Media

2021 was a year of growth for AdKaora and Hej!, the Mondadori Group digital companies specialised in mobile advertising and conversational marketing, which, following AdKaora’s acquisition of Hej! at the beginning of 2021, form the nucleus of MarTech, a cutting-edge digital hub and leading player in tech advertising.

With their focus fixed firmly on the future and new challenges, the two companies evolved over the year through product innovation, using their strong technological and know-how synergies to create increasingly effective adv solutions for their brands.

Their success is also confirmed by the results reported by the hub, which posted aggregate gross revenues of more than 20 million euro (preliminary figures) – with the newly acquired Hej! contributing approximately 8 million euro –, an improvement of over 50% from the previous year on a pro-forma constant-size basis.

THE MARTECH HUB OFFER – The secret of the success of the two companies is the ability to support their brands step by step in achieving their targets through a technologically advanced, creative consultancy-based approach, which also enabled them to strengthen relations with key clients on the market.

“The synergies between AdKaora and Hej! blended naturally right from the start,” said AdKaora CEO Davide Tran. “For example, the integration of proximity marketing in correlation with the performance marketing campaigns, two different but closely related areas. The new developments of our MarTech hub are still under way, in 2021 we took a first step towards expansion on the Spanish market with the acquisition of 30% of Adgage, a Madrid-based company, through which we aim to export our own products and those of Hej!. I am very satisfied with the remarkable results we achieved this year, and the opportunity to work closely with the Hej! team of talents, with whom we immediately established a strong bond and a shared vision of innovation and the market. 2022 will be a year when these synergies generate full value to offer our clients an unbeatable integrated offer,” Tran added.

In 2021 AdKaora developed a series of new adv solutions based on constant observation of the market. As a result, the proximity marketing offer reached a new level, introducing channels such as DOOH and SMS, and extending planning with rich media formats with a high engagement impact. It also saw the development of Circle, the proprietary platform that enables brands and media centres to monitor campaign results in real time.

In the last quarter of 2021, in anticipation of the gaming trend, AdKaora launched the new native in-play offer: immersive display formats inserted in game dynamics, where the focus is on brand and product awareness, thanks to the high visibility afforded by the communication message.

Hej! also reported unstoppable growth. “2021 was the first year for Hej! on the Mondadori Group’s MarTech hub, and it was very exciting,” said Hej! CEO Stefano Argiolas. “We established a natural alchemy with AdKaora, a process of continuous contamination enabling both companies to set and achieve ever more challenging objectives. Together we design and develop integrated solutions to cover the entire marketing funnel. At Hej! we have continued to invest in innovation and the evolution of our solutions, guided by our sole mantra: tangible results for clients. By its nature, conversational marketing gives us a privileged view of user needs: a view we use for in-depth analyses of aggregate campaign data in order to improve results continually and bring innovation into performance marketing, a segment that has been tied to obsolete processes for too long,” Argiolas added.

Hej! conversational marketing has become an indispensable solution for many brands because of the quantitative and qualitative results it delivers. Thanks to its robust data drilling capability, Hej! can use artificial intelligence to offer clients even more detailed qualitative analyses and campaign insights, which help the entire chain to optimise results. Automated real-time analyses is an undeniable advantage for optimal performance.

Creativity, conversation and customisation merge in the conversational audio display format recently launched by AdKaora and Hej!, which aims to engage all the consumer’s senses when they are choosing a product, and strengthen their discovery. This dynamic multi-sensory experience creates greater product awareness for both online and in-store sales.

The two agencies are also working on the development of brand lift survey solutions, which measure the brand-consumer interaction in an advertising campaign, and identify the extent to which the customer journey changes in terms of awareness, perception, consideration and purchase probability.

CASE HISTORY AND SUCCESSFUL FORMATS – A demonstration of these initial synergies is the successful Somatoline Cosmetic campaign for Bolton, presented by AdKaora and Hej! at IAB Forum 2021: the combination of proximity marketing and conversational marketing made it possible to cover every stage in the funnel, with a multi-channel strategy that guided the user in both online and offline stores, creating a personalised conversation channel with the consumer and following them as the protagonist of their purchase decisions.

