Why are the Italians the genius of Marketing? If you want to sell, make your brand sound Italian. If you want to sell, tell the world your prod
Why are the Italians the genius of Marketing?
If you want to sell, make your brand sound Italian. If you want to sell, tell the world your product is an Italian design. In romance, women are often dreaming of their knights in shining Armani. If you want customers to experience a sophisticated service ambience, play Italian classical music. Please take note that the Italian genius of marketing pre-dates Gucci and Versace.
The Italians are the genius of Marketing. From cappuccino to Ferrari, modern commerce has considerably imitated the strong convictions of Italians. It is common to see non-Italian companies adopting Italian sounding names for the sake of winning customers. When we hear that a brand is Italian, we associate it with good quality and sophisticated designs. Research shows that country of origin strongly influences consumer purchase.
What makes the Italians the genius of Marketing?
I’m limiting this discussion into three categories, although there are more things that could be said.
1. The Italians are Italians. In movies, fashion, music, architecture or food – the Italians stay as Italians. Iconic celebrities have profited from glorifying their Italian heritage – e.g. Al Pacino, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Franki Valli.
Brands that have stood the test of time are characterized by their convictions, leadership, ability to influence the state of competition and create a brand community. Strong brands stay true to their identity. The Italian way of staying true to themselves have made them the champions of conquering commerce. Their sense of identity is unshakeable, which makes the Italian authenticity incredibly influential. Brand name wise, you can bet that a lot of non-Italian businesses make use of Italian names to create the illusion of authenticity.
The Italians have given us the culture of fiesta, which created the multi-billion dollar industry of event management. The Italians have shared their food with the world, which transformed food manufacturing and extended the product lines in the supermarkets.
Standing firm on your conviction strengthens the transparency of your identity. This is important because it is human nature to favour those who present the absolute truth. Therefore, making your identity more transparent wins customer confidence more than others whose marketing strategies goes where the wind blows because they do not stand up with conviction.
In a season, such as Christmas, where the hostility of political correctness plays havoc in commercial spaces – the Italians still happily go on displaying the Nativity scenes in commercial spaces because it is not offensive to be Italian.
2. The Italians complement their innovations. The old saying that “if your job gives you lemons, sell lemonades” strongly echoes Italian innovation. For a small nation that can barely produce coffee beans, the Italians have turned this gift of nature into a cultural phenomenon. Restaurants and cafés have no choice but to include Italian style coffee on their menu. Likewise, we all enjoy Italian chocolates and Nutella despite the fact that Italy is not the home of cocoa. The pattern is that Italians are champion innovators of naturally produced commodities. This is why competitors imitate the Italians because the basis of the great Italian inventions comes directly from nature, by emphasizing one naturally simple ingredient. The Italian genius continue innovation affair with nature with man-made complementary products – such as coffee machines and café cultures.
3. Italians can capture hearts. Italians are about feelings and experiences. Winning the heart of customers is the aim of advertising, but to win is to know how to transform hearts. The Italians are not afraid to express themselves, which make their boldness a natural source for public relations, word-of-mouth and services marketing strategies. Their passionate expressions and boldness are infectious to the system, which breaks the barriers of logic to search for information. The Italians capture heart through use of symbolism such as families and festivities – which we long for as part of our natural sense of being. The Italians dare to be transparent. How can we not imitate the Italians for talking passionately with their hands!
Businesses and individuals can learn so much from the historical and contemporary Italian influence in global culture. The strongest of lessons of them all is conviction to self-identity. Products and services that have strong identities are admired by consumers, which create the culture and community behind the brand. It is the Italian culture and community that inspired our consumption of food, services, fashion, music and approach to sophistication.
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