AudiolibriAlBuio was a very special event, a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of universal and inclusive access to culture and reading thanks to the potential of audiobooks.
The event took place on Monday, September 23, at the Institute of the Blind in Milan, in two parts: a moment of discussion on the world of audiobooks, with some professionals in the field, and an intense listening experience offered by the Foundation: the sensory exhibition path “Dialogue in the Dark.”
The talk, moderated by author podcaster and storyteller Alessandro Barbaglia, was introduced by Francesca Rigolio, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Mondadori Group, and Cinzia Cavalieri, guide of “Dialogue in the Dark.”
Guests included audiobook readers Chiara Anicito and Martina Levato and radio host Linus, who offered the audience some live readings to bring the emotional experience of audio storytelling to life, up close. An immersive journey in which listening became the absolute protagonist.
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Mondadori Libri has signed with Josephine Calasso reciprocal options to buy and sell a 10% stake in Adelphi Edizioni, exercisable from May 2027.
This is an operation that leverages “the fully shared vision, which finds in the identity of the catalog, autonomy and independence of editorial choices the essential pillars of the development of a large and historic publishing house, in total coherence with our philosophy for which each individual publishing reality is incentivized to preserve its identity and its distinctive and peculiar characters,” stressed Antonio Porro, chief executive officer of the Mondadori Group.
The Mondadori Group has signed a binding offer to acquire 51% of the company that manages the intellectual property rights and image of Benedetta Rossi and her brand ‘Fatto in casa da Benedetta’. Benedetta Rossi is Italy’s best-known creator in the food & cooking sector. Her activities range from the digital sphere – where she has a total social fan base of over 17 million followers and 4 million unique monthly users of her website (Audiweb, May 2024) – to traditional media, in particular TV, where she has been the star of various TV programmes dedicated to cooking for years. Benedetta Rossi is also our most important cookbook author in recent years: from 2016 to 2023 she published 9 books that sold a total of more than 1.5 million copies. With this operation Mondadori Media aims to become, through the coordinated and synergic management of the activities linked to the Fatto in casa da Benedetta and GialloZafferano brands, the undisputed leading multimedia player in the food & cooking sector.
We would like to introduce you to the Mondadori Group’s property, purchasing and general services team. Every day, Chiara Capuzzi’s colleagues support the work of every employee and collaborator by overseeing the services provided by all our offices.
Specifically, the Real Estate team looks after all aspects of our offices in terms of layout, equipment and maintenance. They are responsible for coordinating the recent renovation and refurbishment of the Niemeyer Palace premises.
The Purchasing team procures and negotiates the goods and services that are essential to the functioning of each area: from the diverse world of marketing and advertising, to building services and essential IT equipment, and takes great care in selecting suppliers.
Finally, the entire General Services team actively manages the activities and services that support our daily work, such as mail, canteen, shuttles, security, cleaning, switchboard and travel agency. They are known for their helpfulness and experience in responding to the many requests of Mondadori Group employees and collaborators on a daily basis.
Pictured from left to right:
Introducing the Mondadori Group Legal Department.
Led by Sara Rizzon, the team’s mission is to support our businesses and corporate functions in all legal matters: from copyright to privacy, from contracts to litigation.
With a cross-functional perspective, our Legal Affairs colleagues provide coordinated and consistent support to all areas of the business.
Among their broader projects, they are currently involved in initiatives related to artificial intelligence, with the aim of enforcing copyright in the digital sphere and defining rules for the use of AI within the company.
Pictured from left: Fabiana Tagliaferri, Marco Aliverti, Sabrina Ciccolo, Sara Rizzon, Simone Noziglia, Francesca De Licio and Maria Pia Di Leo.
PLAI Accelerator, the Mondadori Group’s startup accelerator that aims to transform ideas based on the exploitation of Artificial Intelligence into successful entrepreneurial realities, is born. PLAI will offer them a distinctive field of application and an industrial outlet both within the publishing house and with the initiative’s partners.
What are the objectives of PLAI?
– To create a technology hub where we can identify innovative initiatives related to the sectors in which we operate: publishing, education, retail, media and advertising.
– To position ourselves at the centre of the AI revolution, becoming the core of a national and international community of innovators.
– Create industrial value and competitive advantage through targeted investments in AI start-ups.
PLAI will operate in the pre-seed and seed stages by selecting, for each annual cycle, 10 Italian and international start-ups in which to invest. The total financial commitment is approximately EUR 6 million for the three-year period 2024-2026.
In addition to capital, start-ups will be provided with concrete AI application areas, training and mentorship courses, and networking events. All this is also thanks to important Italian and international collaborations: Startupbootcamp, I3P – Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico Torino, Amazon Web Services (AWS), PwC Italy, Multiversity Group, GroupM, Codemotion and Datapizza.
We are delighted that our Mondadori and Rizzoli publishing houses have each won an award in seven categories at the first edition of the TikTok Book Awards, the initiative that celebrates TikTok’s connection with the world of books and culture. For the first time, the BookTok phenomenon – born in the United States from the trending hashtag for funny and creative reading advice videos, which soon went viral all over the world, including Italy – received official recognition at the Turin International Book Fair, where the community was able to vote on the app to choose their favourite books, authors, creators and publishers who have made the Italian book ecosystem on TikTok unique. Mondadori won in the Publishing House of the Year category. Rizzoli won Book of the Year with ‘A Good Girl is a Dead Girl’ by Holly Jackson. Our publishing brands have once again proven to be the driving force behind publishing innovation on social networks. Mondadori is also the indirect winner for the Netflix series “Tutto chiede salvezza”, the best TV series adaptation of the novel of the same name by Daniele Mencarelli. Congratulations also to Sperling & Kupfer, finalists in the Revival of the Year and Romance of the Year categories.
The Shareholders’ Meeting today appointed our new Board of Directors, which will remain in office for three years, until the approval of the 2026 budget, and will be chaired by Marina Berlusconi.
At its first meeting following the AGM, the Board appointed Antonio Porro as CEO and General Manager of the Mondadori Group.
In addition to Chairman Marina Berlusconi and our CEO, the Board is made up of Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Alessandro Franzosi, Danilo Pellegrino, Elena Biffi, Francesco Currò, Cristina Rossello, Paola Elisabetta Galbiati, Marina Rubini, Riccardo Perotta and Pietro Bracco.
The Annual General Meeting also approved the payment of a dividend of 0.12 euros per ordinary share, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year.
The Mondadori Group is entering the webnovel market, the new frontier in editorial content creation, born in South Korea and rapidly expanding.
An agreement between Mondadori Libri and Bookrepublic, one of Italy’s leading providers of digital publishing services, has resulted in the creation of a start-up company with the aim of developing this new segment at European level.
Designed to be read on a smartphone screen, webnovels are a highly innovative form of serial fiction that is spreading and developing in Europe from the East to the United States. The operation will take concrete form with the launch of a dedicated app by the end of the year – to be called Narae – initially with content in Italian and French, but which will gradually extend its reach to other European countries.
In the photo, from left: Marco Ferrario, CEO of Bookrepublic, and Enrico Selva Coddè, CEO of Mondadori Libri.
Mondadori Retail presents the team of the new E-commerce department. The team, led by Veronica Gioia, Head of E-Commerce, will work with the utmost focus on the development of an online business strongly integrated with the bookstore network, confirming the strategic role of the online channel.
In the photo, from left: Daniela Graziano, Fabio Tiraboschi, Raffaella Mainardi, Stefano Balbi, Veronica Gioia, Gabriele Pasti, Sabrina Ciani, Silvia Balestreri.