The project achieved important results in terms of engagement and visits: AdKaora’s Find&Go Now! obtained a 26.6% engagement rate, reflecting a high stimulus to action and effective activation of drive-to-store dynamics, which led to a 54.4% increase in visits to sales outlets. Consumers also showed an offline/online balance in their purchase habits: from Hej!’s Conversational Engaging Marketing format, 53.4% of users landed on the brand’s e-commerce and, an almost equal share, 46.62% on Find&Go Now!.

AdKaora, the Mondadori Group digital agency specialised in user-centric mobile advertising and proximity marketing, is continuing collaboration with Madi Ventura, a key player in dried fruit, which has decided to promote three seasonal product lines – Fichi e Datteri, Linea Difesa and BBMix Funzionali – with a new proximity marketing strategy.

The campaign, managed together with Asset Media, went online in November and December. It was designed to cover each step in the funnel from awareness to drive to store, and to combine the creative power of advertising formats with a strong impact on engagement with the advanced tools of footfall analysis, post-sales analysis, consumer insight and brand lift surveys, in a planning approach integrating online and offline strategy.

Two rich media formats with high engagement power designed by AdKaora Creative Studio were used to enhance brand awareness: the Swipe format for the Fichi e Datteri line and the Geyser format for the Linea Difesa and BBMix Funzionali lines. Swipe and Geyser are innovative interactive formats that give the user a unique brand experience through dynamic forms of interaction for a powerful, personalised discovery of the product: all their calls to action take the user directly to the brand site to obtain additional information, and, with the Geyser format, to see a short video presentation.

To promote footfall in the supermarkets involved in the campaign, the strategy also used a mixture of geolocal mobile display advertising formats and near-store, in-store and near-product push notifications, shown to customers in the vicinity of stores and set up to steer them to AdKaora’s proprietary Find&Go Now! technology, an interactive map that leads the consumer to the nearest shop where they can buy the product.

The campaign produced a positive engagement rate and boosted visits: the interaction rate was 21% with the Swipe format for Fichi e Datteri, 25% with the Geyser format for Linea Difesa and 28% with the Geyser format for BBMix Funzionali. For Find&Go Now!, the engagement rate was 25%, while the uplift for visits to the stores reached 68%.

To check the effect of the campaign, the AdKaora solutions were combined with sales and product data, collected through a qualitative analysis by CheckBonus and a quantitative analysis by IRI, both partners of the agency.

With CheckBonus, a variety of marketing tools was used to give visibility to the products – BB Mix Funzionali in particular – and obtain valuable insights in terms of sales drill-down, sales by retailer and sell-out analyses, together with socio-demographic breakdown and consumer behaviour data. A special survey provided information on the factors that influenced purchases, brand and product perception, and the positioning of the brand with respect to competitors.

The analysis supplied by IRI, which monitors the effects of advertising on product purchasing during a specific period, highlighted positive results in terms of sales uplift with a sales increment of 4.3%.

Matteo Giorgi, E-Commerce & Digital Marketing Manager Madi Ventura: “Proximity marketing is now an integral part of our communication strategies, which are evolving rapidly in a multi-channel direction. With AdKaora we created a complete proximity campaign and took it to another level: brand and product awareness, consumer engagement, and, above all, measurement of results (footfall and sell-out) and the impact of advertising on in-store sales. Insights into consumers were equally important, helping us to monitor the market. An enhancement of all the steps in the funnel together with close attention to KPIs.”

Alessandro Garziera, Partner & Head of Digital Asset Media: “A multi-product advertising campaign with innovative creative assets and monitoring of the entire funnel. The strategic decision to guarantee a complete view of the brand and the products using AdKaora’s innovative tools at the various digital touchpoints proved to be effective. The agency is satisfied with the results achieved.”

Davide Tran, CEO AdKaora: “We are very happy with this on-going collaboration with Madi Ventura and Asset Media, which enables us to support the client with a comprehensive communication strategy. A proximity marketing “booster” combining the effectiveness of our latest-generation rich media formats with advanced drive-to-store technological solutions, to maximise awareness of the different products, which benefited from enhanced concentrated interest, and to transform users into store visits. We achieved important campaign results as well as exclusive insights into the brand and consumers, which will be useful for future communication strategies. The results were only made possible by the integration of the advertising strategy with close monitoring of the KPIs required by the client.”

Mondadori Media announces its new all-digital brand The Wom: an innovative social media and web magazine dedicated to young millennials, a generation for whom uniqueness is a strength and a value that goes beyond labels to enhance them and others.

