2011 marks 150 years since Italy was unified. Turin is preparing great festivities for this great occasion, which will also provide the opportunity for collective debate, encouraging a National reflection of the country's past and present and leading to a conscious vision about its future.
The Italy 150 Committee, active since 2007, is composed of public entities and the main economic and cultural bodies from the Piemonte region. In concert with the Italian Government, it has been tasked with designing and organizing these festivities in Turin and the Piemonte.
In this spirit, Turin has decided to be at the service of the Nation to celebrate in 2011 a great event with the title “Experiencing Italy”, articulated through an exceptionally rich program of cultural activities, sports and shows.
From 17 March to November 20 there will be 250 days of exhibitions, themed displays, conventions and shows, presenting the best that Italy has to offer to the world: artistic and cultural beauty, creativity made in Italy, innovation, quality of life, history, and enogastronomy. An extraordinary event that will allow visitors to experience Italy by reliving its past, discussing its present and seeing its future possibilities, with the final aim of building a national identity framework that is shared by all Italians and becomes a source of pride for all.
Experiencing Italy is for all “Italic” people, that is Italians in the strict sense of the word, new Italians, Italian communities around the world, and everyone who is passionate about our country.
Experiencing Italy is a great international event where visitors will have a true Italian experience. The general public will not only have the opportunity to see all the proposed activities and shows, but to live them, becoming part of the exhibition and tasting a fresh experience of “Italianness”.
The main exhibitions in the program:
ART – a selection of masterpieces by great artists from 1300 to 1861, which will trace the history of Italian cities through the works that represent them.
ENOGASTRONOMY – a trip through the typical flavors and aromas of our country, where Italians will have the opportunity to be part of numerous themed workshops that have been organized for this occasion.
HISTORY AND IDENTITY - an interactive, participatory representation of the slow, sometimes difficult but nevertheless relentless process that has “made us Italian”.
FUTURE - a dedicated portrait about the future of our country, of the Italy we will become through the main aspects of everyday life: mobility, home living, the body, work, and our relations with the community.
WHAT IS IT ?
In this step you will find information about the Brand Builder, who is asking you to propose a Solution for the challenge. He introduces himself (as a Brand of course :) The more you understand about the Brand, the more chances you have to create what is wanted.
IMPORTANT: There is a possibility that the Brand Builder prefers not to disclose who he is, usually for confidentiality reasons. Such Briefs will be published in an anonymous way. In this case the Brand Builder will say as much as he feels comfortable saying.
Here are two EXAMPLES
In case there is no problem with disclosing the identity (VISIBLE):
“NMN -No More Nicotine- is a Brand that promises to counteract the damages to the skin that can be caused by smoking. NMN is distributed in pharmacies and drugstores and its price positioning is middle-high; it is mainly promoted through professional endorsement and is not massively advertised.”
In case the Brand doesn’t want to disclose his identity (ANONYMOUS):
“Brand counteracting the damages to skin caused by smoking. Its products are distributed in pharmacies and drugstores with a middle-high price positioning; they are mainly promoted through professional endorsement and are not massively advertised.”
In summary: Who is your client (in a visible or “anonymous” way :)
The Committee 150 is asking creators to conceive the title of the exhibition about the “Future”, which should be easy to recognize and recall by the general public.
The title, as one of the main items identifying the exhibition, will be printed on all materials to be designed for the exhibition, both indoors and outdoors.
The exhibition will take place inside one of the two legs that make up the fascinating space that was the OGR (Officine Grandi Riparazioni - Train Maintenance Workshops, one of the monuments of Turinese industry where trains used to be built. The other leg will be dedicated to exhibitions on “History and Identity”, titled "MAKING ITALIANS”.
Both exhibitions are linked by their inevitable closeness and continuity, both in terms of time and space.
The exhibition on the “Future”, sprawling over approximately 6,000 m2, presents visitors with scenarios of a future that feels both near and immediate, comprising a selection of innovations, solutions and discoveries that today are laying the foundations to change the way we live tomorrow.
The course of this exhibition includes a series of stations, each with imposing architecture that has a dreamlike flavor and delves into a topic of everyday life (home living, the body, mobility, work, and the community). These topics also include two overarching questions, how we will communicate and how we will think.
The succession of these stations does not force visitors to follow a given path, instead it frees them to move around the space and experience all the sensory and perceptive stimuli it offers, making them play the role of a true explorer.
WHAT IS IT ?
This is the task the Brand Builder asks you to accomplish. If you don’t understand it, you are completely out of luck !
EXAMPLE
“We ask the Creators to develop a print advertising campaign in order to increase Brand’s visibility. It will be used in national magazines this spring.”
In summary: It’s the objective of the client, therefore your objective too !
Inclusiveness is the main feature of the Experiencing Italy event program. It is also an activity that wants to explore the possible future as an experience that affects each one of us.
