The Vatican and the Expo: learning from the Church

Could the Vatican miss the Expo 2015, which will take place in Milan, Italy and whose subject is food and nutrition? Not at all!

Next step is: how to justify the presence in an event which seems have no link with religion and spirituality?

Here come the lesson that we should learn: feeding ideas through the simple application of the mindmapping methodology.

What con be connected with food and nurturing?

For Catholicism first application is quite simple: feed the soul, “not by bread alone”. And the connection with religion is quite simple. You can feed the soul with art, culture, inspiration: and the Church –and especially in Italy- is really a leader in this area.

But that’s not enough, the idea-chain can go further: feeding could mean a correct alimentation, therefore education and family, or sharing food with those who are starving and homeless, not depleting the plant and take care of the environment in the right way.

And so on.

In the end four are the main themes that the Vatican will use as guidelines during the Expo

A garden to safeguard

A food to share

An educating meal

Bread that makes God present

Thus starting from a theme that could be considered far away from the core business of the Catholic Church, we came to a wide range of proposals that actually cover its main offer.

What can we learn from this?

How can we leverage the Expo event to present our core business in Italy to affirm our presence in the best creative way?

Entering the Italian market through Expo and culture

Culture could be the heart of future Expo. Milan it’s not just the business city in Italy, it’s also the nest of culture and artists.

So schools can be a nice choice for organizing events during Expo 2015 to claim the connection between business world and cultural world.

What I suggest is quite simple

a)    find out a subject that can link your production and your solutions with culture, any kind of: literature, paining, poetry, music, design

b)   find a school that could work on this subject producing an exhibition talking and reinterpreting your offers

c)    organize an event in the school where both your solutions and the elaborates could be shown

d)   let’s the press and the web talk about.

Want to know more?

Combining ideas for multiplying successes: opening the italian market

You are a big foreigner company, may be not too big for already being well established on Italy, but enough to invest in this market, which could be really relevant to your goals. 

Have you considered synergies with artisans, designers, fashion creators, food company to ease your way in the Bel Paese during the Expo time?

Supporting the growth of a new talent, find a common goal with a small food industry  (wine, gourmet food, olive oil…) could be an idea to be easily noticed in the Italian scenario during or before the Expo 2015. 

Acting like Mecenate, sponsoring art and designer could be a straight way to find a breakthrough: Italian people love this and many would come to see how a mechanical company or a IT giants could support and valorize a new luxury bag stylist or a team of designers and craftsmen to present their creations.

It will be easy to realize a video of the evening, to reach the press and populate the web and social media with such an event and your brand will win popularity and attention. 

Want to explore more this idea?

In the pictures fashion bags designer Ida DeRosis and her Ghost in piazza Gae Aulenti Milano 

The happy hour culture: an easy breakthrough to the Italian Market

We claim to have invented it, it could be or it could just be another of the arrogant and pompous pretention of the Milanese. We are talking of the happy hour ceremony, a way of having dinner early with friends. Cheap and fast, dynamic and informal, the happy hour moment it’s now a culture for the Milan area and it represent a very good opportunity to gather people for events.

Positioned just after work time, which for the Milanese people could end around 7 – 7.30 pm or even later, bases its success on the fact that any formality is abolished even in the more fashionable and trendy places, like in the Corso Como area (with the new piazza Gae Aulenti and its pool) or Arco della Pace to name some of the newest gathering places.

What is in for foreigner companies? Well you can have the right people, opinion leader, potential customers, influencers with a very low budget.

Usually happy hours  can cost from 5 to 15 euros for me, you can imagine what you can negotiate if you are paying for a party of 100 selected people… a large margin of discount could be applied.

You just have to select the target of the person you want to address, find the way to convince them to join the party, find an appealing subject for the evening, maybe invite some guest star –milanese web stars- to attract more people and you’re done.

Do you have any doubt? 

We are right here to answer all you questions.

What food means to an Italian

What are you willing to sell to the Italian market? Who are your customers? How could you address them with events siding the Expo 2015?

Well you surely know the main theme of Expo is food: nurturing the plant is the payoff.

So you know how much food means to us, how many meanings it has to us.

It means friendship, welcome, care, passion even sex.  Fun, business,  a way to negotiate or make peace. An opportunity to join old friends, to gather from different stories, to start again a new adventure, maybe together.

Food is everything to an Italian: are you able to find a link with it and what you sell?

Tourism is an easy catch: come and taste different food.

Consultancy even easier: your food for thoughts.

Friendship can be used as a pretext for furniture, sport, travels. Family can be an excuse for vacations, housecleaning, cosmetics, perfumes.

And what about B2B?

Well do you really need a red herring?

In case  try to  make a connection with different kind of food or cuisines.

