Media: Publishing brands

Carla Vanni, director of the Grazia International Network, the global multi-channel system created by the Mondadori Group for the launch of the Grazia brand around the world, has received the “Tao Award Excellence 2020 for Journalism” as part of the Taomoda Awards.

This recognition underlines the special characteristics of an extraordinary journey during which Carla Vanni, after a series of leading roles in Italian magazines, was able to successfully accompany the spread of Grazia also at an international level.

A journey that has enables the Mondadori Group magazine to become, in just a few years, the leading 100% Italian fashion brand, with twenty editions around the world; from Europe to China, and reaching every month an overall community of 15 million readers, with sales of over 10 million copies every month, 35 million unique users and around 20 million followers on social media.

Carla Vanni has been the director of Grazia International Network since 2005. After graduating in law from the University of Milan she began her journalistic career on the fashion staff Grazia, of which she was the editor from 1978 to 2006. Over her career, Carla Vanni has also been the editor of Grazia Casa and editorial director of important magazines, including Marie Claire, Cento Cose Energy, Donna Moderna. Other prices she has received include:  a Montenapoleone d’oro, for best fashion journalist (1970); The Oner, as journalist of the year (1987); the Premio Gullace (1995), “for her constant attention to the problems of women”; the literary prize Castiglioncello Costa degli Etruschi (2001); the Premio Milano for fashion (2003); the Premio Forte dei Marmi Dietro la bellezza (2003); the Premio Fondazione Marisa Bellisario (2003); the Premio Pitti Immagine for her career (2008) and the Mayor of Milan’s Prize (2010) given to women who, thanks to their work, contribute to the development and the life of the city.

The Tao Awards 2020 ceremony was held during the Gala di Taomoda, an international event organised by the Region of Sicily, of which the patron if the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (the Italian Chamber of Fashion) and organised in collaboration with the offices of the regional councillors for Tourism, Sport and Entertainment, the Department of Productive Activities and the Depertment for Cultural Heritage.

GialloZafferano, Italy’s food media brand leader, continues its path of di innovation with new functions to help Italians to cook in an increasingly personalised way.

Every day GialloZafferano enters the homes of millions of people to promptly respond to their needs – from the website to social media and smartspeakers – with a catalogue of 5,500 recipes and 1,300 high-definition videos, from today also “made-to-measure” thanks to artificial intelligence.

“The new tools developed by GialloZafferano confirm the brand’s extraordinary vocation for innovation and capacity to constantly evolve, while always maintaining our focus on the needs of foodlovers,” declared Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media. “Underlying these results lies continuous research into people’s tastes and easy to prepare recipes, always tried out in the GialloZafferano kitchens, alongside a specialised digital team, operating 365 days a year, to always be able to respond to users’ requests.”

Now the new homepage of the site, using an advanced machine learning algorithm, will, at any moment, be able to provide up-to-date content based on the most popular search items and personal tastes, in this way being able to offer an even more precise experience. The algorithm will show the recipes of greatest interest in a set period of time, viewable on a carousel “The recipes of the moment” and “Most popular”,and will select recipes in relation to the surfing patterns of each users in “Suggested for you”.

The site’s search engine has also been enhanced so that users can access even more rapidly access the GialloZafferano content of most value in response to searches carried out.

Plus, for the first time, step-by-step recipes in a podcast: from this month 100 top GialloZafferano recipes will be available on all platforms (Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Deezer), from Bolognese sauce to tiramisù.

“These new solutions confirm the constant attention of our Group to the most innovative and engaging technological developments and, as always, in the context of premium quality and high level of recognition of our bands. We are already working with our “Brand On Solutions” team on the creation of ad hoc branded content for our clients, who will be able to benefit from a perfect synergy between technological efficiency and our enthusiastic and reactive communities,” commented Davide Mondo, chief executive of Mediamond.

GialloZafferano currently reaches an audience of 18 million unique users every month (Source: Audiweb, average Jan-Jun 2020), with an extraordinary total of 10 million hours spent cooking with the site (Source: Audiweb, average Jan-Jun 2020) and 11.7 million fans on social media.