The brand name is an abbreviation of “woman”, with multiple meanings: The Wom powerfully overcomes gender differences (“Woman or Man”), celebrates all women (“Wonder Woman”, “Wonderful Me”), and talks the same language as users (“Word of mouth”).

Through an original editorial offer, The Wom promotes a culture that affirms free personal expression, as reflected in the claim “Be WOMderful, be yourself”: it addresses a community of people sensitive to the values of gender equality, self-acceptance and sustainability, with inclusive content and language typical of generation Z and millennials.

With the launch of this new female brand, designed to respond to the needs and interests of the new generations of women on their preferred channels, Instagram and TikTok, and on the web, Mondadori Media – the Mondadori Group’s social multimedia company, the leading player on social media in Italy with 57.5 million fans – is expanding its editorial offer.

«The Wom talks the same language as young millennials and generation Z. It’s an ambitious project that demonstrates Mondadori Media’s continuous capacity for innovation, rooted in digital expertise and constant attention to new languages and formats, making us a leading multimedia company on the web today and the first social destination in Italy. With The Wom we want to become a go-to for the under-35s on social media, affirming the uniqueness of each individual and providing inspiration in key areas of self-expression such as beauty or fashion,» said Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media.

To safeguard its mission, The Wom is the first Italian editorial brand to introduce a Gender and Inclusion Committee. The purpose of the committee, an independent body, is to implement the values agenda of The Wom on the issues of greatest interest to the new generations. Its members will include such distinguished women as Benedetta De Luca, a law graduate and disability model, who, as Gender and Inclusion Editor, will ensure that the brand’s content and philosophy comply with all the principles that inspire The Wom, using appropriate language and sensitivity; Federica Gasbarro, an activist, biologist and green influencer, who, as Climate Editor, will raise the awareness of The Wom followers on climate-change-related topics; Victoria Oluboyo, a civil rights activist and intersectional feminist, and Ariman Scriba, a mental health advocate, who will focus on invisible forms of distress.

The Wom has already achieved extraordinary results: in the few months since the launch of the beta version on social media and the web, it has attracted an overall fanbase of 3.6 million followers, 90% of whom are women, and an audience of 5 million unique users per month, to become the leading brand in the under-35 female segment (source: Shareablee e Insight, January 2022; Google Analytics, January 2022).

The new brand stands out for the presence, on both Instagram and TikTok and online at www.thewom.it, of the main The Wom account and other 5 vertical profiles – The Wom Beauty, The Wom Fashion, The Wom Healthy, The Wom Life, The Wom Travel -, with features and inspirations relating to beauty, fashion, wellness, travel, lifestyles, to respond to the interests of this generation.

Another asset of The Wom is the production of short videos portraying the values of this generation, interpreted by a team of more than 50 creators from among the most popular names on Instagram and TikTok. They include gamer and cosplayer Antonella Arpa; creator and beauty influencer Martina Luchena; bionic model Nina Rima; curvy model Paola Torrente; beauty creator Arienne Makeup; body positive creator Giorgy Colella; beauty guru and influencer Damn Tee; creator and make-up artist Abbia Maswi; actress and creator Ludovica di Donato, for an output of more than 140 reels a month.

The Wom has a fluid design and hybrid mix of social media and web functions, such as a social media wall and tap browsing on the site in the style of Instagram stories. The look & feel of the www.thewom.it website has been created with moving “e(motion)al” elements, like the browsing ticker and the dynamic content-related palette of pastel colours.

The Wom stylistic identity is instantly recognisable thanks to Melania Gazzaruso, aka Memilus, a visual artist who narrates daily experiences with cartoon-style illustrations, accompanied by value-based phrases with which the community identifies.

The launch of The Wom is supported by a communication campaign designed by CasiraghiGreco&, for b2b publications and DOOH in the main districts of Milan; this will be followed in March by the launch of #TheWomPower, a special challenge on Instagram and TikTok for exceptionally normal “WOMder Women”, which will involve the brand’s top creators.

Marketing has been assigned exclusively to the Mediamond concessionaire, which will provide clients with innovative sponsored social and web formats, as well as unboxing videos, product testing reels and stories with brand editors. The Wom covers a variety of beauty- and fashion-related sectors, and also aims to expand into the pharma and travel areas through collaboration with creators and industry experts.

