Giallozafferano

The partnership between McDonald’s and Giallozafferano, Italy’s most popular food media brand, goes into its fourth year after burger sales topping 21 million: the original McChicken recipe is joined by Il Gustoso and L’Affumicato, two new Chicken Creations for exciting new taste experiences.

Available in all 640 McDonald’s restaurants in Italy until 30 August, the Chicken Creations are made with special top-quality ingredients sourced from our local supply chain, as well as 100% Italian chicken breast supplied by Amadori and bread produced in Italy by Bimbo. The flavourful Il Gustoso dresses the chicken with Italian red cabbage, Pecorino Romano DOP cheese & pepper sauce and Italian bacon; meanwhile L’Affumicato comes with smoked scamorza cheese made from Italian milk and grilled pepper sauce and will be available in a bun or as a McWrap.

The new recipes reaffirm and strengthen McDonald’s relations with and commitment to the Italian agri-food chain, from which every year it purchases more than 100,000 tonnes of raw materials worth almost 240 million euro. For the 2022 Chicken Creations alone, the company will use around 6 tonnes of Pecorino Romano DOP cheese, 630 tonnes of chicken, 74 tonnes of smoked scamorza and 61 tonnes of red cabbage.

The Chicken Creations were developed jointly by chefs from McDonald’s and the Giallozafferano brand, once again the prestigious partner on the initiative thanks to the strength of its community and ability to involve some of the most popular food creators on an innovative project that is spreading from social media to McDonald’s restaurants across Italy.

“We are excited to renew our collaboration with Giallozafferano, which this year once again has produced original new recipes to satisfy Italians’ love of tasty original food. We are very proud of this project because it reiterates the quality and flavours of our country’s ingredients,” said McDonald’s Italia CEO Dario Baroni. “Chicken is increasingly popular among our consumers, who recognise the quality and origin of the ingredients they find in our restaurants: this, in addition to the tasty recipes, is the reason for the success of a project where we tell everyone about the unique quality of ingredients Made in Italy.”

“Innovation, constant attention to the passions of our community and use of fine Italian ingredients: these are the values underpinning our four-year relationship with McDonald’s, a partner of excellence,” observed Mondadori Media General Manager Andrea Santagata. “We are delighted to continue a collaboration that combines one of McDonald’s most popular burgers with our brand’s creativity and experience. The project is even more innovative this year thanks to the involvement of our creators on the social channels, especially TikTok, where Giallozafferano can try out styles that appeal to young users, and so become a reference in the kitchen for them too,” added Santagata.

The protagonists of the project, starting with the campaign teasers, are the two brands’ web communities, who were invited to guess the ingredients and the names of the burgers.

The Foodqood creators, Daniele Rossi, Fernanda Nicotra, Chef Nerone and Rafael Nistor, each with their own style and communication approach, will deliver a series of exclusive social media content, replicating in their videos the recipes of the iconic McChicken and the new Chicken Creations — presented today during a special event hosted by Willwoosh, youtuber Guglielmo Scilla.

The Chicken Creations campaign and visibility plan were developed together with Brand On Solutions, the Mediamond project area, coordinated by OMD, and will be rolled out on all Giallozafferano digital channels, from the website, all social profiles – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok e YouTube – and the app, with McDonald’s drive-to-store and drive-to-app push notification.

Giallozafferano, the leading food media brand in Italy, is endorsing Italian cooking excellence with the launch – for the first time on the virtual market – of a series of NFT collectibles: fifteen digital works dedicated to the best known and most loved Italian recipes around the world.

An exclusive project – created in partnership with OMD Italy, media agency of the Omnicom Group, and developed together with ACTA Fintech, a consulting firm specialised in NFTs – which focussed on multiple objectives:

• Innovating: bringing the most authentic and representative recipes of the country’s culinary culture to the Metaverse.
• Protecting and spreading Made in Italy branding: selecting the best of its products and guaranteeing its authenticity via blockchain technology.
• Giving back: by supporting Banco Alimentare, a food bank providing food to the neediest.

