L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS learned from previous years? T h i s i s a n u n p r e c - edented campaign, from m a n y p o i n t s o f v i e w . I n terms of size, as it will involve a s m a n y a s 2 6 c o u n t r i e s (which could become soon 50) in 3 continents; in terms of content, as it will be about contemporary Italy and will stir clear from stereotypes and, finally, in terms of tools, as a multiplicity of actions, m e a n s , i n i t i a t i v e s a n d c h a n n e l s o f a d i g i t a l a n d innovative nature will be used, while keeping in mind the cultural specificities and t r a d i t i o n s o f e a c h t a r g e t market. At the moment, what i s M a d e i n I t a l y experiencing? T h e p a n d e m i c h a d i t s negative effects in various sectors of Made in Italy. In particular, of the three "F" ( F o o d , F a s h i o n , F u r n i t u r e ) , i c o n s o f Italian exports, only Food seems to have successfully cushioned the blow of the crisis, recording, according t o I S T A T d a t a , a 1 . 9 % increase in exports in 2020, compared to the previous year. The pharmaceutical sector also held up well, with an export growth of 3.8% compared to 2019. I s I t a l i a n s o u n d i n g still a problem for Made in Italy products? Precisely because Made in Italy is a brand recognized and loved worldwide as an e x p r e s s i o n o f q u a l i t y , e x c e l l e n c e , l i f e s t y l e a n d culture, it is also particularly s u b j e c t t o i m i t a t i o n . T h e p h e n o m e n o n o f I t a l i a n sounding, unfortunately, is a n e v e r - p r e s e n t a n d v a s t problem for our products a n d f o r o u r b u s i n e s s e s , especially in the agri-food sector. The final consumer is deceived as to the Made in Italy origin of some products, b e c a u s e o f f o r m s o f "communication" that evoke false "Italian" origin, through the use of typically "Italian" w o r d s , c o l o r s , i m a g e s , geographical references, and competitive prices. It is a difficult phenomenon to fight due to its magnitude, and b e c a u s e t h e r e i s n o i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e g a l protection. However, over the years the fight against Italian sounding has seen s e v e r a l i n t e r v e n t i o n s promoted by the ICE Agency, such as the communication c a m p a i g n T h e E x t r a o r d i n a r y I t a l i a n Taste, promoted in the USA and Canada since 2014 to spread the value of Made in Italy products. The campaign a l s o u s e s a d i s t i n c t i v e symbol, created in 2015 by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, t o i d e n t i f y w o r l d w i d e a l l promotional activities for Italian agri-food products. More recently, our Agency, ICE, has launched a pilot project on Blockchain in t h e t e x t i l e a n d a g r i - f o o d s e c t o r s ( h t t p : / / w w w . blockchain-ice.it/), which aims at spreading the use of n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s a m o n g I t a l i a n c o m p a n i e s t o guarantee the production chain's traceability and to establish new paradigms for the protection of intellectual p r o p e r t y a n d t h e f i g h t against counterfeit products. The pandemic speeded up digitization processes for Italian companies: what was the impact of it o n M a d e i n I t a l y , especially for companies p a r t i c u l a r l y a c t i v e o n overseas markets? I n 2 0 2 0 , e - c o m m e r c e d r o v e I t a l i a n e x p o r t s , mitigating the losses due to the collapse of international trade, and supporting the turnover of our companies. To date, in Italy 56% of c o m p a n i e s u s e d i g i t a l c h a n n e l s t o s e l l a b r o a d (mainly Europe, the USA and C h i n a ) a n d 6 2 % s e l l o n multiple markets, but the road is still long, as 75% of Italian companies export less than 20% of their turnover online. In particular, the digital export of consumer goods (B2C) reached a value of 13.5 billion euros (16.5 billion USD) in 2020 (+ 14% compared to 2019), with an incidence of 9% on the total export of consumer goods and 3% of total exports. The trend was led by the textile and clothing sectors (53%), agri-food (46%), furniture ( 8 % ) a n d e l e c t r o n i c s , cosmetics, sports goods and g a m e s ( w h i c h t o g e t h e r account for 25% of digital exports B2C). B2B digital export, on the other hand, r e c o r d e d a v a l u e o f 1 2 7 billion euros and despite a 5% decrease compared to 2 0 1 9 , i t i n c r e a s e d i t s incidence on the value of overall product exports by 2 9 % , e s p e c i a l l y i n automotive sales (18 , 5%), textile and clothing (14%) a n d m e c h a n i c s ( 1 1 . 