Ad hoc content, illustrations and social media cards will be completely customisable with the sponsor’s colours, maintaining narrative consistency and guaranteeing the integration of the adv message with the editorial content.

2022 will be a magical year for TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, the Mondadori Group benchmark brand in music, cinema and television.

The weekly magazine edited by Aldo Vitali has reached its 70th anniversary and is preparing to mark the event with a packed calendar of initiatives and events, which, throughout the year, will bring an ever-growing public of 5.7 million readers and users and 950,000 fans into contact with the most popular names in entertainment, confirming the special relationship that Sorrisi has always enjoyed with the stars.

The brand will be the protagonist of a series of exclusive and prestigious events: from the Sanremo Festival to the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest as well as the 79th Venice Film Festival, with an abundance of meetings, interviews, original content and initiatives for its users and readers in the magazine, on the website and on social media, culminating with a huge party at the end of the year.

«I’ve never seen such a young seventy-year old! Sorrisi has reached an important milestone, but it is not taking time off to celebrate. It is already looking to the future, and as the content of all our channels shows, no brand is more attentive to contemporary life. Sorrisi has a tradition: to get there first. It was the first entertainment magazine, the first to publish TV program schedules and song lyrics, to put the spotlight on local TV channels and, recently, to devote important space to the world of streaming. A special year lies ahead, involving unprecedented numbers of our readers and fans and giving them the opportunity to enjoy uniquely exciting experiences,» said Aldo Vitali, editor-in-chief of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni.

IT ALL BEGINS AT SANREMO – The celebrations get off to a start at the Sanremo Festival: Sorrisi is taking its community into the heart of the 72nd edition of the year’s most eagerly awaited song contest with a non-stop social schedule on its Instagram and Facebook channels, which last year beat all the audience records.

The real-time reports over the five days in Sanremo will be hosted by Aldo Vitali. Every morning, the magazine’s editor will welcome the Sorrisi public to a special breakfast with an exclusive guest from the artistes competing in the festival: from Gianni Morandi and Ana Mena to Iva Zanicchi and Elisa, ending the week with Highsnob e Hu.

Space will also be devoted to make-up and beauty in the daily “Commenta il look” feature, with tips from Rajan Tolomei: the Make-Up Artist from Max Factor Italia, an exclusive partner of Sorrisi, and the editorial team will comment on all the competition outfits, and create a short make-up video every day so that the beauty looks trending on the stage of the Ariston theatre can be tried out at home.

Another must is the “Diari degli artisti” format, returning after last year’s success with the contribution of the stars at this year’s Festival, who will be telling the Instagram community about their day in the delightful town of Sanremo, from their morning call through to the moment when they step on stage, with all their emotions, good luck rituals, backstage activities. Ana Mena will take fans inside her life as a popstar, showing all her preparations for the evening, from her choice of outfit to her fitness routine; Sangiovanni will offer the community an original photo diary of his Sanremo week, accompanying his snapshots with suggestions, thoughts and reflections, while Noemi will front an original Posta del cuore with the best songs to listen to.

At the end of each packed afternoon of meetings, live streaming on social media and exclusive interviews, readers and users will be entertained by the not-to-be-missed Aperitivo con il direttore, starting at 7 p.m. with the special participation of Valeria Angione. The young actress and content creator from Naples, a hugely popular figure on the web, will join Aldo Vitali to comment on the progress of each evening’s competition in her unmistakeable ironic style.

THREE SPECIAL ISSUES – Italy’s best-selling and most widely read weekly magazine is bringing out three special issues, devoted to the best of the Italian music festival, with an extraordinary circulation of 1.5 million copies. The first of the three specials provided an exclusive preview of the lyrics of the songs in the competition, with a must-have cover photo showing all the singers together with the Festival’s presenter and artistic director, Amadeus.

The issue out today offers interviews with the co-presenters of the Festival, with a raft of original content and, once again, the lyrics of all the songs. Readers will also find instructions on how to take part in the great Sorrisi 70 competition, an annual competition launched by Sorrisi to thank the public for their loyalty and affection on its 70th anniversary. Three super prizes will be awarded: a Fiat Panda Hybrid, two Costa cruises for the entire family and a Polello jewellery set designed exclusively for Sorrisi (for info and the competition rules: sorrisi70.sorrisi.com).