For its first NFT collection, Giallozafferano has selected certain most globally iconic and well-known dishes in Italian cuisine, travelling from north to south Italy, and it has entrusted their preparation to the most well-established chefs on the national scene according to the authentic recipe, certified by a gastronomic committee made up of industry chefs and professionals.

“Giallozafferano has always been at the forefront in seizing innovations offered by the digital world and in promoting and making Italian cuisine available to everybody, in any form, along a path that is continuously evolving. We were born on the Web, creating the largest community of food bloggers in the country and we have created a fanbase of over 40 million followers around social media, becoming an international benchmark for food, and today we are home to the best food creators. Now, we’re taking the next leap forward landing on the Metaverse: an important project, which once again sees us engaged serving the authenticity and promoting great Italian cuisine around the world”, Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media, stated.

“As OMD, we believe that innovation and experimentation are the basis for staying abreast of change, a constant factor in the technological landscape. NFT and blockchain are important levers in the digital market and we believe it is essential to learn about them and use them correctly. As we have done with other schemes, the projects we implement need to be part of a wide-ranging strategy, which enhances use and mechanics. We believe that Italian culinary heritage lends itself beautifully to be immortalised and narrated using NFTs and, for this reason, we have contributed to this impressive project with Giallozafferano. The beneficial purpose of the initiative shows yet again how culture and innovation can impact the social sphere, raising public awareness and making a substantial impact also from an economic standpoint”, Giorgia Paloschi, Strategic Director of OMD Italy, commented.

The NFT collection
The first recipes of the Giallozafferano 15 NFT collection were prepared by exceptional chefs: Milanese Risotto by the multi-starred chef Alessandro Negrini; classic Tiramisu by Frau Knam and the special version by Ernst Knam; Naples-style Pizza by world champion Davide Civitiello and Carbonara sauce pasta by Luciano Monosilio, the chef who raised this dish to haute cuisine status.

Each dish was photographed by Marianna Santoni, an artist who is an international calling card in digital photography which was then converted to a limited edition NFT.

“Together with Giallozafferano, we’ve managed to combine certain cornerstones of our present times in a single project. Gastronomy, a flagship of our country and a pioneer all over the world, together with innovation, will open the Mondadori Group brand to the universe of non-fungible tokens, highlighting, yet again, the brand’s far-sighted approach with respect to emerging technologies. Being part of this project is a source of pride”, Gian Luca Comandini, Co-Founder of ACTA FinTech added.

Donation to the Milan-based Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo
The project was presented at a special event during which, Giallozafferano donated the first NFT for Saffron Risotto created by chef Alessandro Negrini to the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo.

The recipe will be kept for posterity in the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo Archive, which will receive a first non-fungible token, enriching the documentary heritage that the institution has generated and collected in over six hundred years of history since its foundation.

The Veneranda Fabbrica Archive is the diary of the city, active day after day since 1387, preserving infinite and precious treasures. Old documents, ledgers, projects for the Duomo cathedral, musical scores, and pictures dating back to the dawn of photography, as well as so much more.

Symbol of Milan, the Cathedral is also an exceptional place for the story that binds it to this gold-coloured spice: in fact, tradition has it that, to obtain the characteristic ochre yellow colour used for the stained-glass Cathedral windows, the master glassmakers used saffron. Next to the Cathedral of Milan scaffolding, the very particular and colourful recipe of the Milanese risotto is claimed to have been created centuries ago.

The project with Banco Alimentare food bank
For each recipe, 99 copies will be created, of which 98 will be available on the market through the Opensea platform at the price of 99 euros, contributing to the charitable work of Banco Alimentare.

“We’re happy to be the charity partners of this innovative all ‘digital’ project. We thank Giallozafferano for having decided to support our work in favour of those living in fragile conditions. Thanks to the valuable help given by attentive companies such as Giallozafferano, Banco Alimentare will be able to respond to thousands of requests for help received every day: these projects strengthen our alliance with the business world and we hope that this is just the first step of a long journey in the name of partnering and mutual esteem”, Giovanni Bruno, Chairman of the Banco Alimentare Foundation said.

