Media

Gilda Bojardi, editor of INTERNI, the Mondadori Group’s interiors and contemporary design magazine, was today awarded the Compasso d’Oro prize for her career Carriera as part of the XXVI Compasso d’Oro ADI. This prestigious design award was first given in 1954 and based on an idea by Gio Ponti with the aim of enhancing and supporting Italy’s rich creativity.

Gilda Bojardi was recognised by the jury as an undisputed protagonist in the culture of Italian design, “a solid point of reference for information about the ever-expanding world of design, able to anticipate complex phenomena with an approach to the contemporary that is never banal or ideological along with a critical position that is as constructive as it is original. She has also been able to interpret transformations in the publishing sector and made a fundamental contribution to the creation of ways of popularising and expanding the audience, also through events, which thanks to her vision have become international in scale.”

Under her leadership, the Mondadori Group magazine has become an authentic point of reference in design and thanks to her creative energy has developed a system of parallel publications that have transformed the title from a monthly magazine into a brand able to create events, starting the FuoriSalone in Milan, and other initiatives, also abroad.

“I have to express my great thanks for all of the encounters, both chance and sought after, that life has given me,” said Gilda Bojardi,  “and to all those people that I have had the possibility to get to know much better in my working life and who have enriched and stimulated me in the discovery, as a lawyer manqué, of the wonderful world of design and architecture, and satisfying more than generously my curiosity.”

In fact, she is a qualified lawyer, with a degree in law from the University of Milan. Her professional relationship with INTERNI began in 1980, and in 1990 she was made editor of the ‘Annual’ monographs published as supplements to the magazine and became editor of the monthly in 1994. She conceived the FuoriSalone, began as an experiment in 1990, the Design Week that now animates the city of Milan every year in the month of April with a wide range of events. For her commitment to the spread – both nationally and internationally – of the culture of design she has already received a number of prestigious awards, including: Officier des Arts et des Lettres (French Ministry of Culture – 2006); Ambrogino d’oro (City of Milan – 2007); 1° Prix Designer’s Day (Paris – 2008); Premio ITA Italian Talent Award (Italian Chamber of Deputies, Rome – 2014). She has also been the Ambassador of Italian Design for the “Italian Design Day” in March 2017 in Mexico City, and in March 2018 and 2019 in Madrid. In October 2019 she received the Medalla Anáhuac en Diseño 2019 during the international conference “Diseñar para la Humanidad” in Mexico City.

The award was given this morning in preview at the headquarters of the ADI which hosts the new ADI Design Museum-Compasso d’Oro. The museum, which will open in December, is in the former industrial area of via Ceresio 7, and will feature a permanent exhibition “Mettere Radici” with prize-winning design objects from1954 to the present.

Icon, the Mondadori Group male lifestyle brand, has dedicated the latest issue of the magazine to restarting, from the world of cinema to fashion, two of the sectors that symbolise the rebirth of the country’s system.

A special issue, with over 264 pages of di stories, exclusive interviews and features that the editor Andrea Tenerani has entitled Starring: “Being protagonists, which doesn’t necessarily mean being celebrated, but rather going where things are happening, becoming – at least partly – masters of one’s own destiny, transforming dreams into projects.”

Icon will be presented at the Venice International Film Festival with an exclusive event organised by the brand, in collaboration with Bulgari: a reserved Gala Cocktail, to be prudent, at the splendid location of the Aman hotel, the sumptuous rooms of which will welcome guests in a unique context characterised by frescoes by Tiepolo and rococo works of art.
The protagonist of the event will be the actor Alessandro Borghi, a much-loved face to whom Icon has dedicated the cover of the new issue.
Also taken part in the event will be the photographer Max Vadukul, who shot the cover for Icon, and is known around the world for his unique work, able to transform reality into art. 

In an exclusive interview for the magazine, on newsstands from Wednesday 16 September, Borghi talks about himself in the round: his origins, in Rome, his early life, gratitude, and commitment. But also: friendships, the roles he has played, the actors’ craft, and a possible future far from the cinema. “The age component doesn’t worry me, I’m sure that at a certain point I will cease to be fascinated by this kind of work, and it with me. I’m in favour of generational change, and I know that to make space for someone else, a place needs to be vacated. I’m not concerned about having to invent a different kind of life,” the actor reveals in the interview.