The third special issue, on news-stands on Tuesday 8 February, will provide a report on the whole week at Sanremo, with the best photos from the five evenings and the first cover photo of the winner, photographed exclusively for Sorrisi.

(source: Nielsen Media Impact Data fusion, May 2021)
(source: Shareablee e Insight, October 2021)

Focus, the Mondadori Group brand leader in spreading scientific knowledge, has completed its first 30 years and is looking to the future with Focus Next 30: a multi-touchpoint special project which will accompany readers and users throughout 2022, exploring key themes in science, technology and the environment and examining the innovations that will fuel development in these areas over the next 30 years, with contributions from distinguished international figures.

The initiative leverages the strength and the successful formula that have always characterised the brand.

Focus has been a household publication since 1992, satisfying people’s curiosity and desire for knowledge with an unmistakeable clear and direct style which, combined with contributions from scientists and specialists, has made the brand a go-to magazine for a community of 5.2 million readers and users (source: Nielsen Media Impact Data Fusion, May 2021).

In its 30 years, Focus has been a reliable source of information on science, technology, the environment, medicine, nutrition, lifestyles and sustainability, in print, on the web, on social media, through local events such as Focus Live, through Academy for schools, TV and podcasts: a complete multimedia information platform, making new discoveries accessible and exciting for an ever growing public, helping readers and users distinguish fake news, learn about history and make their way in the various branches of knowledge.

The great questions of yesterday, today and tomorrow will be at the heart of the Focus Next 30 special project: a year of events and discussions on all the brand channels to get ready for the changes coming in the next 30 years. The journey begins with the innovations recounted by Focus since it was first published and will move ahead – with the faces of tomorrow, chosen from the top names in the scientific community – to look at how our world will change.

“We want to give this 30th anniversary the meaning that any birthday can have: to change, grow and become even more what we already are. Out of interest, I leafed through the issues from the first year of Focus, 1992. Two things struck me straightaway: the same sense of eager curiosity we still have today and the incredible strides that have been made in science, technology and medicine in just thirty years. So, with each issue, you’ll find the format that came to mind. It will be a fascinating journey through the past, present and future, highlighting the extraordinary capabilities of scientific research, the speed of improvement, our aptitude for progress through intelligence and the human soul,” said Raffaele Leone, editor-in-chief of Focus.

Renewable energy, sustainability, medicine of the future, home automation, mobility, food, cybersecurity and much else: for each topic, every month Focus will turn to an international specialist, young talents from the worlds of science and information, who will share their vision with the brand community, offering a new perspective on the future.

In the latest issue of Italy’s most widely read monthly magazine, on the news-stands from 22 January, the cover story will look at digital medicine, intelligent apps that follow patients and the growing use of technology to link physicians and patients remotely. The magazine will also examine the volcanic eruptions forecast in the first issue from 1992, to discuss the future of this discipline.

Another important feature in the new issue will be fourth-generation nuclear energy, particularly of interest given the possibility that the European Union will include it as a sustainable source of energy. The nuclear question will be linked to a survey to investigate the opinions of Focus readers and users. The questionnaire will be available on the brand website and social profiles, which will also publish its findings.

The Focus Next 30 project will continue throughout 2022 on all the channels of the Focus system with a circular dynamic offer: in the magazine readers will find a theme-based dossier starting with an article published in 1992, the first year of Focus, to investigate the changes and developments that have taken place since them and the forecasts and expectations for the coming years.

On Focus.it, users will be able to look in detail at the themes covered by Focus Next 30 in a special section providing in-depth features and exclusive video-interviews on the theme for the month.
On social media, Focus Next 30 will offer a range of content designed to engage the brand’s 4 million fans (source: Shareablee e Insight, December 2021), with live content, posts, surveys, quizzes, as well as podcasts – where Focus currently has more than 2 million downloads – with the Focus Storia special documentary series “Focus Next 30, dal passato al futuro”.

The Focus Next 30 initiatives will culminate with the new edition of the Focus Live event, an important festival of knowledge hosting researchers, scientists, explorers, artists and communicators, with a packed schedule of meetings and activities. Starting in the spring, this year’s Focus Live, to be held in November, will be flanked by a series of live and digital events, including talks, meetings and round tables on the subjects covered by Focus Next 30.