Benefits reserved for holders of Giallozafferano NFTs
The first 4 NFTs will be available on and after 31 May. Buyers will receive a numbered token and certificate. Each NFT will give the holder the opportunity to view the exclusive recipe, correlated with an exhaustive description of its history, in Italian and English, and to participate in a special Virtual Masterclass, starting in September: a unique experience to learn about all the secrets of a perfect dish directly from the skilled hands of the person who created the recipe.

For each recipe 1 NFT Special Edition will also be autioned, at the starting price of 5,000 euros: the owner will be entitled to an exclusive showcooking session with the Chef that created the dish at the Giallozafferano studios and a private dinner for 4 people.

The iconic dishes that will enrich the Giallozafferano NFT Collection
Over this year, the NFT collection will be enriched by 11 other iconic recipes: orecchiette pasta with cime di rapa turnip tops by Fabio Abbattista, Genoese focaccia by Ezio Rocchi, eggplant parmigiana by Daniele Rossi, lasagna with meat sauce, amatriciana sauce, pesto basil sauce, arancini, breadcrumb fried rice balls with a savoury filling. In 2023, the collection will be further enriched with new recipes, continuing to showcase the variety of Italian cuisine and to better express the importance of Italian culinary culture on the global scene.

Giallozafferano is the food media brand of the Mondadori Group: it is a leader on the web, where it is the favourite cooking site of 1 out of 4 Italians, with 16 million unique users per month (source: Audiweb, March 2022), and the fourth largest cooking brand on social media, with a fanbase of over 40 million followers (source: Shareablee and Insight, May 2022). Thanks to its recipes that are within everyone’s grasp, whether novice or expert cook, it is available to people 24/7 on all channels: from the web to social media, even internationally, from apps to smart devices and including magazines and books and local area events up and down the country. Today, Giallozafferano is also home to the best food talents, to whom the first “GZ Creator Award” was dedicated, also becoming a benchmark for the young generations of cooking professionals.

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.

More than 15 million unique users a month on the web, a global fanbase of 35 million on social media, 200 million video views a month: with these numbers Giallozafferano is celebrating 2021 as a very successful year.

A success achieved thanks to a distinctive positioning, which saw Giallozafferano become thefirst food media brand to focus on TikTok and on creators. Today, it collaborates with a team of more than 50 of the best and most original food talents.

The Giallozafferano young talents were the protagonists of the “GZ Creator Award” event held yesterday in Milan: a special acknowledgment for the creators and bloggers who distinguished themselves during 2021 by engaging growing communities of foodlovers, and achieving record-breaking views and interaction, and helped to foster the growth of Giallozafferano with their talent and content.

«For Giallozafferano, the creators, each with their own specific identity, are an increasingly central element: as publishers, the decision to create a team with the top Italian cookery talents has enabled us to strengthen and innovate our content offer and at the same time given them the chance to grow together with us, with the support of a brand leader and the expertise of our team, in a mutual beneficial relationship,» said Mondadori Media general manager Andrea Santagata. «We are proud to have become the home of Italy’s top food talents and we have created the GZ Creator Award specifically to thank all our creators and bloggers for their passion and extraordinary skills, » Santagata added.

The GZ Creator Award 2021 was presented in seven categories by Andrea Santagata together with starred chef Alessandro Negrini from the Vòce di Aimo e Nadia restaurant, which provided the venue for the event.

The Giallozafferano 2021 best blogger award went to Luisa Orizio (Allacciate il grembiule), whose dishes everyone can cook attract more than 4 million monthly visits to her blog and 1.2 million fans.

The creator with the highest like average is Andriana Kulchytska, who is always on the look-out for tempting dishes that will appeal to the fitness world, with an average of almost 50,000 “likes” per video.

The creator who attracted the highest number of comments in 2021 is Daniele Rossi, a Tuscan chef who seduces everyone with his choice of traditional popular dishes and raw materials of the highest quality, with more than 1,400 comments for his guacamole video recipe.

The most sustainable creator award, with the most viewed veg videos, was won by Diletta Secco, a young cook who promotes sustainability in the kitchen with simple, unique recipes.

