Press-Di Abbonamenti S.p.A., part of the Mondadori Group and leader in Italy in subscription selling, expands its offering and services for third-party publishers by acquiring Direct Channel.

Established in 1997, Direct Channel specializes in marketing-related database management and information systems through the development of management systems and CRM for magazine subscription selling and the planning of marketing and fundraising activities for important non-profit bodies.

With the acquisition of Direct Channel – which will continue to operate on the market under its own brand – Press-Di Abbonamenti adds a top market player to its portfolio, well known for its outstanding services and specific know-how, guaranteeing partners and clients growing levels of quality and quantity, in synergy with the Group’s assets.

Design D’Autore, the leading international social system for design is to become part of the portfolio of digital brands of the Mondadori Group, the biggest and most varied in Italy with an overall monthly audience of  around 16 million unique users.

Founded by architect and designer Ornella Sessa – who will continue to oversee the content with a careful search for and selection of international excellence in interior design, architecture, art, technology and innovation –Design D’Autore is made up of a team of designers and experts with a storytelling ability. The signature style is based on the highest aesthetic values, on emotional design and its many faceted aspects: innovative ideas and projects, stories of entrepreneurial excellence, market trends, new talents and much more.

Followed by more than 3.8 million fans on Facebook and 130,000 on Instagram, Design D’Autore reaches some 10 million people around the world and generates 2 million interactions and 5.4 million video views every month.

This operation is further confirmation of the growth path that Mondadori has chosen in the digital market. In fact, the acquisition of Design d’Autore will consolidate the Group’s positioning in the design and interiors sector, in which it is already the leader thanks to a hub featuring a number of authoritative and successful brands, including Icon Design and Interni, and will markedly expand the audience on social media with effective synergies between the upscale brands.

Moreover, with the inclusion of Design D’Autore in the Mondadori Group’s portfolio of brands, the advertising sales company Mediamond, is launching a new native advertising offer for design that will integrate the social system with editorial products, providing partners with new opportunities to increase the effectiveness of their communication and reaching also an international target of professionals and others.

GialloZafferano, Italy’s most popular cooking web site is celebrating the success of “Le ricette degli Chef” (“Recipes of the Chefs), the section of the site devoted to award-winning Italian chefs, pastry chefs, bread-makers and pizzaioli.

For the first time the biggest names in high-level Italian cooking have joined together in the publishing project of a cooking web site with the aim of sending out a message: the value of traditional Italian food and simplicity.

The chefs take users by the hand and – in video tutorials shot in the GialloZafferano kitchen – guide them through the preparation of a classic dish of Italian cooking, while recounting the stories, emotions, origins and tricks that only a great chef knows, to transform a simple recipe into a gourmet  dish.

Simplicity is fundamental, but it demands technique, study and professionalism, all things that are identified with the GialloZafferano style. A style that is fully reflected  in the “Ricette degli Chef”: dishes that are easy to prepare at home, with simple and easy to find ingredients, that enable everyone to cook with joy and pleasure.

The section “Le ricette degli Chef” already has a number if important contributors:

– Davide Oldani, 1* Michelin from the D’O restaurant in Cornaredo, with his Zafferano e Riso alla Milanese D’O, a lighter and gourmet reinterpretation of the classic risotto alla milanese;
– Iginio Massari, one of the world’s leading pastry chefs and TV personality, with his irresistible Tiramisù;
– Davide Scabin, 1* Michelin form the Combal.Zero restaurant, with a classic mayonnaise and old-style vitello tonnato;
– Alessandro Negrini, 2* Michelin and the creative soul of the renowned Milan restaurant “Il luogo di Aimo e Nadia” with pizzoccheri valtellinesi, a memory from his birthplace;
– Ernst Knam, the “King of Chocolate”, with his Sacher Tort and Red Velvet;
– Cristina Bowerman 1* Michelin, with her recipes for an American-style breakfast, omelette and omelette with vegetables;
– Sal de Riso, Master Pastry Chef, TV personality and the  “ambassador” of all that’s best from the Amalfi Coast, with his torta caprese, delizie al limone and torta paradiso;
– Franco Pepe, crowned as the world’s best pizzaiolo by the prestigious international guide “Where to eat Pizza” with pizzelle fritte and the pizza di scarola;
– The Master Pastry Chef, Alfonso Pepe, with his panettone, a national multi-award winner, a fascinating recipe that is also rather complex;
– Gabriele Bonci, one of Italy’s leading bakers with his secrets on how to create solid and liquid yeasts;
– Paolo Sacchetti, the Master Pastry Chef from the “Nuovo Mondo” in Prato, with mouth watering recipes for savoiardi and zabaione,
– Cesare Battisti, the chef of Ratanà in Milan, with roast pork loin and English roast beef;
– Fabio Abbattista, the successor of Gualtiero Marchesi s the head of the Albereta Relais & Chateaux in Erbusco with orecchiette alle cime di rapa, risotto ai funghi and fiori di zucca in pastella;
– directly from Paris, Denny Imbroisi, for many years the sous-chef of Alain Ducasse and now the owner of the Ida and Epoca restaurants, among the finalists of the TV programme for professionals Top Chef France with profiterol and tarte tatin;
– The chef Claudio Sadler, 1* Michelin for the Sadler restaurant, one of the leading interpreters of Italian cuisine, with the great classic costoletta alla milanese.

