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Abstract
Today, more than ever, products determine their own market presence through the meanings that they assume and the symbolic value that they exude. For this reason, an increasing number of companies are trying to enrich brands and products with new cultural values and messages. The cultural aspects of products and brands are so relevant that lately several companies and organizations have aimed to link art and business to improve both society and corporate performance. If in the 1990s keystone contributions from Pine and Gilmore (The Experience Economy—Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999), Schmitt (Experiential Marketing—How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate, New York: The Free Press, 1999), and Schmitt and Simonson (Marketing Aesthetics—The Strategic Management of Brands, Identity, and Image, New York: The Free Press, 1997) provided interesting and stimulating managerial visions, recent phenomena seem to show the necessity of providing something more than an experience. Gilmore and Pine (Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2007) describe the concept of authenticity as the new business imperative; Holt (How Brands become Icons, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2004) demonstrates the success of some iconic brands with particular cultural connections. Focusing on two Italian companies (Diesel and illycaffè) that do not operate in the cultural industries but can be considered cultural producers, the paper analyzes several cultural projects, explaining their potential contribution to the competitive advantage. Collaboration with artists allows these firms to intercept and to interpret emerging cultural phenomena and consequently to anticipate the trends of the future. Cultural projects represent a sort of distributed research project that allows the co-production of future scenarios in collaboration with several categories of actors, such as famous artists, young talents and consumers. The co-development of cultural projects with external actors allows firms to reinforce connections and build communities of people who share similar visions and values.
Keywords:
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge Douglas Holt (Said Business School, University of Oxford) and especially Roberto Verganti for their insightful inspirations, Alessio Marchesi and Stefano Reghellin (Politecnico di Milano), whose contribution was tireless and invaluable during the entire research process. Naturally, any mistakes or omissions are the sole responsibility of the author. Financial support from the FIRB fund “ART DECO—Adaptive InfRasTructures for DECentralized Organizations” is also gratefully acknowledged.
Notes
5 Citation from http://businessweek.com/archives/1996/b3473083.arc.htm and http://www.fashionmission.nl/fashion_label_category-d_diesel-0004770007.dfs
6 In the paper, we focus on cultural projects that have been developed by Diesel for several years and are now directly managed by the Italian company. For example, ITS (International Talent Support) is a competition for fashion students and young designers sponsored by Diesel. The Raindance Film Festival is another cultural project sponsored by Diesel.
9 Interview developed by Claudio Dell'Era (12 February 2007).
11 Interview developed by Claudio Dell'Era (18 January 2007).
12 In the paper, we focus on cultural projects that have been developed by illycaffè for several years and are directly managed by the Italian company. For example, illy has participated in the Venice Biennial since 2003.
14 Before 2006 the name was “illy Collection”. The name “illy Art Collection” was introduced for the first time in 2006 with the Michael Lin series. These cups are always signed and numbered, and this inscription can be considered the natural evolution of the “illy Collection”. “illy espresso” cups do not belong to the “illy Collection”, lacking the signature, the number and the year inscription on the bottom. Some of the most important series or single limited edition cups of the collection were produced with the inside inscription “amici Collection”.
17 http://www.repubblica.it/online/spettacoli_e_cultura/salga/salga/salga.html. Translation from Italian by author.
21 http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/diesel-30-anni-per-realizzare-un-sogno/2044283. Translation from Italian by author.
22 illy Bar Concept (recently re-named Espressamente illy) is an architectural project developed in collaboration with Claudio Silvestrin and Luca Trazzi to furnish over 200 cafés in 32 countries on five continents. Each provides an authentic Italian coffee experience, starting with its design.
23 Francis Francis espresso machines are a true marriage of striking Italian design and state-of-the-art technical innovation, crafted for the sole purpose of creating the perfect espresso experience in the home (www.illy.com).
24 Ariella Risch is the Chief Manager for Editorial Projects and Sponsorships—illycaffè (interview developed by Claudio Dell'Era, 13 February 2007).