The creator with the highest average for video reel views was Rafael Nistor with his live video recipes, where the sounds as he prepares the food create an original and hypnotic audio, with an average of 1.4 million views for each video.

The award for the highest overall number of views went to Cooker Girl, aka Aurora Cavallo, with her unmistakeable red apron and huge repertoire of “traditionally new” dishes, for more than 50 million views on Instagram Reels and TikTok.

The creator behind the most viewed video is Khalid El Mahi, now a permanent member of the Giallozafferano family of social profiles with the “GZ Foodqood” brand, a youthful, fast and dynamic approach to cooking: his recipe for pita bread attracted 8 million views.

The exclusive Giallozafferano event – devoted to cooking, creativity and entertainment – was compered by special host Guglielmo Scilla, known as Willwoosh. The guest of honour was singer Orietta Berti, who offered the guests an exceptional medley of her hits, including Mille, winner of five platinum disks and one of the songs most downloaded and listened to by generation Z, and her new single Luna Piena, composed in collaboration with Hell Raton and sung in public for the first time last night.

Giallozafferano’s success in 2021 confirms the brand’s unique ability to select web talents as part of a continuously evolving journey: one that began in 2011, when Giallozafferano created the largest Italian food blogging community, which today has transformed the brand into a veritable food talent factory – with contributions from more than 100 top chefs, bloggers and creators – and will continue in 2022 with an even more ambitious program.

The basis of its success is a benchmark brand for Italian foodlovers, a “top of mind” food medium, the best known, most frequently consulted, must-have name in the kitchen. This is confirmed by the constantly growing community, reflecting the ability of GialloZafferano to be of service throughout the day thanks to consolidated content and video production knowhow, the result of a special in-house social content production.

The success of the McChicken Variation project, in partnership with GialloZafferano, Italy’s best loved food media brand, is now in its third edition: added this year to the McChicken Original recipe are Il Ricercato and Il Goloso, conceived with quality ingredients from around Italy. With this project, McDonald’s Italia also announces the reinforcement of the inclusion of the outstanding Parmigiano Reggiano DOP on its menu.

The new recipes, created together by McDonald’s and GialloZafferano, are available in all of the 615 restaurants in Italy until 19 October.
The McChicken Variations on offer include the “great return” of Il Goloso, the sandwich with 100% Italian chicken breast, 100% Italian bacon, salad and yellow tomatoes from Campania, introduced last year, again along with the chefs of the Mondadori Group brand. And new this year is Il Ricercato, an exclusive recipe with 100% Italian chick breast, rocket, tomatoes, mayonnaise, Italian basil and Parmigiano Reggiano.
This recipe will involve the acquisition of some 32 tons of Parmigiano Reggiano flakes, an authentic “princely” ingredient for this edition of McChicken Variations.

The relationship between McDonald’s and Parmigiano Reggiano is a long-standing one. The first DOP product offered by McDonald’s was a limited edition sandwich in 2008, and marked the first stage in a growing use by McDonald’s of the excellence of our country’s products, and in 2011 it was the first and only DOP product to find a permanent place among the assortment, with the Parmigiano Reggiano snack. From this year, Parmigiano Reggiano has expanded its presence on the McDonald’s menu as a continuous ingredient in salads and Wraps.

The McChicken Variation shows that McDonald’s is confirming and strengthening its Italian-ness. In fact, for the preparation of these recipes, the company will buy more, in addition to 32 tons Parmigiano Reggiano da Parmareggio, 15,5 tons of rocket from Bonduelle Italia, 30 tons of tomatoes and 20 tons of batavia lettuce from Bonduelle Italia and Sab, 300 kg 100% Italian basil for its basil mayonnaise, 18 tons of yellow Campanian tomatoes and 48 tons of bacon from Fratelli Beretta and Italia Alimentari.

All of these ingredients are in addition to the 100% Italian chicken breast supplied by Amadori and the bread produced by Bimbo at its plants in Modena and Rome.

This shift towards greater Italian-ness is a confirmation of McDonald’s commitment to the country’s agri-food sector, from which every year the company buys 94,000 tons of raw materials, with a value of over €200 million.