Given the positive response of users and the attention of the starred chefs for the GialloZafferano audience, the project will be enriched with more big names from the world of upscale Italian cooking to increasingly enhance the culinary assets of our great tradition.

According to the recent “Food media brands” survey, carried out by Human Highway, GialloZafferano,  the Mondadori Group’s food brand, is considered the “Top Of Mind” brand for 21% of Italians online and held by 39% to be “never again without” in the kitchen and the most used site for cooking.

The site has a monthly audience of 6.3 million unique users (Source: Audiweb Total Digital Audience, November 2017), a community of over one thousand blogs and 9 million fans on Facebook. A new version of the app with a range of new functions was released in December and is available from the iTunes and Google Play Stores, where it has recorded over 6 million downloads and 110,000 active daily users (Source: iTunes – Google Play Store – Google Analytics).

Every month it is also on newsstands with the magazine GialloZafferano.

Raffaele Leone is to step in on 1° February as new editor-in-chief of the magazine Panorama.

57, from Catania, Raffaele Leone started his career on the news desk of the daily La Sicilia. After that, he joined the editorial staff of the daily Indipendente and then moved to Il Giornale in 1994 where, among other things, he was chief news editor and head of the Rome editorial staff, until becoming central chief editor. In 2006, he was appointed deputy editor-in-chief of Grazia. Since 2007, he has been deputy editor-in-chief of Panorama, and was named executive deputy editor-in-chief in 2009.

The Mondadori Group wishes to extend its heartfelt thanks to Giorgio Mulè – who has decided to embark on a new personal endeavour – for the passion, enthusiasm, outstanding professional qualities and spirit of innovation that has driven his work for 20 years in Segrate.

Grazia, the Mondadori Group magazine edited by Silvia Grilli, is the media partner of Medusa Film for the preview of ‘Made in Italy’, directed by Luciano Ligabue, in cinemas from 25 January.

Always a supporter to exclusive events linked to the big screen, Grazia will be present at a preview of the film, which stars Stefano Accorsi and Kasia Smutniak.
The event (which will take place at 8.30 pm on Tuesday 23 January at  the Odeon cinema in Milan) will also be attended by the director and the full cast.
This exclusive evening will be introduced by Giampaolo Letta, chief executive of Medusa, and Silvia Grilli.

Appointments related to the world of cinema are part of an extensive calendar of events celebrating the 80^th anniversary of Grazia. As an interpreter of Italian fashion and style and the most qualified point of reference for Made in Italy, during 2018, Grazia will celebrate this important anniversary together with its loyal readers, celebrities, the world of fashion and beauty that surrounds the magazine, as well s the advertising clients that have always believed in this historic brand.

In Italy around 3% of children and teenagers are dyslexic. Dyslexia is considered as a Specific Learning Disorder and has been recognised by Italian law (n. 170 of 8 October 2010) which defines the condition, protects the right to study of sufferers and provides guidelines for schools on teaching methods. After years of research, much progress has been made, but after school-age how is inclusion guaranteed in the working world? Are companies prepared to deal with the issue?

In order to create a space to discuss the problem, on Wednesday 17 January, at 4.30 pm, at the Smart Arena in the prestigious Samsung District in Milan, a conference has been arranged with the title “Strategies and technologies for inclusion”, with the patronage of AID (Associazione Italiana Dislessia), FID (Fondazione Italiana Dislessia) and the City of Milan. Donna Moderna, the Mondadori Group women’s weekly, edited by Annalisa Monfreda, is the media partner of the initiative.