Presses can thus be linked to smashed foot: potatos and so on as the main theme.  Machine tools to delicatessen (salami and charcuterie) and steel mills to spaghetti and other kind of pasta.

As you can see it’s easy to find a way to be here during Expo with your products and find a straight line to the Expo theme: need some help? Here we are!

Could the Expo“fuorisalone” be the chance you are looking for to penetrate the Italian Market?

Why could Expo Milano 2015 a good way to penetrate the Italian market and make a statement to assess your position in Italy? In the recent post I suggested the reasons why Expo could really be an efficient breakthrough to land profitably into our marketplace.

Today I'd like to discuss of one of the most common and loved habits that could really be easily used to set a presence. 


Expo 2015 will especially means “fuorisalone” for the company willing to value the huge number of people that will visit Milano and the high level of international interest that the Expo will raise.

What “fuorisalone” actually stands for? 

It’s an habit that was introduced by the furniture and design exhibition: the idea was to leverage the presence of a lot of people –buyers, journalists, opinion leaders or just curious- in town to organize event not necessarily directly linked to the fair but able to raise attention and promote a brand.

The idea was successful and right now the “fuorisalone” events are even more relevant and powerful that the exhibition itself.

So Milan is used to happy hours, party, conferences, shows that will gather a lot of people or just the lucky few that have been invited to join the gala and the model has been reused and renewed several time.

The Expo will last six months: it’s unbelievable that a company could hold a boot for that long. Therefore the “fuorisalone” events could be the best chance to catch the people you have aimed to and make the noise you want and need to be remembered.

What to learn more?

Stay tuned!

Leveraging your Expo 2015 experience: Elena Puliti's 7 suggestions

Elena Puliti is an italian journalist and writer with a specific and relevant experience in supporting companies to develop a reputation in the media through the organization of events and spreading of news. I asked her to share with you her knowledge. My focus was on how leveraging Expo 2015 to set a strong presence in Italy.

1.     How the Expo could really represent a good chance?

The Expo 2015 is an international showcase in which each company will be able to deal immediately with all markets. But most of all will be the occasion of economic exchanges between countries with essential conditions of cultural, social, technological and environmental differ.

2.     Which kind of industries are you suggesting will get the most from being here?

The companies that have interest in participating in the Expo are those that may be concerned with Italian cultural and culinary traditions, but who also have an interest in making known their products on the European market

3.     What will “fuorisalone” mean during the Expotime?

T  'Fuorisalone' is a calendar of events that take place during the Expo but are located in different places in Milan. They are events that will be in strategic places and typical of the city and directly involving a chosen audience and selected based on a deep knowledge of the area

4.     What should a foreigner company absolutely know about Italian culture and way of life?

Foreign companies that will overlook this event will know the tradition of Made in Italy, ranging from fashion and luxury to the traditional cuisine that is based on the genuineness of the products.

5.     How can a professional like you support these companies? Which will be their advantages?

My task will be to show the reality of the Italian territory. Also I can take care of creating a showcase for the company within the Fuorisalone. The advantages are low cost to be present within the Fuorisalone EXPO, a program that events which take part in cultural exchanges and trade, and the possibility of having a stay organized in every detail

6.     Which guidelines would you suggest to follow?

The company that chooses to participate in the Expo must be present in the area with events involving the local population and have an experienced public relations linked to the city.

7.     Which the mistakes to definitely avoid? 

The most common mistake is to rely to a large agency that considers the foreign company just a number. What I strongly recommend is rather have a person of trust that is present in all respects

Want to make business in Italy? Leverage the Expo experience!

Want to sell to Italy? You know, after more than five years of crisis it seems Italy is finally getting out of the tunnel (no, not the famous Reggio Calabria-Messina one, just a figurative one, the tunnel of GDP contraction) and it’s willing to bloom again.

Are you interested in being part of this?

A very good chance could be to leverage the next year Expo that will take place in Milan. You could check in these months if really it’s the market you want to invest in and plan a sharp strategy to aggress the market and sell more.

So the Expo experience could be a appropriate opportunity to be here, during the numerous gorgeous “fuorisalone” events and meet new clients, state your claims, present you solutions and so on.

Let me suggest you some post that could help you understand which could be the opportunities to consider:

1) what the "fuorisalone" is and how it works to make a statement;
2) 7 suggestions offered by journalist and event expert Elena Puliti to leverage your Expo experience;
3) what food means to Italians and you could benefit to present any kind of product/service you want;
4) the happyhour culture and hw to use it for building leads;
5) how you can combine ideas to make the difference and be noticed during Expo 2015.

This is not enough? You want to know more and understand more about the Italian market, culture, habits, business approach, way to make business contacts, events?

Stay tuned, for new post and  write me paolopugni@gmail.com for any questions, suggestions, hints or collaboration.

See you soon!