Media: Publishing brands

Over 100 pages of unpublished images and portraits by the extraordinary photographer Bruce Weber, fashion stories, interviews and special services: all in the new issue of di Icon, on newsstands from Friday 6 March.

A collectors’ issue celebrating art and beauty for the Mondadori Group’s fashion and lifestyle brand that, under the editorship of Andrea Tenerani, editor-at-large Federico Sarica and new creative director Luca Stoppini, signals a further step forward in its mission to increasingly be a “contemporary classic” and to represent fashion, lifestyle, stories, personalities and male passions to an increasingly global audience.

“Icon is becoming a statement, a declaration of the intent to more and more identify and define the contemporary by selecting the best stories, personalities and photographs that are also destined to last. In other words, iconic,” explained Andrea Tenerani, editor of Icon. “’I’ as in icon, so, starting from the cover, but also ‘I’ as in the first person singular, a declaration of the desire to  place at the centre of the magazine’s narrative the uniqueness of life and the style of each of our readers and members of our community.”

The is month’s three covers, from the portfolio of Bruce Weber, feature the actor Brandon Thomas Lee, an exclusive Bruce Weber portrait of David Bowie and Antonio and Piero Teoli, two Italo-American brothers, both students at the Frank Sinatra School of Arts in Miami.

Among leading contemporary photographers, Weber has capture many of the biggest names in the world of show business and art. Plus, for Icon, Weber is not just the figure behind the lens, but also talks about himself in an exclusive conversation with actress Anjelica Huston.

It is a collaboration that consolidates the relationship with Icon, which has always been committed to the highest standards of quality in images and content, with the support of leading photographers and personalities from the world of contemporary culture.

This is also a continuation of the process of strengthening the brand in the upscale male lifestyle segment. Also marked by a new look, thanks to a re-design that increasingly highlights the strengths of Icon and its distinctive positioning, starting from the logo, with the highlighted “I”, a graphic symbol that characterises all of the sections, from fashion and beauty, to news and culture.

A record-breaking Sanremo Festival for Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni. The Mondadori Groiup brand, Italy’s biggest-selling weekly, with a circulation of  474,459 copies (Source: ADS, December 2019), confirms its leadership in the entertainment world thanks to the enormous success of the dedicated initiatives and content organised during the annual Sanremo event.

Starting from 2 February with an exclusive party organised together with Grazia and United Music, and with the participation of the presenters Amadeus and Fiorello and all of the artists in competition, the week of the 70^th edition of the Festival for Sorrisi  concluded with excellent performances: on newsstands, with a print run of over 1.7 million copies for the 3 issue linked to the Festival, on the web site and with an authentic boom for the brand on social networks, thanks to more than 600 pieces of original content on all web and social platforms, including 70 videos and 200 live stories.

Sorrisi.com, with the traditional preview of the songs, the order of appearance of the artists, the ratings and detailed reports of each evening, complete with the best photographs, between 2 and 9 February recorded 2.4 million sessions, an absolute traffic record for the site during the Sanremo week (Source: Google Analytics).

Over the whole week, the Instagram and Facebook accounts of Sorrisi were authentic second-screens for viewers, reaching 10.5 million people, more than doubled on Facebook, with 6.3 million people reached, and 4.2 million on Instagram, a significant increase on the figure of 300,000 recorded in 2019. Total interactions on the two platforms, including likes, comments and shares came to 400,000 (+122% compared with 2019), and with more than 2 million video views. 

There were also many new tools on offer to follow the Festival: cards with the lyrics to the songs and real time quotes from the protagonists onstage, live stories from the press room, the table recording the votes or the songs, animated GIFs, i surveys and the most memorable moments from 70 years of the Italian popular song. The final post declaring the winner reached over 1 million people (Source: Fanpagekarma).

Also this year Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni covered the whole Festival with its own editorial team there on the Ligurian coast, with a specially prepared photographic studio and tow lounges set up for video shoots and live social events, multiplying the digital production for the entire duration of the Festival.

In the mornings, an appointment with the editor Aldo Vitali together with one of the singers in competition, broadcast live on social media, was a key moment in getting the day going after the night before on the stage of the Ariston Theatre: a breakfast during which Elodie, Francesco Gabbani, Elettra Lamborghini, Piero Pelù, and Alberto Urso, could share comments and immediate reactions about the competition.