Grazia USA, the American edition of Grazia created under a licensing agreement signed by the Mondadori Group with Pantheon Media Group LLC, has been named “Best New Magazine Launch” of 2021.

Grazia USA was chosen for the honour out of more than 120 new publications launched in America during the past year thanks to its ability to combine quality content with cutting-edge images in the magazine’s inimitable refined style. The honour was awarded as a result of the ranking drawn up by Samir Husni, founder and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the School of Journalism and New Media of the University of Mississippi.

The acknowledgement crowns the success of the first 100% Italian fashion brand on one of the world’s biggest and most important markets for fashion and luxury goods.

Present on the American market through the global digital first platform graziamagazine.com, Grazia USA launched its first quarterly print issue on 23 September 2021 under the title “Evolution”. The 356-page special edition celebrated three women who have risen to success on the American cultural and social scene, featured on three exclusive covers: nine-time Olympic medal winner Allyson Felix, British supermodel and designer Alek Wek, and Canadian singer, actor and activist Jordan Alexander

The début of Grazia USA marks a turning point for American fashion magazines in a year when the United States saw twice as many new print magazines launched as in 2020.

The brand has been a success with American readers right from the start for its unique cosmopolitan blend of fashion, art, culture and beauty, as well as design, travel and entertainment, putting new generations in contact with the most influential, renowned names in the fashion industry thanks to distribution through the world’s most exclusive retailers.

“We’re proud of this acknowledgement obtained by Grazia USA and very happy with the results achieved by our partner Pantheon Media Group in the United States. Our brand’s business model based on a global multi-channel approach has great potential for development on other markets too, combining authoritative content with strategic use of data for positioning that really makes us stand out,” emphasised Daniela Sola, International Business Managing Director for Mondadori Media.

“It’s a great honour to receive this award. I’m very proud of the work the editorial staff of Grazia USA has done, leading to creation of an outstanding product that meets the requirements of both readers and advertisers. We’re lucky to have our partners’ support conveying quality content about fashion, luxury, entertainment and much more to over 400,000 certified readers and millions of site visitors every month,” said Brendan Monaghan, Chief Global Brands Officer and Executive Vice-President of the Pantheon Media Group.

Grazia is the first 100% Italian fashion magazine to have exported its successful formula all over the world, from Italy to the United States. The Mondadori Group brand, which now has a total of 21 editions in 23 countries, reaches a global audience of 15 million readers and 45 million unique visitors, with more than 30 million followers on social media.

Icon, the Mondadori Group’s men’s fashion and lifestyle brand, ushers in the year 2022 with a celebration of Italian talent and style in a special issue available at news-stands starting tomorrow, focusing on the excellence that makes Italy unique.

“We call our first issue of 2022 “È stile italiano” (“That’s Italian style”) to pay tribute to the talented people we believe best represent Italy. All these artists are “made in Italy”, an expression that has, over the past few decades, come to stand for truly excellent products and outstanding people, whose stories we will be telling on the pages of Icon, explaining how they became icons of our unique and inimitable Italian identity. Inimitable, because everything that is made in Italy stands out not only for its style, but for the designer’s culture and approach to design. In short, it’s our culture that makes us unique! This is why the world continues to be amazed and fascinated by everything ‘made in Italy’. It’s the perfect cover for our country,” comments Andrea Tenerani, editor-in-chief of Icon.

Six faces will be featured in the January issue’s cover stories: world champion gymnast Nicola Bartolini; tennis player Matteo Berrettini, the first Italian to qualify for the finals at Wimbledon; rapper Blanco, a phenomenal success in Italian music today; two new faces in Italian film, Giuseppe Maggio and Lorenzo Zurzolo, and world superstar Laura Pausini, whom editor-in-chief Andrea Tenerani himself chose for the cover of Icon.

The first Italian to win a Grammy, a Golden Globe, four Latin Grammies and an Oscar nomination, Laura Pausini bares her soul in her interview with Icon. The star’s lifestyle is tempered by the down-to-earth attitude typical of the people of her region, Romagna: “When I travel alone, I always ask for the smallest room in the hotel, because being alone in a big room makes me anxious. The global head of Warner Brothers once told me I was the only singer to record for the company who had never used a hotel minibar!” She talks about her family and her idols, such as Sophia Loren: “I want to be as serious, concentrated, dedicated, and disciplined as I believe she is.” She has a comment about the Italian rock group Måneskin: “Everything they do makes a splash in Italy, and I’m happy for them. I used to do the same kind of thing, but in those days there were no social networks, so nobody knew what I was up to!”