At the heart of the issue, as well as cinema, is fashion, with a detailed look at the world of boutiques and retail in general in this particular historical moment: plus a special feature inside the magazine called “New shop experience” with a survey on how shops are changing, how they are getting going again and how customers’ shopping experience will change in the future.

Naturally, there are also interviews with celebrated individuals, including an icon of boxing, Mike Tyson, who tells Icon that he is preparing to return to the ring: “I’ll be back in the ring for a good cause. I haven’t done it for years, but I’ll be ready, and I can’t wait.”

The content of the September issue also features a homage, created for the magazine by the extraordinary photographer Bruce Weber, to John Lewis, the Afro-American civil rights activist who died in July.

Lessons? Better in the classroom. 57% of students want to go back to the classroom: this is what emerges from a survey conducted by Studenti.it involving some 18,150 1^st and 2^nd level high school students and aimed at finding out what they think, how they are experiencing the current situation if and how their habit will change. In fact, for those interviewed they miss contact with both classmates and teachers and there is a great desire for a return to normality.66% even think that online classes and damaging because of connectivity issues and inadequate tools that have hindered effective interaction between students and teachers.

The end of the 2019-2020 school year was anomalous: only 30% of those interviewed told Studenti.it that there were students who had failed the year or had to do re-sits. There does not appear to have been big gaps and a need for recoups, given that just 38% of students organised revision lessons. In the 2018-2019 school year, on the other hand, all schools organised revision courses, having faced 21% of students required to re-sit in September and 6.8% who failed the year.

Regarding single study chairs on wheels, for most kids (86%) in the Studenti.it survey, they are likely to be used inappropriately by students and therefore create additional problems. For the remaining 14%, meanwhile, they are seen as a good solution that can guarantee adequate distancing.

The majority of kids, finally, don’t want to change their habits to get to school. According to the Studenti.it survey, 23% would find an alternative method of getting around compared to the  pre-Covid period, while 77% would continue to use the same means of transport to get to school: of these 40% would use public transport, 32% would move by car, 18% would go to school on foot, 4% by motorcycle, and 6% by bicycle of scooter.

Studenti.it has continued to be constantly on the side of students during all phases of the school year in lockdown, increasing its offer with thousands of items of free content, from video lessons with study tips, to live social media events with experts and YouTubers and the “Te lo spiega Studenti” podcasts, a new way of exploiting notes online. In the first six months of the year, the  Mondadori Group brand recorded a 30% increase in traffic on its site compared with the previous year (Source: Google Analytics, average March-April-May), reaching, in April, a month of total lockdown, 5 million unique users, +34% compared with April 2019 (Source: Total Audience April 2020), and YouTube views that were up by 50% compared with the same period of the previous year.

What will it be like going back to classes? 83.7% of the students who responded to a Studenti.it, survey say that they are concerned. In fact, of these, 41% think that everything will be more complicated in September while the remaining 42.7% are uncertain what will happen.

The biggest concern is about the health aspect: 45% wonder whether it will be safe to return to school, while a small percentage (8%) is worried that they will not be able to catch up with the syllabus. For  30% of those interviewd by Studenti.it lessons should have started up again before 14 September, in order to recoup what has been lost during the health emergency.

On the side of Italian students for more than 20 years, Studenti.it is preparing to go back to school and accompany kids as they make their return also by responding to their most frequent questions: How will we re-start? How will entrance tests be managed? How will we get to school and how will our habits have to change? Up-to-date editorial coverage will be available on the site, with a back to school special, everything new in the school calendar, as well as advice and suggestions for the choosing a university, with dedicated formats such as the new orientation podcasts and the Facebook group for the medical school entrance test. There will, of course, also be weekly surveys to have a picture of what students are feeling and their expectations for lessons, plus a new schedule of live social media events “Tg Scuola“.

During the health emergency, with lesson suspended across the whole of Italy, digital became essential for students, teachers and parents. In response, Studenti.it increased and expanded its offer with an enormous quantity of free content and constantly available didactic resources, such as video lessons with study tips, a series of  podcasts “Studenti Explains”, a new way of exploiting online notes that reached  100,000 listeners per month and live social events with experts and YouTubers.