All of the artists and guests of the Festival came to the Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni editorial office for an interview or photo shoot, to talk about their plans, like Marco Sentieri, one of the singers from Nuove Proposte and an endorser of the national anti-bullying day, or for a surprise birthday party, like the one organised for the 28^th birthday of Riki. There were also greetings from some of the great icons of Italian pop music such as the Ricchi e Poveri recently back together, and Gianna Nannini. And finally, a visit from the winners after the final, Diodato, Francesco Gabbani and the Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, for a big celebration and the traditional cover shot for this week’s edition of the magazine: an encounter that was transformed into a party  in which the top three placed artists improvised an exclusive concert for Sorrisi.

During the Sanremo week Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni was accompanied by: Tescoma, sponsor of the editorial lounge, Unieuro, with the book project #cuoriconnessi and diDesign for the lounge furniture.

Corri con noi (Run With Us) the big project aimed at women who run and walk to keep fit, network and improve their self-belief today kicks off in twelve cities and with two final challenges.

Developed from an idea by Donna Moderna, the Mondadori Group brand and leader in the women’s segment, the previous editions of the initiative met with great success and, in fact, in 2019 attracted over 1000 subscribers in 9 Italian cities, with 270 training sessions and 45 participants in the final challenge in Morocco.

“With ever bigger numbers and enthusiasm, in just three years Corri con noi has become a gym for sisterhood and female emancipation and we are delighted to include another three cities in the project,” declared Annalisa Monfreda. 

Donna Moderna aims to continue to reinforce the community that rotates around a passion for running, given that running is not just a sport but a way to help women become more conscious of their potential, their strengths, make them feel more secure, improve their mood and keep day-to-day stress at bay. It is also an activity that is accessible to everyone and has the capacity to regenerate energy all while in the company of like-minded people.

This year 12 Italian cities will participate in the training sessions: Catania, Florence, Lecce, Milan, Naples, Padua, Palermo, Parma, Pescara, Rome, Turin and Verona.

Participants will be divided into 3 groups, according to their level of fitness, and followed by qualified coaches, with whom they can log their progress with regular checks. Each city will have its own ambassador who will engage and motivate the participants by sharing their efforts, progress and the values of aggregation of Donna Moderna.  The programme will include one weekly training session and, to introduce participants to trail running, i.e. running in a natural environment, they will be able to take part with a team from the magazine in two challenges: the final challenge in the desert and, for the first time this year, a new spring challenge in Europe.

To sign up to become a member of the Donna Moderna  runner crew all you need to do is go to the platform Donnamodernaclub.it. Each subscriber will receive a welcome kit with a T-shirt, bag and personalised Corri con noi bracelet.

You can follow the entire initiative  on all of the brand’s social channels with the official hashtag #corriconnoi. Plus, week by week, the magazine will also cover the training sessions with a photographic report.

The web site, with the special Donnamoderna.com/corriconnoi will provide users with all the necessary information and advice, as well as details on how to sign up for the stages and to take part in the two big challenges.

Plus training tips and suggestions for all experienced and aspiring runners.

Initial Partners of the initiative are: SCARPA® Italy’s leading producer of technical sports shoes with the Spin Ultra model for trail running; GARMIN world leader in GPS technology for sport, fitness and the outdoors; Mediterranea Cosmetics with its line of cosmetic products for skincare and bodycare; Lauretana producer of Europe’s lightest mineral water;  SIXTEMLIFE® with Benped® that includes advanced technology product for the well-being of the foot.

The print, web and social campaign has been curated by Hunbranded.

Donna Moderna, Italy’s leading women’s network, is an ecosystem that through the magazine, web and social channels, embraces a digital audience 14 million unique users every month (Source: Comscore December 2019) and reaches 3.5 million readers per month (Source: Audipress 2019/2) to which is added over 1.3 million fans on Facebook, over 500,000 followers on Twitter and 430,000 on Instagram.

Great success for Evviva Sanremo: the exclusive party organised by Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, Grazia and United Music, for the opening of the 70^th edition of the Italian Song Festival together with the protagonists of the event.

Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, the leading weekly in the world of entertainment and historic point of reference for the Festival, Grazia, the fashion magazine that interprets Italian fashion and style, together with United Music, the digital audio project of  RadioMediaset, organised a special event that brought together the worlds that rotate around the three brands.