“We are delighted that our collaboration with GialloZafferano is now in its third edition,” said Dario Baroni, chief executive of McDonald’s Italia. “The McChicken Variation project is really a very important one for us, as it enables us to tell our customer about our commitment to flavour and the quality of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, and, above all, the search and selection of the best Italian suppliers. And it is a splendid opportunity to announce, with these new proposals, the continuous presence of Parmigiano Reggiano on our menus, and with which we will continue to pursue our mission of bringing to a large public the excellence of Made in Italy, traditionally considered a niche, and ‘educating’ consumers about the quality of Italian products and making them accessible to everyone.”

“Once again this year we are really excited to renew this important collaboration with McDonald’s,” declared Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media. Enhancing the taste and quality of the excellence of our country is a commitment that we bring every day to the homes of the millions of Italians who follow our brand. Values that we present through exclusive content and innovative languages, created thanks to our team and a group of over 50 top creators who collaborate with GialloZafferano. A winning formula that we use across all social media to actively engage an increasingly wider audience and become a point of reference even for younger users, thanks in particular to TikTok, where the brand has reached extraordinary numbers in just over a year.”

The McChicken Variations produced in partnership with GialloZafferano will be the protagonists of a rich programme of content, developed together with Brand On Solutions, the Mediamond project development area, and will involve all the brand’s digital channels – the website, app and social media. The visibility plan, developed together with the advertising sales company, will be live for the entire period of the initiative, with new recipes available on GialloZafferano.it on a dedicated hub, accessible from the site’s main menu. In support, a campaign of launches and advertising launches that will also involve the magazines GialloZafferano, Focus and Donna Moderna, has also been planned.

The story will continue across all of the brand’s social media platforms with exclusive content, created specifically for the different channels, and the collaboration of 6 creators, who will share the preparation of the recipes on TikTok.

The McChicken Variations will also be featured in a live cooking session to be held on the 23th of September on the GialloZafferano Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels. An event dedicated to the brand’s entire community, in which Manuel, the face of the site, will guide users through sandwiches recipes.

First launched on TikTok just over one year ago, GialloZafferano has now reached 1 million followers, confirming the success of the title’s offer on all social networks.

A result to which, again on the short video platform, should be added over 300,000 followers – and growing – that the brand has reached in its international version in English.

The Mondadori Group’s food media brand immediately won over the community of the popular social network thanks to a mix of exclusive content and an original approach, designed with the aim of actively involving an increasingly broader audience and becoming a point of reference in the kitchen, also for younger people.

In fact, the formula of short video recipes has proved to be a winner for GialloZafferano not only on TikTok, but also on other social networks, in particular Instagram, with over 40 million views every month.

This success has been achieved thanks to an editorial programme involving more than 50 top creators: from Aurora Cavallo, (@cooker.girl), with her unmistakable red apron and a vast repertoire of “traditionally new” recipes, to Daniele Rossi (@danielerossichef), the irresistible Tuscan chef capable of bringing everyone closer to popular traditional dishes and the very best raw materials, up to Khalid El Mahi (@foodqood), with a range of dishes rich in Middle Eastern influences, and Andriana Kulchytska (@adrianathrr), constantly looking for the most amusing ideas with a nod to the world of fitness.

A group of young and dynamic talents, which, from today, is enhanced by the exclusive collaboration of food creator and TikTok ambassador Diletta Secco (@dilettasecco), promoter of the concept of sustainability in the kitchen, with simple recipes uniquely designed to reduce waste to a minimum and raise awareness among the community on the issue of healthy food with a reduced environmental impact

“Embracing social media as a communication paradigm means always being ready to experiment with new approaches and to interface with continuously evolving targets. The brand’s development strategy is consequently reinforced by the collaboration of the many creators that GialloZafferano is able to attract and making us the home of the best talents in the kitchen,” declared Andrea Santagata, General Manager of Mondadori Media. “Our constantly growing numbers confirm once again the brand’s outstanding vocation for innovation, which is capable of evolving by always putting people’s needs and requests at the core of what we do.”