The aim is to create an opportunity to promote and spread a culture of inclusion.. Sergio Messina, specialist in child neuropsychiatry and Chairman of the Italian Dyslexia Association (AID) declared: “There is still a great deal of work to do to encourage the educational and social inclusion of dyslexics, but the Association has already done a great deal and, in the last 20 years, achieved important results, including the approval of legislation , the first to recognise and protect the right to study, also through the use of compensatory tools.”

The focus of the conference will be on consolidated experience in education and the workplace in Italy, with a panorama of the international scenario and specific reference to the situation in the English-speaking world.

Examples of virtuous inclusion, in which technology plays a leading role. “The aim of Samsung is to improve the experience and lives of people thought cutting-edge solutions able to inspire the world: our priorities include making all of our technological know-how available to society in order to meet the widest range of needs. We are aware how much technology can be a powerful tool for emancipation and social inclusion, and we have direct experience through many projects that we have developed in recent years, such as our Schools in Hospitals activities,” commented Antonio Bosio, Product & Solutions Director at Samsung Electronics Italy.

But technology alone is not enough. It is “a  tool” to help dyslexics to overcome their difficulties, but the real driver of change is the right information.

This is why  Donna Moderna, a  magazine that has always been sensitive to social issues, covers the dyslexia issue with ad hoc projects (like the longform piece on its website www.donnamoderna.com/news produced in collaboration with Lancôme and AID) and its support for the idea behind the conference. “Dyslexia affects some 2 million people and 350,000 families of school-age children in Italy. The families are often faced with conflicting diagnoses, teachers that often do not have adequate tools to support dyslexic children and the children themselves who suffer also from authentic crises of self-esteem by being misunderstood, not being involved in projects to promote inclusion and not being appreciated,” said  the editor of Donna Moderna, Annalisa Monfreda.

The conference is the result of an idea by Gabriella Schiavone, curator of the “around dyslexia” section of the literary competition “Una Città Che Scrive” (A City that Writes), conceived by Giovanni Nappi. In its 2018 edition, the competition, which was born in Casalnuovo di Napoli, has a special section for specific learning disorders. “The power of writing emerges in all of the stages of our competition. In “Una Città Che Scrive”, writing becomes an opportunity for individual and social  redemption; a form of cultural inclusiveness. With its Special Section for Dyslexia, and separate efforts for our autistic friends and a painting competition reserved only for them, we are attempting to respect the noblest principles of social inclusion, “declared Giovanni Nappi.

Speakers include, Pierfrancesco Majorino, Head of Social Policy, Health and Rights of the City of Milan, IBM Italia and Axia, among the first companies in Italy to have adopted a “Dyslexia Friendly” label. The conference speakers also include the creators and supporters of the EasyReading font that ensures readability for all, including dyslexics. Consequently, all of the material distributed during the conference on Wednesday 17 January will use this highly accessible font.

There will also be contributions from teachers and researchers, as well as direct testimonials from brilliant young students who have entered the world of work.

A limited number of places for a robotics laboratory using augmented communication methods will also be available for children.

Although the event is free, there are a limited number of places. To register please sign up at: https://milano.aiditalia.org

Grazia, the Mondadori Group magazine that is the interpreter of Italian fashion and style and the most qualified point of reference for Made in Italy, this year celebrates its 80^th anniversary. In order to mark this important milestone a series of events and projects will take place during 2018 to engage loyal readers, celebrities, the world of fashion and beauty that revolves around the title, and the advertising clients who have always believed in this historic brand.

“We have been young, curious and cosmopolitan since 1938. We have never lost confidence in the power of the printed page,” declared editor-in-chief Silvia Grilli. “We have never thought of the internet and social media as enemies. On the contrary, we have always believed that a combination of print and the web can achieve bigger and cross-generational objectives. The strength of Grazia has been its capacity to be handed down from mother to daughter, from fathers to sons, adding freshness and vitality every week, every day, every moment, “ Grilli concluded.

Young since 1938, with the figure 8 turned to represent the infinite loop, is the slogan chosen to celebrate Grazia’s 8oth birthday. An iconic cross-generational brand, that is both completely Italian and cosmopolitan, with 24 editions around the world.

The first event marking the beginning of the celebrations features Francesca Michielin as the protagonist in an exclusive showcase. The singer-songwriter, born in 1995, who is setting of on tour on 17 March from Fabrique in Milan, will open an evening entitled The Millennials’ Night, on Thursday 11 January, the eve of the release of her new album “2640”.

