Answer all queries about your business as thoroughly and as politely as you can.

Be prompt in your response and in all of your business dealings.

Keep your website "Live" as much as you can.

Switch server if necessary.

Join forums and answer questions relating to your business.

Leave your business info in your signature.

Write articles and reviews about your business.

Post them on your site and submit them to directories, ezines, classifieds and such.

This is just tip of iceberg, but it's a start.

Spend time to establish your presence on web. It's same for an offline business as well. Eventually you will establish your business as legitimate and reliable. As you can see all of this takes more than a few days. Have patience. Eventually it will pay off.

This positions company very distinctively. While no end of warm and fuzzy strategies may get mixed up in consumer minds, Benetton has a clear and unequivocal position that won't be mistaken or soon forgotten.

Diversity is next issue: we who live in North America sometimes forget other large markets exist beyond our immediate borders. Benetton, an Italian company, probably recognizes those markets.

Voters in all major industrialized countries, except U.S., have rejected death penalty since World War II. That includes people in powerful economies of Western Europe.

So, from Benetton's bottom-line perspective, it can afford to offend some potential American customers as it builds or maintains markets in Europe and Asia. Not that Benetton has been reticent to offend Europeans either. Another recent ad campaign showed a nun and priest kissing, which raised many hackles among European consumers.

As you can imagine, this contrarian strategy could backfire easily, if used by a firm with that couldn't carry it off well. To succeed with it, you need to know your marketing and markets very well indeed.

In summary, a contrarian positioning strategy like Benetton's, one that might offend some potential customers while increasing loyalty of others, presents a high-risk, and possibly high-reward, option.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com