Making its debut this evening, CasaChi is a new social media talk show social conceived by Chi, that every week will bring together special guests in the exclusive salon of the magazine edited by Alfonso Signorini, to follow and discuss the new series of Grande Fratello Vip. Who will win? Who will go to the vote? What dynamic will emerge between the contestants? In each episode CasaChi will play an active role in the debate, with curiosities, behind the scenes features, forecasts and fun.

The CasaChi salon will welcome an alternating series of protagonists from GFVip: from the show’s presenter Alfonso Signorini, to the commentators Antonella Elia and Pupo and contestants from the last series. In the studio will be Chi journalists Azzurra Della Penna, Valerio Palmieri and Gabriele Parpiglia, moderated Gilberto Savini.

Guests of the first two episodes, together with the host Alfonso Signorini his two commentators, will be the winner of the last series Paola Di Benedetto and one of the most-loved couples that were born during the  programme, Luca Onestini and Ivana Mrázová.

The new Chi format will, of course, include unseen backstage footage and a gossip corner, where secrets will be revealed about what is really going on inside and, above all, outside the house.

“CasaChi is a unique opportunity to discover what is really happening behind the scenes of TV’s most popular reality show, also the things that the cameras never show you. We will give people the latest news, previews and scoops about the contestants and you can hear comments and confessions from GFVip live in viva voce from the commentators, the winners and the protagonists of previous series. Only on CasaChi!,” explained Alfonso Signorini, editor of Chi.

CasaChi #GFVip will be available every Tuesday and Thursday on the Facebook and Instagram profiles of Chi, where the brand reaches a community of more than 650,000 followers. Moreover, the social media profiles of the magazine also offer extra content, such as surveys, quizes, stories, behind-the-scenes coverage and video clips with interviews with contestants and the public.

An unmissable appointment for fans and an opportunity to get a close-up look at the show business and entertainment personalities that every week animate the pages of their favourite magazine. The new Chi format will also offer partners new communication opportunities that align with the exclusive world that revolves around Italy’s most widely read people magazine.

The project has been developed thanks to the partnership with Orogel, Italy’s leading producer of frozen vegetables, grown directly by the company’s 1,616 associated farms, operating exclusively in the most fertile areas of Italy. Quality, flavour and wellbeing are the basis of all of the Orogel recipes that allow the contestants of GFVip to enjoy healthy, light and tasty cooking.

NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma, the Mondadori Group brands, leaders in the world of parenting, are renewing together to reinforce their integrated system on the web, on social media and now also through podcasts: a unique offer of content and services to be even more on the side of new generations of parents and to accompany them every day and at every moment in the adventure of their children’s growth.

Points of reference for mothers and fathers on issues that range from conception to pregnancy and the early years of a child’s life, the two sites actively engage a community of  3 million unique users (Source: Audiweb May 2020) and over 1.2 million fans on Facebook and Instagram, with an overall weekly reach of 4 million people.

“Today, one in three parents get information from NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma: two authoritative brands widely recognised by the public, and in a leading position in the market of reference for all issues related to parenting. With these important new changes, we are offering our audience an even more complete system that is more detailed, innovative and gives advertisers the possibility of interacting with a sizeable and highly profiled target,” declared Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media.

Mediamond has responded with great enthusiasm to these new features: “Since the launch of Mediamond we have made consistent efforts to develop the parenting market, and we are increasingly convinced that digital is an important and highly relevant element in the daily life of all parents. Today, the editorial quality of NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma is shared and appreciated by both users and advertising clients, who find in both brands contexts of great value for the development of targeted projects,” declared Davide Mondo, chief executive of Mediamond.

What’s new in NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma

From today, there are six new features that characterise NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma, starting from a new look, for a more homogenous identity and recognisable style, thanks to the use of pastel colours and “baby” mood.

Enhanced editorial content, with up to date services and information, thanks to the introduction of a scientific board that brings together experts from the fields of pedagogy, psychology, gynaecology and paediatrics in order to provide advice and answers to questions of most interest, as well as a pool of 30 family influencers, among the most followed in Italy, to share true stories and direct experience.