At the same time, a special issue of Grazia will hit the newsstands entirely dedicated to generations Y and Z, those born between the end of the 198os and the beginning of 2000s: those who are always connected, without borders and that consider diversity an strength. Like the young people who have put together this issue, which begins with an interview with Francesca Michielin and features contributions from Aurora Ramazzotti; Valentina Ferragni, fashion influencer and sister of Chiara; Benji&Fede; Italian champion skier Sofia Goggia; Danish blogger Sophia Roe; YouTuber Sofia Viscardi; and it-girl Luna Bonaccorsi. Plus a behind-the-scenes look at the dancers of Maria De Filippi’s Amici, dressed and photographed by the Grazia editorial team. In the fashion section readers will find the style trends of the fashion influencers and it-girls, .while the beauty pages will outline the beauty trends that appeal to the new generations: sparkling masks, pink hair, crystal manicures and fitness disciplines that mix different specialities.

The freshness, contemporary feel and strength of Grazia are confirmed by the magazines circulation figures (over 164,000 copies), an increase of 7.6% (ADS January-October 2017 compared with January-October 2016); readership data (702.000 readers) up by 2% (Audipress 2017-II compared with 2017-I) and web traffic (1,284,000 unique users) which recorded an increase of 48% (Audiweb TDA October 2017  compared with October 2016).

This enables the brand to reach a total monthly net audience of 3.2 million contacts (Mediamond calculation based on data from Audipress 2017-2 and Audiweb TDA October 2017).

GialloZafferano, the Mondadori Group brand  and Italy’s leading cooking website, has launched a new version of its app, which has already  been downloaded more than 6 million times (Source: iTunes and Google Play) and has a daily average of 110,000 active users (Source: Google Analytics).

An improvement of the multi-channel di GialloZafferano offer which, this year, has pursued an extensive brand extension strategy with the launch in April of the monthly magazine and the publication in November of a book of recipes by the foodbloggers of the community.

With a graphic redesign, and a more useful and user-friendly interface, the new app has been expanded to include a range of functions to help users, from deciding what to prepare to shopping for provisions, as well as the different phases of preparation.

New features include:

– Favourite recipes: whether it’s Sunday lunch, a dinner with friends or a menu for a special occasion, it is possible to choose the name and the composition of your own recipe collection;
– Shopping lists: make sure you don’t forget any of the ingredients you need and what recipes they are for. Practical and shareable with whoever you want;
– Photo-commentary of recipes: to participate in the GialloZafferano community with feedback on recipes and talking about dishes you’ve prepared with photos of your efforts;
– Giallo Zafferano always by your side: thanks to a new registration process, also using Facebook, all of the GialloZafferano services are synchronised and can be used on both the app and on the website. Access using a smartphone of PC, you can easily find your recipes;
– Recipe of the day: with a push notification on your smartphone, you can also receive the recipe of the day, selected by the editorial team, who choose and organise the best dishes to help users discover new ideas for lunches, dinners and parties.
Each recipe is accompanied by lots of useful information – from preparation difficulty to the time required for preparation and cooking and the number of courses – with dishes organised by course and category.

With this new version of the app, GialloZafferano will be an even more effective tool for the brand’s community which, according to the recent survey “Food media brands”, conducted by Human Highway, is considered the “Top Of Mind” brand, for 21% of Italians online, and is seen as being “irreplaceable in the kitchen” and the site most used for cooking by 39% of users.

A year full of special initiatives, news and events. 2017, for CasaFacile 2017 marked its 20^th year, and it is preparing to welcome 2018 with much that is new.

Never more than this year has the Mondadori Group’s interiors monthly, dedicated to those who love their home and want to experience it every day with style and originality, met the challenge of accompanying readers on a discovery of a world that is simple, accessible and aspirational, all at the same time, while also making the dream of an ideal home both real and possible.

An exciting and trendy soul, with a touch of anti-conformity, has made the magazine, edited by Giusi Silighini, a winning product, made up of creative ideas and original suggestions that have always ranged from decoration to DIY, with a growing attention to style, design and innovative furnishing solutions.

“I asked my team to focus on the approach to features, above all when the subject might seem banal or unexciting,” the editor Giusi Silighini explained. “The ‘standard’ guide to choosing a matrass now starts from the highly personal style of sleep of each of us, before looking at the opinions of experts, the ‘classic’ layout of a child’s bedroom becomes an opportunity to apply the pedagogical principles of Maria Montessori. In this way, every page is ‘animated’ and the information becomes more layered in order to enrich all kinds of content, a bit like with HTML 4.0!”.

