The second ‘Winning Italy’ prize has just been announced. Created by Italy’s Foreign Ministry to reward those who have contributed most to the image and reputation of the country across the world, this year saw sweet giants Ferrero pick up the award. It’s an amazing story and a classic post war success story which has seen the company grow from a pastry shop located in sleepy Dogliani to an industrial giant on the edge of Alba. All thanks to the production of a surrogate chocolate

Apart from allowing all luxury hotels in Italy to open up casinos on their premises, there is still no sign of any tangible country wide marketing or communication initiative from the recently set up Ministry of Tourism. Until now that is. Some Italian regions have decided they can’t wait any longer and are going it alone in the style of many country ads doing the rounds eg Go Goa, Incredible India. Not least Campania. First seen in 2009 ‘Campania così bella che è vera!’ is

A new Grana Padano Cheese television spot is about to hit our digital screens. The last one was iconic and ran from 2002. The ad featured a cheese knife slicing through grapes, honey, walnuts etc to land with a thud in a round of Grana Padano. Difficult to beat. View the commercial here The new one is located in a romantic Paris by night as a couple enjoy a meal on a classic barge as they drift along the Seine. The hook hangs around him

Our exploration of advertising promotional spots by the Italian regions continues. As it’s winter and everyone is flocking to the snow resorts for the Xmas break, how do you promote a region whose visitor season really only covers the warmer months of the year. The Regione Puglia launched a year or so ago the novel campaign below. They were certainly brave. The spot is well executed, fun and the message comes across. One snag. There’s no sun, the sea look pretty cold and there’s no

All summer on our satellite television screen, we watched luscious commercial spots produced by the Greece and Croatia Tourism Boards. They were beautiful, enchanting and persuasive and created a wonderful image for both countries as a visitor destination. We were almost tempted to go ourselves! What was impressive was the emphasis on those aspects of the country you would normally associate with Italy first; food, art cities, archaeology etc. Both countries have sensed an opportunity. The messages are clear. Croatia ‘The Mediterranean as it once