8 % ) . ( S o u r c e : D i g i t a l E x p o r t Observatory of the School of M a n a g e m e n t o f t h e Politecnico di Milano). The world is definitely more virtual now. What k i n d o f c h o i c e s h a v e been made on this front? The COVID emergency undoubtedly accentuated the c h a n g e s , a l r e a d y t a k i n g p l a c e , i n t h e p a t t e r n s o f consumer behavior and in t h e b u s i n e s s m o d e l s o f companies, even in foreign markets, accelerating the drive towards digitalization. Also in this field, the Pact for Export 2020, with its two pillars training /information and e-commerce, defined a clear strategy and mobilized i m p o r t a n t r e s o u r c e s t o d e v e l o p d i g i t a l s k i l l s o f Italian SMEs and promote their multi-channel approach o n f o r e i g n m a r k e t s , reinforcing the three lines of action already launched by t h e I C E A g e n c y i n 2 0 1 5 , under the Extraordinary Plan for the promotion of Made in Italy. W h a t d i d i m p r o v e t h a n k s t o t h e 2 0 2 0 Export Pact? O n t h e o n e h a n d , t h e d i s s e m i n a t i o n o f d i g i t a l c u l t u r e a m o n g I t a l i a n companies, through multiple d i g i t a l a c a d e m y t r a i n i n g courses (which benefited o v e r 2 0 0 0 I t a l i a n companies) carried out in c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h p r e s t i g i o u s I t a l i a n universities and territorial partners. On the other, the signing of agreements with t h e m a i n d i g i t a l marketplaces and large-scale d i s t r i b u t i o n c h a i n s , t o facilitate the participation of SMEs in the opportunities offered by e-commerce and large-scale retail channels. T o d a t e , i n f a c t , o v e r 2 9 agreements are active with t h e m a i n d i g i t a l m a r k e t p l a c e s ( A m a z o n , Alibaba, We Chat, Flipkart, Frisco, Central Group, etc ...) in 28 countries. This benefits o v e r 4 , 0 0 0 I t a l i a n companies, today able to enjoy services and visibility on these platforms within d e d i c a t e d M a d e i n I t a l y sections, especially in the fashion, f o o d , d e s i g n , w i n e a n d c o s m e t i c s s e c t o r s ( B 2 C channel), but also mechanics a n d t e c h n o l o g y ( B 2 B channel). W h a t s t e p s i n t h i s d i r e c t i o n w e r e t a k e n , e v e n b e f o r e t h e pandemic? Since 2015, more than 80 agreements have been signed with distribution networks (GDO), both physical (points of sale) and digital (online), and online retailers all over the world. This was done to i n c r e a s e t h e v i s i b i l i t y , d i s t r i b u t i o n a n d s a l e s o f quality products of Italian S M E s , i n a c h a n n e l notoriously difficult to access for our companies due to t h e i r s m a l l a n d medium/small size. Finally, during the pandemic crisis, the ICE Agency created its own digital platform, called Fiera Smart 365, which a l l o w s t h e o n l i n e reproduction of certain types of promotional events (B2B, f a i r s i n s h o w c a s e m o d e , seminars and workshops) a n d w h i c h w i l l b e a n additional promotional tool t o f o s t e r p a r t n e r s h i p s between companies also in the future, with the gradual return to our "new normal." Continued from page 4 The iconic Gucci "double G," a symbol of made in Italy in the world (Photo: Andersasphoto/Dreamstime) The Pact promotes 6 strategic pillars (communication, integrated promotion, training/ information, e-commerce, trade fair system and facilitated finance) on which concrete action plans can be built.

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