Following over ten years of success, innovation, and constant growth in the digital landscape, AdKaora, the MarTech agency of Mondadori Digital, announces a strategic and visual rebranding created in collaboration with DUDE Design, a branding and design studio that combines aesthetics and strategy to create distinctive visual identities. This evolution redefines the company’s identity, translating the balance between a human approach and technological effectiveness into a cohesive, contemporary design.

From the Maori collective to “living technology”

Since its inception in 2013, AdKaora’s positioning has been guided by the claim “Digital Fighters,” rooted in the brand’s name itself, where “Ad” stands for advertising and “Ka-ora” recalls the Maori term translatable as “it is life.” For over ten years, this philosophy has guided the team according to the collective spirit of the Haka: that of a united team of talent that, year after year, has supported the company’s growth.

This journey first led to international expansion in 2025 with the acquisition of the Spanish company Adgage and the creation of AdKaora Iberia, followed in early 2026 by the merger with Hej!, now the second pillar of the new AdKaora.

In light of this major evolution and the unification of distinct yet complementary spirits and skill sets, the rebranding arose from the need to consolidate a single identity—one capable of providing the best synthesis in which all teams can recognize themselves. AdKaora thus embraces a systemic vision where humans and technology feed off each other in a continuous loop. This gives rise to the new payoff: “Breathing Innovation.”

«Designing a new corporate identity was a long and profound journey. I want to thank DUDE and our entire team for their hard work. We started from the conviction that innovation is not a purely technological process. With “Breathing Innovation”, we want to tell the story of a technology that is alive and organic to the company, adapting and evolving alongside people. It leverages a corporate culture made of professionals ready to step up with curiosity, determination, and that irreplaceable human touch that complements technological tools. It is our promise to the market: we are not mere data and technology optimizers, but orchestrators of solutions capable of uniting intuition with digital accuracy», stated Davide Tran, MarTech Hub Director of Mondadori Digital and CEO of AdKaora.

The new brand identity designed by DUDE Design: strategy, identity, and visual language

The graphic work managed by DUDE Design covered the entire scope of the brand identity, from defining the positioning to building the visual system, through to its application across all brand touchpoints. The result is a cohesive, scalable identity designed to accompany AdKaora into its next phase of growth.

At the core of the new visual system is a logotype that merges two seemingly opposing spirits into a single harmonious form:

• the Human spirit, expressed through soft, graceful, and deep characters, symbolizing intuition and sensitivity;

• the Tech spirit, entrusted to precise, geometric fonts typical of the MarTech landscape.

The color palette has been refreshed to reinforce this vision with a stark contrast between dark tones and a bright green, bringing energy and vitality to the identity without compromising on solidness.

“AdKaora involved us at a time of major transformation: after a significant structural shift and a merger, the company needed an identity that could tell the story of this new ecosystem. From our very first conversations, it was clear that people have always been a fundamental component of its identity. Together with its technological and innovative DNA, this defines a dual spirit that we translated into a visual system—from the logotype to the entire visual identity—that fosters a continuous dialogue between data and instinct,” stated Lorenzo Picchiotti, Chief Creative Officer & Partner at DUDE & DUDE Design.

The evolution of the advertising model and growth drivers

This initiative is part of Mondadori Digital’s broader strategy, in which AdKaora represents one of the key assets in the evolution of the advertising and technological model.

Starting from mobile marketing and strengthened in conversational marketing thanks to the union with Hej!, AdKaora now provides brands with an integrated full-funnel platform capable of linking brand awareness, lead generation, and conversion. The offering is built on distinctive strategic drivers: the effectiveness of proximity marketing, the precision of retail media, the tangibility of performance marketing, the engagement capacity of proprietary rich media, internationalization—already backed by the strong presence of AdKaora Iberia—and the quality of the editorial network, alongside dedicated technologies for monetizing partner publishers’ inventory.

At the core of it all, the power of data acts as a connecting element, enabling an integrated approach that connects brands, publishers, and consumers in an increasingly direct, personalized, and interactive way.

A continuous loop between intuition and data

The rebranding also reflects the strategic approach with which AdKaora presents itself to its partners today: intuition identifies the route, human thought takes the lead, and technology clears the path.

With this new identity, AdKaora positions itself as the architect of a balance between human and tech, ready to “breathe innovation” alongside brands and publishers.

«The results achieved, together with the integration of Hej!, form the foundation for further accelerating our growth path. By combining AdKaora’s solid market standing with Hej!’s technological and innovation-oriented approach, we have created a unique ecosystem where intuition and methodology reinforce one another. We are not simply the sum of two high-performing entities, but a unified force capable of integrating human intelligence and top technologies to develop proprietary products and platforms, providing brands with solutions that support increasingly seamless customer journeys», emphasized Paolo De Santis, Co-CEO of AdKaora & Chief Operating Officer Adv MarTech Hub Mondadori Digital.

ADKAORA

AdKaora is the digital agency of Mondadori Digital, specializing in mobile innovation and offering multichannel, full-funnel solutions to brands and publishers to reach and engage their target audiences, generating concrete and measurable results. Through the integration of its proprietary DMP, location-behavioral data, and the AdKaora Value Network publisher network, AdKaora can activate data-driven audiences using exclusive ad formats created by the AdKaora Creative Studio. Its solution ecosystem includes AI-driven performance marketing campaigns, an Advanced Proximity Suite enhanced by Savi’s mobile couponing for online-to-offline conversion, and the pharmaceutical Retail Media channel with Addendo Pharma. AdKaora also provides advanced measurement and analytics tools to monitor key KPIs and gather insights on footfall, sell-out, and brand lift. Website: www.adkaora.com

DUDE

Founded in Milan in 2008 by Davide Baldi and Lorenzo Del Bianco, DUDE has grown into one of the leading creative agencies in Italy. With the launch of DUDE London in 2017, it now counts over 100 people across Milan and London. The group includes DUDE Design, a branding and design studio that combines aesthetics and strategy in creating distinctive visual identities; DUDE Originals, for original entertainment content; DUDE Things, dedicated to startup investments through branding and communication consultancy; and Fondazione DUDE, a non-profit organization that leverages creativity to generate social impact through cultural projects and public-value initiatives. Website: https://dude.it