Among the many surprises that have marked the year . from the dream house to the CasaFacile Design Lab, as well as  workshops, supplements and the “Facciamo Casa” box set, produced with Mondadori Store – CasaFacile now brings to newsstands a special issue on the magic atmosphere of Christmas, with a scintillating cover and three whole homes, specially decorated and photographed by the magazine0s team.

The new Casafacile.it and the CF Style community

Also the CasaFacile “casa-sul-web” (home-on-the-web) is completely new: even more beautiful, with more images and videos and easier to use. The changes include: broader content, tutorials, DIY, shopping suggestions among crafts and  design, as well as the new panoramic format and the homepage slider with high-impact photos that make it easier to catch the mood and style details. On casafacile.it there are also 20 videos dedicated to design icons, selected and presented by the journalist and TV presenter Giorgio Tartaro and the directories for CF style architects and Interior designers (all selected by the editorial team) ready to reply to readers queries ranging from to the simple restyling of a room. The redesign of the site has contributed to a growth in the traffic of casa facile.it, which is currently stable at around 300,000 unique visitors/month (Source: Audiweb View – Total Audience Digital– Average in the last 3 months).

CasaFacile is now much more than a magazine: in 7 years of active presence on social media it has created a team of 24 creative bloggers that share the style and actively participate in the title’s initiatives, but, above all, cultivate a dynamic and enthusiastic community of some 287,000 fans on Facebook and 103,000 followers on Instagram.

But the CasaFacile team will get even better: in January 2018 we will run a new casting to enlarge the team of bloggers and identify new ambassadors of the CF style. Details about how to take part and apply will appear soon on both the site and in the magazine.

The figures of an advertising success

The new editorial approach of CasaFacile has also been rewarded by the advertising clients. In fact, 2017 has confirmed the importance of CasaFacile as a strategic advertising vehicle. The brand continues to grow, both in terms of the number of clients (more than 160 this year, also form outside the sector), and in terms of advertising revenues. Indeed, the positive trend has led to an increase for the CasaFacile system of +23% in revenues, compared with 2016, a result achieved though both display advertising and  thanks to the numerous special projects and events organised exclusively for partner clients.

The first edition of the “Food media brands” survey, by Human Highway, is now available. The research examines two segments of the population – online e offline – a total of 2,200 adults, representative of 52.4 million Italians.

The survey provide a panorama of the sector’s most popular elements, ranging from the TV programmes and personalities to the editorial brands that Italians feel most attached to.
Among the standout results is the positioning of GialloZafferano: Italy’s most popular cooking website with 6 million unique users, and which is also available on newsstands as a monthly magazine and in bookshops with a book of recipes by foodbloggers. All of which make it the only top ranking digital native brand in the Human Highway survey.

The awareness of GialloZafferano emerges particularly strongly among the online audience: for 21% of the segment it is the first cooking brand that comes spontaneously to mind, giving it the “Top of Mind” title in the listing.
GialloZafferano is also one of the most well-known brands in both segments of the survey’s sample: spontaneously mentioned by 19% of the respondents (representing 10 million Italians), coming immediately after two much-loved TV programmes, La Prova del Cuoco and Masterchef.

According to the Human Highway survey, within the online segment, GialloZafferano is identified as the brand most used by Italians for cooking, thanks to the possibility of serving users in different ways across the whole day: it has become a “never again without”, unmissable in the kitchen brand for 39% of Italian Internet users (corresponding to 12 million people).

The analysis highlights how digital brands, and firstly GialloZafferano, are closely identified by their usefulness and are considered a valuable source of recipes, while the perception of the TV shows is mainly related to their entertainment value: with 71% of the respondents declaring that they have seen or consulted GialloZafferano in the last year, qualifying it as the brand the most effectively converts knowledge into utility.
GialloZafferano is the point of reference for internet users also in terms of  its influence on buying behaviour: with twice as many respondents declaring that they follow the advice indicated in the featured recipes, compared with those on the TV programmes.
In this context, based on the indications regarding the spontaneous awareness of all of the Mondadori Group’s food brands in the survey – GialloZafferano along with Cookaround, Sale&Pepe and Cucina Moderna – reach a total of 23.4% of the population.