The January issue of Icon also features great Italian stylists and entrepreneurs such as Armani, discussing his ties with the world of film; Brunello Cucinelli, and his idea of business; and Andrea della Valle, with his winning combination of heritage and innovation. The Destination Future section focuses on stories of Italian know-how, both famous and unknown: from the mystery of Stradivarius violins to the rediscovery of visionary stylist Rosa Genoni, as well as world-renowned artists and musicians, films, indie magazines and much more. Lastly, in the Voices section, authors like Stefano Bartezzaghi and Nadeesha Uyangoda talk about how they see Italy.

The magazine, website and social networks dedicate plenty of space to men’s passions at the start of 2022, from beauty to beverages and from travel to automobiles, presenting plenty of news and sneak previews. In the month of July, this content will be further expanded with the return to the news-stand of Icon Wheels, a special issue of Icon concerned entirely with cars and motorbikes, showcasing the most iconic and desirable models.

This celebration of the people who have made Italy an example of excellence that stands out all over the world will culminate on the catwalks of Pitti Immagine Uomo with the exclusive event “È stile italiano” – “That’s Italian style”, organised by Icon. This very special evening will bring together some of the most prominent people in the fashion industry at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence on Monday, January 10, including Pitti Immagine CEO Raffaello Napoleone. The honoured guest of the evening will be violinist Charlie Siem, offering a truly outstanding performance.

To provide additional visibility for this showcase of all-Italian faces, traditions and excellence, during the fair dates Icon will also be distributed at Milano Centrale and Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway stations. The first of the 8 issues of the magazine to be published in 2022 will also enjoy the support of a communication campaign via digital out-of-home advertising circuits.

Mondadori Media, Italy’s leading multimedia publisher with 55.5 million fans on social networks, has signed a partnership with Twitter to join the Twitter Amplify program, which allows the possibility to amplify and promote video contents on the platform, reaching an even wider audience.

The agreement involves the Twitter accounts of the Mondadori Media brands Giallozafferano, MyPersonalTrainer, TheWom, Smartworld, Focus, NostroFiglio and Studenti, which are real points of reference in vertical segments linked to the passions of Italians – from cooking to wellness, from technology to science and training – with 1.6 million followers overall.

The partnership highlights the strength of Mondadori Media, chosen as an important partner to get in touch with valuable audiences through innovative content, relying on consolidated know-how in the production of videos for social media: an area in which Mondadori Media has already strong experience and leadership, thanks to an internal team dedicated to the co-production of editorial content with partner brands and successful special projects.

Thanks to this agreement, Mondadori Media and Twitter will offer partner companies the possibility of inserting pre-roll advertising videos, before the contents published by the Mondadori Media brands.

Mondadori Media will further expand the development of branded content social projects and initiatives on Twitter. This will extend the opportunities for companies and investors interested in reaching new audiences based on their needs and in an authoritative, transparent and highly interactive context thanks to the involvement of the Mondadori Media brand communities, making advertising communication ever more effective.

Giallozafferano, the leading food media brand in Italy, continues to grow on social media, with a global fanbase that has now topped 35 million thanks to the acquisition of the Foodqood profiles.

Created by chef Khalid El Mahi, Foodqood is the world’s fourth largest cookery profile on TikTok by number of fans, and the top profile in Italy.
In little more than a year, Foodqood, which is also on Instagram, has accumulated more than 13 million followers, with an increase of 1 million fans in the last 30 days, attracted by short dynamic videos that have gone viral in Italy and around the world, with each one attracting an average of more than 6 million views.

Its success is due to the talent of its young creator, El Mahi, 37 years old, head chef at the Das Badl restaurant in Trentino – Alto Adige. The rapid growth of Foodqood’s social profiles is driven in particular by its fast and easy Italian and international recipes, illustrated in short dynamic videos, which are also available in English.

The acquisition has given a decisive boost to Giallozafferano’s position on TikTok and its international expansion. 