All of which has led – for the Mondadori Brand – to a  30% increase in the site’s traffic compared with last year (Source: Google Analytics, average March-April-May), arriving, in the month of April, a month of total lockdown, to 5 million unique users, +34% compared with April 2019 (Source: Total Audience April 2020), and an increase of 50% in views on the YouTube channel compared with the same period of last year.

Donna Moderna will be on newsstands this week in a special edition entitled Talento Italiano (Italian Talent). In fact, the Mondadori Group magazine edited by Annalisa Monfreda has decided to support Made in Italy: buy Italian, travel in Italy, but also get to know our country’s big little stories of tradition and innovation as a new form of solidarity to offer concrete help to the country.

“In these strange times, marked by the health emergency, we have started to look more closely at what surrounds us,” explained the editor Annalisa Monfreda. “And we have discovered stories, flavours and colours in our neighbourhoods and cities. We have remembered that Italy is an exceptional country where you can travel for years without ever having to take the same road, where you can taste the outstanding food and wine of every province and find products that have become cults across the world. With this issue we want to celebrate the inexhaustible creativity of a country that derives its nourishment from its history to project itself into the future.”

The magazine

Each section of the special issue of Donna Moderna looks at a different aspect of Made in Italy. Starting from the “donne moderne” (modern women) of the week, three virtuous examples of female entrepreneurship: Maria Flora Monini, director of Comunicazione Monini, Carlotta Bevilacqua, CEO of Artemide, and Daniela Galetti, head of the management of supercomputer systems at the Consorzio Interuniversitario Cineca. Meanwhile, 9 women who symbolise Italian genius pose for an exceptional fashion feature, wearing only clothes and accessories of Italian brands. They include: Anna Fiscale, President and Founder of QUID, Viviana Varese, starred chef from the restaurant Viva,  Antonella Bondi, creator of perfumes, Tiziana Aranzulla, one of the world’s top ten  cardiologists, Carolina Vergnano, CEO of Vergnano, Vania Zoppé, ‘woodswoman’ and TV presenter, Grazia Di Franco, bar lady, Roberta Simone, producer of video clips, and Michela Cambiaghi, Serie A footballer of Sassuolo. In beauty, the feature Baci da…Cartoline dall’Italia, (Wish you were here… Postcards from Italy) presents beauty products that recall the colours and smells of 5 summer destinations, including Stromboli, Porto Cervo, Capri and Taormina. Then, of course, there are columns dedicated to cooking and the excellence of Italian food and wine with six female chefs who reinterpret some typical recipes. Then there is a section entitled La bella Italia dell’estate 2020 (Beautiful Italy in Summer 2020) with many suggestions of places to spend the holidays: from Liguria to Tuscany, from the South Tirol to Veneto and Umbria, as well as cruises in the Mediterranean. But we also talk about trends and lifestyle in furniture, Italian design icons that give our homes character and reinvented classics that have typified our way of living. Plus, there is a special survey on the Italian Silicon Valleys – with everything that is new in super-tech Made in Italy and technological hubs that are unique in the world – e and our universities that are climbing up the most prestigious international rankings thanks to the Polytechnics (of Milan and Turin), departments of outstanding excellence, the quality of research as well as the appreciation of our graduates by employers. The special issue ends with DM Like, a selection of small stories of innovation from around the country.

#talentoitaliano

The issue’s storytelling continues also online: on the web site and on social media there are the interviews with the three ‘modern women’ of the week, video stories on travel and beauty products, suggestions from the six chefs about the mistakes not to make in the kitchen, while the nine models from the fashion feature take part in a #talentoitaliano challenge and reveal the adjectives which for them best represent Italy.

“Talento Italiano is just the first of three special issues of Donna Moderna, in a project that will continue in the autumn,” announced Andrea Santagata, General Manager of Mondadori Media. “An innovative way of doing the magazine that confirms the brand’s extraordinary capacity, as a point of reference in the women’s segment, to reach its audience with complete, circular and multi-channel communication.”