This exhibition wants to speak to the broadest public possible, both in terms of age and socio-cultural characteristics. However, this does not take from the fact that the main target of this project is made up of young and young – adult men and women: this is the part of the population that, due to their education and inclination, is quite curious, easily adopting innovations and discoveries that, in a few decades, will become mainstream for all.
WHAT IS IT?
People that the Brand Builder wants you to entertain and persuade to think, feel or do something using your creation. Usually you will read about their age, sex, social level and behaviors. You should always keep that information in mind while creating, as the target audience is the final recipient of what you create.
EXAMPLE
“Smoking girls and women who would like to quit smoking but can’t. Usually health-conscious adults who care about their looks. They feel guilty about smoking because they know it is harmful. They read books about it. This is a real problem for them: it’s like “My brain wants something, but my body acts of its own accord”. They don’t relate to my brand, they are just waiting for a trustworthy “helping hand”.
In summary: Get under their skin !
This event represents the opportunity to know and research about the near future, a time of innovation but also of participation and individual responsibility to the society where we live. Thus, the objective is to guide visitors, first to understand and then to visualize their own future.
The naming must evoke:
the idea of a possible and near future to explore and to actively help build
WHAT IS IT?
The thing that the Brand Builder wants to make the target audience think/feel/do because of your creation.
Here are some very concrete examples:
∞ Some things people can think/feel:
- There is a new Brand (or product or idea or...) out there
- This Brand is better than the alternatives or than it used to be
- This Brand is worth paying more for
∞ Some things people can do:
- Start buying the Brand’s products
- Buy the Brand more often
- Stock more products of the Brand in their outlets
The above written examples are very concrete whilst often the proposition of the Brief is emotional. That’s even better as it can be more inspiring!
EXAMPLE
“We’d like to encourage smokers to use NMN in order to minimize the damage to their health while they are keeping giving up smoking (especially if they’ve already tried and failed before).”
In summary: Get inside their brain !
The exhibition is a time to “experience” the world of tomorrow today. Visitors will be able to know the ideas, and touch, see and test the solutions that will become reality in just a few years.
They can also obtain specific content they can take home: in fact, each will receive a kit where they can store printed and digital material that explains in more detail the topics of the displays, so they can continue “visiting” the exhibition from the comfort of their own home.
WHAT IS IT?
This is the key to achieving the objective. It is what supports the proposition and makes it believable. Usually it is a rational statement.
EXAMPLE
“Every cigarette you smoke is causing damage to your appearance. A recent study took several pairs of identical twins where one twin was a lifelong smoker and the other had never smoked. The smokers’ skin was a quarter thinner than that of non-smokers, and in some cases there were differences of up to 40%. NMN contains thinning-blocking anti-oxidants which counteract the effect of nicotine on the skin.”
In summary: You are looking for arguments? You’ll find them here!
INFORMAL: we will not speak “industry jargon” but talk to all
OPEN: it does not impose a tour to be followed; it allows for different speeds and modularity according to the preferences and curiosity of the visitors.
CONCRETE: it communicates ideas and uses tools and objects connected to actual everyday life.
CROSS-MEDIA: it moves nimbly between the different multimedia languages, making broad use of the Internet as the main communication channel.
WHAT IS IT?
It’s who the Brand is. Yes... who!
Treat the Brand as a human being, as it has its own personality. To know the personality of the “client” is fundamental in order to provide a tailor-made job. So, read carefully the listed adjectives...
EXAMPLE
“Scientific, trustworthy, result-oriented, ‘a party’ to achieve your goals.”
In summary: Imagine the live person !
The exhibition title, as its identifying feature, will be present in all communication elements regardless of their level or format (brochure, Italy 150 web site, advertising campaigns, and promotion activities and tools for the event).
WHAT IS IT?
A list of places (or media, or things) where the target audience will see the outcome of your creation. In this step sometimes the Brand will also acknowledge you how much he plans to invest into production. This information will give you an insight whether to create a BIG project or make it small... :)
EXAMPLE
“This campaign is going to appear in lifestyle- and health-focused women magazines of New Zealand, during the spring of 2009. We plan to invest 500,000 USD, which means approximately buying 100 single pages.”
In summary: Consider the medium !
The use of Italian for the proposal is not mandatory; possible solutions in English must be broadly understandable and recognized at all literacy levels.
It is possible to consider a subtitle accompanying the main title.
If the Brand has preferences or technical requirements that your Solution has to match, you will find them here.
Here are some items that you may find in this section:
∞ Guidelines or mandatory inclusions (do’s and/or don’ts)
∞ Business objectives
∞ Market and competitors overview
∞ Good and bad samples
Depending on the Brief, you may also find some files attached with a logo, pictures of product(s), a template that you should use in order to submit your ideas, or any other file that the Brand wants to share with you. So, study the attachments before starting creating.
In summary: Anything else you need to know (not written in the 7 steps before) !