Giallozafferano was the first Italian food media brand to target TikTok – where it now has more than 2 million fans on three profiles – as a fundamental move to reach the new generations, experiment with new styles and collaborate with the top emerging talents in Italian cooking.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the year, Giallozafferano successfully launched its international English-language version as a website and on social media, where today the brand has a community of more than 5 million fans on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

«We are delighted to expand and diversify our social media presence with the acquisition of a hugely successful international young profile. The Instagram and TikTok profiles of Foodqood, which from today will be called GZ Foodqood, mean we can count on an overall fanbase on a par with the top world players,» said Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media. «Furthermore, our strategic collaboration with young chef Khalid enables us to continue our on-going productive experimentation with new styles, with the focus increasingly on video shorts, a format that already lets us reach 150 million video views a month on social media. The purchase also strengthens our positioning as a Food Talent Factory. Giallozafferano believes in creators as an important ingredient to deliver fresh content and engage Millennials and Generation Z. This is why today Giallozafferano collaborates on a stable basis with over 50 of Italy’s best and most original food creators,» Santagata added.

With its latest acquisition, Giallozafferano continues to attract and select the most exciting talents on the web, a process that began in 2011 when it created the largest Italian food blogging community, attracting growing numbers of top chefs, influencers and creators.

This also enhances branded content opportunities for commercial partners, who, through the Mediamond space concessionaire, can target new audiences with innovative publishing formats, using the factory content of Giallozafferano and the unique team of food creators who work with the brand.

Christmas is a time for music and solidarity with Sorrisi Live – Un sorriso per Natale, the exclusive digital concert TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, the entertainment world’s landmark brand, will present this evening, Wednesday 22 December, so that readers, followers, and fans can enjoy the festive atmosphere together with the top names in Italy’s recording industry.

Following 2020’s great success, the event this year will see the participation of 9 of today’s most popular young artists, ready to offer special good wishes to all their fans from 7pm on the website and on the magazine’s Instagram and Facebook channels.

The artists performing on the Sorrisi Live stage will be Gaia, Francesca Michielin, Federico Rossi, The Kolors, Arisa, Deddy, Emma Muscat and Rocco Hunt, while one of the big names from last year’s concert, Francesco Gabbani, will be making a return appearance.

Hugely talented musicians and singer-songwriters, who will lead the Sorrisi audience into the warm and familiar Christmas mood with an exclusive acoustic version of songs from their personal repertoires.

A playlist of the voices most admired by the young generation, who will give the concert even greater appeal thanks to their popularity on the social networks, engaging an even larger audience and demonstrating the privileged relationship that has always existed between Italy’s best-selling weekly magazine and artists of every generation.

The concert – which can be watched and re-watched on Sorrisi.com and the magazine’s social profiles – will be presented by Gabriele Corsi, with the participation of the event’s host, Aldo Vitali, editor-in-chief of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni.

«This year once again we have the pleasure of offering our readers and social media followers a unique and special Christmas concert, with leading artistes who responded enthusiastically to our invitation and whom I thank most warmly. I’m especially grateful to them because the concert allows us to help many unfortunate children through the Dottor Sorriso Foundation,» said Aldo Vitali.

The concert will indeed provide an opportunity to offer a smile to the families who will be spending the festivities in hospital wards, thanks to the support Sorrisi has decided to give to the Dottor Sorriso Foundation. The foundation has been working in hospitals across Italy for more than 25 years, promoting the Smile Therapy to brighten small patients’ stay in hospital and help them cope with their illness with renewed optimism.

«For the second year, I have the honour and pleasure of joining the editor of Sorrisi to present the Christmas concert. This is turning into a wonderful tradition which, hopefully, we shall soon be able to hold live, » said Gabriele Corsi. «On television, on radio, at events, I always try to get people smiling. So what better occasion, as we celebrate Christmas, than the Sorrisi concert in collaboration with our friends from Dottor Sorriso?»

With the Sorrisi Live – Un sorriso per Natale concert, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni confirms its standing as a constantly evolving brand with the power to bring together artistes and entertainers, a public of 5.7 million readers and users a month (source: Nielsen Media Impact Data fusion, May 2021) and a community of 950,000 fans on the social networks (source: Shareablee e Insight, October 2021), thanks to an editorial offer comprising the magazine, the website, social media and events.

Click here for information on how to make a donation to the Dottor Sorriso Foundation project.