The success achieved on TikTok confirms GialloZafferano’s leadership in the cooking segment. Giallozafferano.it is the website of reference with a unique audience of 15.4 million users per month (Source: Audiweb, April 2021), to which should be added leadership on social media, with a community of 19.3 million fans across six platforms.

These results also contribute to the growth of the audience of Mondadori Media, the leading publisher on social networks with over 41.4 million fans (Source: Shareablee and Insight, June 2021) and a point of reference also on TikTok, where the company is present with 8 other brands, in addition to GialloZafferano, and more than 2.5 million fans overall.

These innovations also mean new opportunities for our commercial partners, who can reach new audiences and take advantage of innovative editorial formats, making use of both the Mondadori Media content factory and the unique team of food creators that collaborate with its brands

Some 20 million Italians between the ages of 18 and 54 follow at least one influencer. Of these, 48% follow a macro-influencer; a category that includes not only individuals, but also publishing brands with stand-out social media profiles in their communities of reference and recognised as authoritative in nine specific areas: health and wellbeing, families and children, entertainment, technology and science, beauty and personal care, fashion, food and beverages, travel and tourism, cars and motorcycles.

And it is precisely these macro-influencers that are at the heart of the survey “Italians & Influencers” conducted by Buzzoole, InfoValue and Mondadori Media, aimed at examining more closely the views and opinions of Italians regarding an increasingly significant category in consumer behaviour.

In particular, it looks more closely at the relationship between Italians and influencers and publishing brands, with regard to the social media presence and the type of role that they play in entertainment and users buying habits.

The first interesting element is the frequency with which users consult their profiles: 37% claim to follow them every day, while another 37% check in every 2-3 days.

Why do users follow influencers?

For the advice they give (54%, above all for matters related to food) or for their expertise in specific areas (51%, technology and automotive) or because they are considered models of reference to identify with (19%, fashion and families).

At the top of the list for renown on social media there is Chiara Ferragni (mentioned by 85% of the sample), followed by GialloZafferano (72%) and Benedetta Rossi (71%).

As part of the study, emphasis was given to the role of macro-influencers in buying behaviour, with a different focus depending on the sector of interest for users. This showed that they can play the role of a “tutor” that explains a product (for 54% of the interviewees), especially in the areas of food beauty, a discoverer able to introduce new products (for 47%) for tech and beauty, a friend who can say where and when to buy something (41%), above all for fans of cars and motorcycles, or, also, an outstanding trendsetter (27%).

There is, therefore, a clear recognition of the commercial function: an expectation that influencers and publishing brands can provide information on a wide range of product types and become an “advisor” that in every situation can play a determining role.

Have looked at the role of macro-influencers in buying behaviour, the survey then examined their level of incidence in buying propensity: 85% of Italians claim to take the opinions of influencers into consideration when buying a product.

The study also looked in detail at how many purchases are “actually” made on the basis of the advice of influencers. Over the last year around half of the interviewees bought an average of 2 products or services recommended by influencers or editorial brands on social media: beauty, food, fashion and technology being the most influenced shopping categories.

An examination of buying intention is single areas, showed that in first place among the preference of Italians were the profiles of GialloZafferano (89%) in the food & beverage sector and Mypersonaltrainer for products related to health and wellness.

“The study conducted in along with Mondadori Media and InfoValue,” declared Gianluca Perrelli, CEO of Buzzoole, “has clearly demonstrated the complexity of a now consolidated phenomenon that involves millions of people. In addition, it has highlighted the multiple roles that Creators can have for Italians, not just as repeaters of messages, but as key elements in the purchasing process.”

“Brands remain among the main influencers of consumer buying habits, and central in the discovery of new trends and tendencies,” declared Andrea Santagata, General Manager of Mondadori Media. “The research clearly shows how some of them, the more vertical with a language and approach that is close to users, have maintained, and even reinforced, this role, also in the increasingly important social media environment. I think that it is key for a brand in social media to satisfy specific need, with a view to providing users with help and support.”

As regards the platforms used, Instagram emerged as the social media platform par excellence (67%), followed by Facebook (59%) and YouTube (53%). The younger target follow on TikTok (9%) and 4% on Twitch.