“We are extremely pleased with this idea, because the Talento Italiano initiative by Donna Moderna, in addition to the important editorial value that it offers, is also a great opportunity for many companies from around the country who have shown great interest and participation in the project,” commented Davide Mondo, chief executive of Mediamond. In fact, the advertising sales for this issue have seen a 40% increase compared with a similar initiative last year, with over 60 adv. pages and numerous special productions on digital and social media, online from tomorrow, Thursday 9 July.

Thanks to its unique mix of practical advice, first-hand testimony and live daily coverage, Donna Moderna is always at the side of its readers and their needs, reaching a total audience (magazine and web) o 14 million net users each month (media impact data fusion December 2019 on Audiweb and Audipress figures), to which should be added over 2 million fans on social media with 1.4 million interactions per month (Source: Sensemakers May 2020).

What will holidays be like for Italians post Covid-19? The answers can be found in a survey conducted by the travel site Zingarate in a snapshot of how and where we have decided to spend the coming summer months.

The Mondadori Group’s digital magazine dedicated to “smart travelling” is the leader in the travel sector with a monthly average of 1.6 million unique users (Source: Audiweb) and also has the biggest travel community on social media, with an overall total of 1.5 million followers between Facebook and Instagram.

The Zingarate survey, in which some 1,500 users participated, shows that despite the health emergency, 61% of Italians will certainly take a holiday. Around 30% are optimistic, while 9% will certainly stay at home either for fear of infection of financial difficulties.

While the majority of the sample (64%), will leave only if they can secure good deals, 29% will not have a  budget limit because “the important thing is to get away!”.

Only a few (8%) will make use of the holiday bonus made available by the government: 43% of Italians would like to take advantage of this, but they don’t know what the rules are and the remaining 49% will not be able to use it because they don’t qualify.

Holidays in 2020 will be short (in fact, 47% will not take more than a week) and the destinations will be in Italy: the majority will go to other regions of the peninsula (47%),  6% will stay in their own region, and another 6% will go abroad, while 41%, respecting the rules, say they would go anywhere. The most popular destination this year is Sicily (16%), followed by Puglia (12%), Tuscany (11%) and Sardinia (11%).

But what are holidaymakers looking for in 2020? For over 56% of Italians nature and relaxation are the answers given to Zingarate, while 20% said they would prefer heritage cities and cultural activities. Around 16% are looking for beaches and fun, while 7% want to eat and drink well. For the remaining 1% the holidays will be an opportunity to make new friends.

Finally, organisation. Some 80% of the sample will plan their holidays on their own, but there are also those who will take advantage of online packages (14%) or make use of a travel agent (6%). Hotels are the most popular form of accommodation, chosen by 36% of the sample. This is followed by holiday homes (28%), B&B and hostels (23%), camping and campers (10%), while the remaining 3% of Italians will stay with friends. Most Italians (62%) declared that this year they will use their own vehicle, car or motorcycle, while 32% will go by train and/or plane, 4% will travel with a camper van and 2% claim they will spend their holiday on a bicycle.

Zingarate rediscovers Italy and Europe with alternative itineraries to the traditional tourist routes, small towns, castles and fortified villages, with hiking, trekking and cycling routes, as well as low cost weekend suggestions. Special care has always been given to engaging, original, high-quality videos featuring some of the most beautiful places in the country and to Europe’s great capitals. The summer special provides all the rule for going to the beach and the seaside post Covid-19.

Even more Italy from McDonald’s: again this year, all restaurants will serve McChicken Variations, sandwiches with 100% Italian chicken breast the result of the combined experience of Italian cooking of GialloZafferano and the unmistakeable taste of McDonald’s.

From today, in all 600 of McDonald’s restaurants in Italy two new sandwiches will be available, in addition to the original classic McChicken recipe. L’Audace, with smoked scamorza cheese, made from 100% Italian milk, grilled and sliced Italian pepper and a sauce with onions and Modena IGP Balsamic Vinegar; Il Goloso, with 100% Italian bacon and a delicious yellow tomato sauce.