There are also new sections on the most requested news requested by users, such as green issues, sustainability, animals and children, and loads of ideas about fun activities to organise with the little ones.

Plus, for the first time NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma will deliver content through podcasts, with three series, available on Spreaker, Apple, Google and Deezer: Favole per i bambini (Children’s Fairy Tales), Storie delle mamme (Mother’s stories) and Risposte in 2 minuti (2-minute answers).

There is also a new positioning  for the Facebook and Instagram pages, with useful tips for daily life for the whole family: new activities and formats, including quizzes and inspirational cards, along with a weekly schedule of live social media events presented by experts. Space is also given to mums and dads with a weekly video and a new story every day for first-hand accounts by the parents of the community. The challenge will also continue to engage the fanbase, following the outstanding participation obtained by the “Andrà tutto bene” (All will be well) initiative, with the drawings of rainbows done by kids, and successfully amplified by NostroFiglio during the lockdown. To mark the re-opening of the schools, NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma have launched the hashtags #primogiornodiscuola and #finalmenteinsieme, to collect photos as Italy goes back to school.

The new parenting system will consequently offer also to its partners new integrated storytelling tools for their products on different channels, thanks to new features such as the podcasts, live events, video and the activation of the pool of family influencers for special projects.

Ferrero, with its product Kinder Fetta al latte and the “Insieme si riparte” (Together we can get going again) initiative, will accompany the re-launch of NostroFiglio and PianetaMamma for 3 weeks: a hub dedicated to the return to school, full of suggestions on how to prepare in the best way, including articles, videos and podcasts, as well as the involvement of the team of family influencers.

The re-launch of Nostrofiglio and Pianeta Mamma is supported by a communication campaign on print, digital and social media and leading B2B titles and is overseen by Casiraghi Greco &.

Donna Moderna is on newsstands with an exclusive double-cover dedicated to Annalisa, who is also the protagonist of a fashion feature in the magazine. This week Donna Moderna has chosen to put alongside an image of the artists in a new minimal look pose a second cover, a sort of grunge version, dedicated to young millennial women and their dreams, desires and aspirations, for which the songs of Annalisa are an exceptional voice. It is the original portrait that the singer-songwriter has also chosen for the cover of her latest album “Nuda”, released by Warner Music Italy on 18 September, drawn from the shooting for the women’s weekly edited by Annalisa Monfreda.

A special story, in which the singer-songwriter uses a shot from a magazine fashion feature as the image for her album.

The singer, who at the same time today revealed to fans on social media the genesis of the album cover, will be interviewed by the editor of Donna Moderna Annalisa Monfreda this evening at 6 pm live on the magazine’s Instagram channel, where an exclusive backstage video of the photographic feature is also available.

On the set, Annalisa decided to “bare herself”, playing and having fun with unusual outfits. For the shot that also became the album cover, the artist is wearing grunge-inspired clothes, a sweatshirt and boots, with, in the background, graffiti, produced in collaboration with a tattoo artist, and words that indicate feelings, memories, suggestions.

“We are delighted that our shooting has inspired one of the most important artists on the Italian music scene. On the set a great mutual feeling was immediately established and this unexpected result is naturally very flattering. We have dedicated this week’s double-cover to Annalisa because with her music she speaks to all our hearts and those of our readers, examining the truths of normality, also with its small imperfections and fragilities,” commented Annalisa Monfreda, editor of Donna Moderna.

This is a continuation of a series of initiatives by Mondadori Group brands that began in July and that will continue with new special issues, this month and in October, in an ongoing dialogue with the its community. This week Donna Moderna reaches out to an even broader audience thanks to a much-loved personality with a large and younger following and an established presence on social media.

Thanks to a unique mix of practical advice, first-hand testimony, stories and daily live events, Donna Moderna remains always close to its readers and their needs. Through the magazine and its web channels it reaches a total net audience of 14.6 million users each month (Source: Nielsen Media impact, data fusion March 2020), to which should be added over 2 million fans on social media with 1.3 million monthly interactions (Source: Fanpage Karma, August 2020), confirming its position as the point of reference in the women’s segment.

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.

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.

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.