This quantitative survey involved over 1,500 interviewees, representative of Italian web users between the ages of 18 and 54, and examined 9 topics of main interest, arranged by socio-demographic profiles, with a special focus on female targets.

“Italians & Influencers” was conducted in the context of the WeTalks project: a permanent observation laboratory through which Mondadori Media addresses companies interested in information about the dynamics of consumer behaviour. The complete results of the survey are available on www.buzzoole.com and www.wetalks.it.

2020 was a year full of initiatives of the digital brands of the Mondadori Group: a successful portfolio that ranges from GialloZafferano to Donna Moderna, and from MyPersonalTrainer to Grazia and Studenti.it, and that confirms its role as a point of reference for the interests and enthusiasm of Italians online.

In December, with a +7% increase on the same month of the previous year, the digital network of Mondadori Media reached 29 million unique users per month (Source: Audiweb), confirming in particular its position as the publisher of reference for female users, with almost 17 million visitors.

A competitive positioning with, at the top, GialloZafferano, Italy’s most popular food media brand, which, again according to Audiweb, is visited by more than 20 million users per month.
In fact, in December, Italians spent over 7 million hours on GialloZafferano, which is equal to 70% of all the time spent by Italians across all cookery sites.
And with this result Giallozafferano also confirms its position as the fourth most used publishing brand overall, and the first excluding news sites.

This leadership should then be added to the brand’s position on social media where it is followed by over 18 million fans on six platforms, from Facebook to Instagram, YouTube to TikTok, as well as Twitter and Pinterest.
Particularly interesting is the brand’s success on TikTok, where in just over six months from the launch, the brand has gained more than in 650,000 followers, and is continuing to grow, also among the younger target.
The growth trajectory of GialloZafferano continues also in 2021 with the launch of a new multi-touchpoint platform in English, already available online and on the main social networks, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Thanks to this initiative the brand will give added impulse to its development and aim to become an essential destination, not only for Italian users, but also for a global audience of cooking enthusiasts who want to learn about and try traditional Made in Italy dishes, and becoming an authentic world ambassador of Italian cooking.

“For more than fifteen years GialloZafferano has been recognised by food lovers for the quality of its content and the continuous one-to-one care that it gives to all its users, across all media. With the launch of the English-language version of GialloZafferano and its social media, marks the beginning of the brand’s international expansion which will enable us to spread the best of Italian cooking around the world: in fact, along with fashion and design, food is one of the Italy’s most important assets and the Mondadori Group is active all of these sectors with outstanding brands,” declared Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media.

For its international debut GialloZafferano has developed a communication system that starts from the web with GialloZafferano.com dedicated to “The best Italian recipes”. The new site offers and extensive selection of the best dishes from the Italian kitchen with over 200 step-by-step recipes produced or translated into English and accompanied by videos and photos, and the aim is to arrive at 500 video-recipes by the end of 2021.

The multi-touchpoint approach is ranged across social media, from Facebook and Instagram pages, and dedicated YouTube channels, with a total initial fanbase of 4.5 million fans, of which 170,000 followers on Instagram, over 4.1 million fans on Facebook and 200,000 subscribers on the “GialloZafferano Italian recipes” YouTube channel. In fact, for many months Giallozafferano has been curating and growing its presence on social media in English. On YouTube the brand already offers around 500 video-recipes, while on Facebook and Instagram a unique and distinctive positioning had been developed that brings together and promotes, not only the best of Italian cooking, but also the best of Italy in general, in order to allow users to discover the “best and the beauty” in which the country excels.
The brand will also take advantage of the collaboration of creators that will focus on the inimitable classic recipes of our country.

The new GialloZafferano platform in English is an ideal opportunity also for Italian companies in the food sector who want to aim their campaigns at a global audience.

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For more details:

–        https://www.giallozafferano.com/

–        https://www.facebook.com/GialloZafferanoLovesItaly

–        https://www.instagram.com/giallozafferanolovesitaly/

–        https://www.youtube.com/user/yellowsaffron