2. RED started partnerships with popular brands to get attention. When it caught the public’s eye, other companies created several products, for example red cell phones, red ipods and even red shoes. They went International and created a website called www.joinred.com so everyone around the world could know about it and eventually the news spread on blog sites . RED advertised everywhere even on social networking websites such as My Space. RED was advancing very rapidly and this was due to the new technologies in advertising.
3. For any campaign, non profit or profit to keep the doors open it has to have more money for the cause then for the campaign itself. Same goes for RED’s campaign where $100 million dollars had been spent on marketing but only about $25 million had gone to the cause. After speculations by industry observers that this could trigger a backlash for RED, I believe that this criticism is justified. RED had spent more money on marketing than on the cause of their campaign which is a disproportionate ratio between the marketing overhead and the money raised. The brands backing RED are at more benefit than RED itself. If more RED iPods sell, Apple is at a
Can a T-shirt Save the World?
1. The concept RED was founded in 2006 by Bono and Shriver. It’s mission is to raise awareness and funds to help get rid of HIV/AIDS in africa. The product RED is licensed to partner with various companies, one of which is Gap. Red’s partnership with Gap is an amazing way to improve its image as it attracts the public in different ways. I believe that Gap is not in it for the money as they were ready to give 100 percent of its profits to the cause. Although this idea was rejected by Bono and Shriver, we still know what Gap’s intention was. Gap treats Red like a business as it spends millions of dollars on marketing it. In addition Oprah’s INSPI(RED) T-shirt went on to become the best selling item in Gap’s 35 year history.
2. RED started partnerships with popular brands to get attention. When it caught the public’s eye, other companies created several products, for example red cell phones, red ipods and even red shoes. They went International and created a website called www.joinred.com so everyone around the world could know about it and eventually the news spread on blog sites . RED advertised everywhere even on social networking websites such as My Space. RED was advancing very rapidly and this was due to the new technologies in advertising.
3. For any campaign, non profit or profit to keep the doors open it has to have more money for the cause then for the campaign itself. Same goes for RED’s campaign where $100 million dollars had been spent on marketing but only about $25 million had gone to the cause. After speculations by industry observers that this could trigger a backlash for RED, I believe that this criticism is justified. RED had spent more money on marketing than on the cause of their campaign which is a disproportionate ratio between the marketing overhead and the money raised. The brands backing RED are at more benefit than RED itself. If more RED iPods sell, Apple is at a