Music, glamour and an exceptional showcase animated an evening that was held at the Hotel Royal, where on Sunday 2 February over 300 guests gathered and were welcomed by Aldo Vitali, editor of Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, Silvia Grilli, editor of Grazia, Paolo Salvaderi, chief executive of RadioMediaset and Rosanna Mani, head of show-business relations for Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni.

Also taking part were the artistic director and presenter Amadeus along with Fiorello, a fixed guest over the five evenings of the Festival and all of the artists in competition at Sanremo. Also present were Diletta Leotta and Emma D’Aquino, who will assist Amadeus on the stage of the Ariston Theatre.

They were joined by a number of personalities from the world of entertainment, cinema and fashion, including Francesca Cavallin, Federica Fontana and Eleonora Pedron.

Special guest, was  the Italo-American singer-songwriter LP, the star of a live performance who excited the guests with her unique voice and the rhythms of her hits, including Girls go wild, the most played track on radio in 2019.

The main sponsors of Evviva Sanremo: Lancia Ypsilon Monogram, Pianegonda Jewelry, Puig Italia with Good Girl di Carolina Herrera, Tescoma.

Also this year, Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, Italy’s biggest-selling and most widely-read magazine, will be the unmissable point of reference for fans of the Festival della Canzone Italiana.
The Mondadori Group brand, leader in the entertainment segment with an overall  audience of 4.8 million users per month (Source: Nielsen Media impact Data Fusion, July 2019), will be on the front line to follow all aspects of the 70th edition of the song festival, with special content and background coverage in the magazine, on the web site and on social media.

 ON NEWSSTANDS
Starting with the issue on sale at newsstands from today, a preview of the lyrics of the songs, interviews with the artists and an exclusive cover with the complete group of singers along with the presenter and artistic director Amadeus. This will be the first of three special issues dedicated to the Festival culminating on Monday 10 February with a behind-the-scenes look at the whole week and the first cover with the winner photographed exclusively immediately after the announcement on the night.
And not to be missed, a compilation Sanremo Best, with the best songs from the Festival on three double CDs  to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the most important Italian song festival with a selection of songs that have touched the hearts of millions of fans and made entire generation sing, on newsstands from 4 February.

For the duration of the Festival, the editorial team of Sorrisi will move to Sanremo with journalists, an ad hoc photographic studio and a guest lounge with a recording studio attached. In line with tradition, the main streets of the city will be decorated with posters and life-sized cut-outs of the artists and the presenter photographed by Sorrisi very popular with the public for photos and selfies.

ON THE SITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Every day, the latest news, ratings, backstage coverage and detailed accounts of the evenings, with the best photos available on Sorrisi.com, supported by significant social media coverage.

During the evenings of the Festival, the Instagram and Facebook profiles of Sorrisi will be authentic second-screens for viewers, with content to follow the competition: from the song lyrics, to quotes and curiosities about the singers and guests, to new graphic cards for sharing comments, quizzes and surveys on IG Stories. And available for the first time new animated GIF-cards for IG with the most popular personalities, such as Elettra Lamborghini, Alberto Urso and many more.

And there will of course also be the real-time surprises of a typical day at the Festival. And also this year there will be extensive live social media coverage of meetings and encounters with the artists in the Sorrisi press room: starting in the morning with breakfast with the editor, Aldo Vitali, and a singer from the competition, until late at night, also with surprise incursions after the performances on the stage of the Ariston theatre.

The editor Aldo Vitali will also appear on a daily live slot at 10.15 on Radio Subasio.

And, finally, with the “Vinci Sanremo” competition, Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni will host 10 readers who will be able to experience the festival along with the editorial team and enjoy the show from the front row of the Ariston theatre.

For the editorial team of Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni make up and hair styling will be managed by Celebrity Stylist Events.

The Mondadori Group is exporting to China  in franchising the Focus Junior Play Lab format, the educational and play space for children aged from 3 to 11, developed  by the magazine that is a reference point in the world of kids.

The initiative is the result of an agreement signed with Chic Investment Group and a Memorandum of Understanding with Xi’an International Community Fashion Town Construction & Development Co.

For the first time Focus Junior will deliver, also at an international level, its educational offer and all of the know-how of the Italian brand that is the leader in its sector, in line with the philosophy that characterises the title: an “edutainment” approach, that aims to engage kids and stimulate their skills and capacities through the development of labs and activities to accompany them as they grow up.