The two new recipes, jointly created by GialloZafferano and McDonald’s, are a confirmation of the latter’s role as a partner of the Italian agri-food sector. In fact, to produce the recipes, the company has bought from Italian suppliers  28 tonnes of peppers, 17 tonnes of yellow tomatoes, 17 tonnes of smoked scamorza cheese – from a total of 1.7 million litres of Italian milk -, 44 tonnes of Italian bacon, 2 tonnes of Modena IGP balsamic vinegar and 170 tonnes of Italian chicken breast.

“In 2019 we decided to launch this new project with the support of a partner of the standing of GialloZafferano, which every day enters the homes of millions of Italians to teach them some of the best recipes from around the country. This challenge was well received by consumers and in just 10 weeks over 8 million customers chose the sandwiches that were created by our partnership,” declared Mario Federico, chief executive of McDonald’s Italia. “This is why we are today announcing the second part of the projects, with two new recipes featuring even more of Italy.”

“The fantastic response we received from over 8 million users and consumers was for us proof of the successful formula that underlies this partnership that began last year. We are renewing it now with even more enthusiasm, being able to count on the fundamental values that unite us to a partner of excellence like McDonald’s: innovation, in which GialloZafferano has long been a pioneer and precursor in the food sector, constant attention to the enhancement of taste and the Italian territory, a passion for quality ingredients, which we share every day with our community through the faces and the chefs of  GialloZafferano. In addition, for us, this project is a perfect example of our model of a social multimedia company: strong and much-loved brands, such as GialloZafferano, able to capture the passions and interests of users, creating communities of individuals to whom they can propose unique content, products and experiences,” declared Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media.

“The project has evolved from a traditional advertising approach to embrace in a range of branded content contexts. At Mediamond, we are delighted that McDonald’s has recognised the value of an approach able to address the launch of a product with editorial models that are fun and able to engage both the audience and conversions,” declared Davide Mondo, chief executive of Mediamond.

To mark the launch, the new McChicken Variations will also be the protagonists of a live event on social media that will take place today at 5 pm on the Facebook and YouTube profiles of GialloZafferano.

Manuel and Giovanni, well-known faces from the site, will share with the community of food lovers the unique ingredients of these new recipes, to sample and recreate, bringing the McDonald’s kitchen to Italian homes.

The selection of top-quality products for the new McChicken Variations also underpins a storytelling project developed by the GialloZafferano team which, on board an Apecar, will accompany users on a tour of McDonald’s factories, to discover the excellence of 100% Italian food products.

Icon will be on newsstands from tomorrow with a special feature “A love letter from the fashion community to the World“: over eighty pages by the leading creatives from the world’s top brands, produced exclusively for the community of readers of the Mondadori Group’s magazine of fashion and lifestyle.

With this special issue, Icon wants to give voice to an Italy that is looking to the future beyond its borders and as a fundamental medium for companies that want to strengthen their presence both nationally and internationally.

“We are in the middle of something of epochal significance, also for the fashion sector, a profound crisis to which only a special response will do,” declared the editor of Icon Andrea Tenerani. “I am convinced that the Italian fashion system has both the characteristics and the capacity to the savoir faire of the retail chain and the quality of its raw materials. For now, it is important to look to the future keeping in mind what made us great in the past.”

The June cover story is dedicated to Charles Leclerc – the Ferrari F1 driver, with an exclusive portrait by the photographer John Balsom – who talks to Icon in a special three-way conversatione with Giorgio Armani and the magazine. A discussion that takes in how the world is changing, the young, cars, the future of style and Made in Italy and the concept of timeless elegance as it encounters new generations.

It’s time for Italian fashion companies to get going again: Icon dedicates a thirty-page report to new products and successful strategies, from the productive chain to retail, with a look at innovation and sustainability.

For lovers of cars, Icon Wheels makes a return, with 16 pages featuring the most exclusive new proposals from the world of cars and motorcycles, with previews, interviews with the protagonists and the most iconic and desirable models.

The Icon Instagram channel  Icon  has successfully launched Icon Play Live hosted by Andrea Tenerani: a cycle of live events on social media that has featured guests such as the actor Brenno Placido and the leader of Negramaro Giuliano Sangiorgi, with the extraordinary participation of  Saturnino.