The first three Focus Junior Play Labs will open up in China in 2020 in Xi’an, within the High Tech district of the Sino Italian Fashion Town, a new international complex that is being built around the ancient city of Xi’an, and in the cities of Nanjing, in the Kingmo shopping mall and Chongqing, in the Chic World Together shopping centre.

Through the Chic Investment Group, the management and investment company that is working to bring European brands of outstanding excellence to the entire country in the coming years, Focus Junior Play Lab will expand also to other cities in China, with the opening of 12 play labs in franchising within 3 years.

Focus Junior Play Lab will enhance the Asian market for services aimed at families: children and kids will be able to spend their time alternating between recreational activities and educational and learning projects aimed at stimulating manual dexterity, creativity and scientific thinking through numerous labs that will introduce them to topics related to science, art, mathematics and engineering in a fun, engaging and innovative way.

A result preceded by a series of institutional stages that took place in recent months: firstly, a meeting in China in November 2018, an event organised by the Italy-China Foundation at Palazzo Clerici in Milan and the visit of a delegation from the government of Xi’an to Palazzo Mondadori in Segrate in March this year. Cooperation activities in China will continue in the coming years with the introduction of new initiatives currently under development.

The new project is consistent with the objective of the Mondadori Group to  concentrate on its brand leaders with the best multi-platform development potential.

Focus Junior is a magazine dedicated to curious kids that is a brand extension of di Focus, the Mondadori Group magazine that is a point of reference in popular science and entertainment and is the nucleus of a multimedia system able to transform readers into authentic “inhabitants” of the world of Focus, right from the pre-school years. In print and on the web and social networks, and from a TV channels to events like Focus Live, organised around the country, the overall audience of the Focus system is around 6 million (Source: Nielsen MI assessment based on AW Mag 2019 figures, Audipress 2019.1).

Sensual, ironic, and incredibly popular on social media: Ludovica Pagani, a star with over 2 million followers on Instagram, is the protagonist of the 2020 calendar that will hit newsstands with the magazines Chi and Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni.

Available from Wednesday 27 November, 12 new and exclusive shots inspired by a range of musical genres, from rap to disco, rock to country, and grunge to the blues, will surprise readers and fans of this young and talented web influencer, TV face and radio voice who is gaining a bigger and bigger audience.

The choice of a musical theme is not coincidental: in fact, music embraces the audience that follows Ludovica and the enthusiastic readers of the two magazines of the Mondadori Group; as a feature of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni and a topic widely appreciated and extensively covered by the magazine Chi.

“Work on this calendar was both intense and gratifying, and I will remember forever working in a team in perfect harmony,” declared Ludovica Pagani.  Each photo is inspired by a different musical genre: so we tried to cover the history of music. I am happy and proud of the result, and I hope that it will transmit the same emotions that only music can sometimes give,” she concluded.

Since 2016 Ludovica has presented a web series, a sports programme, taken part as a correspondent in ‘Quelli che il calcio’, written her first book ‘Semplicemente Ludovica’ published by Mondadori Electa, been in the cast of two Rai TV drama series, and a new TV series “Involontaria” out on MTV at the beginning of December,  as well as being a radio presenter on RDS NEXT.

The creative idea and photographic production has been entirely conducted by the Mondadori Portfolio team, the Mondadori Group’s photo agency, which for this occasion selected Cosimo Buccolieri.

Partner of the event, and of the entire project, is the hair-beauty brand COTRIL which for Ludovica developed a series of iconic looks, recreated ad hoc for her, able to enhance her natural beauty and charisma. COTRIL has always paid great attention to its social communication, which was why it began to work with Ludovica during the last International Film Festival in Venice and will continue for the whole of 2020 with a series of new and ambitious projects.

For fans who want to meet Ludovica and have their calendar autographed, the appointment is for 4 December , from 7 pm at the Terrazza Aperol in Milan (Piazza Duomo, 25): a unique opportunity to meet Ludovica and enjoy a delicious aperitif with a view of the Duomo from the most beautiful terrace in Milan.

The 2020 Ludovica Pagani calendar is on sale at €9.99, excluding the price of the two magazines, and will remain on newsstands for over a month from 27 November.