What was your journey until taking on this role in the company?
I graduated in Public Relations at the IULM in Milan, Marketing, and entered the world of work, starting my experience in digital in a "dot com" where I reviewed websites, cataloging them by topic and followed internal promotions, creating banners and small online content. It was a dynamic and fun environment and at the same time an incredible training ground for the digital marketing that was emerging in those years. Subsequently I worked for a publishing group that caters to professionals such as lawyers and accountants. I managed the web marketing of the various brands of the Group in Italy. I believe I was among the first to use Google AdWords in Italy which, at the time, was new. I then moved to Trieste and entered the world of insurance as a web sales manager. Later, I landed at Diesel, where I worked for 6 and a half years. Here I was responsible for digital marketing and followed all digital projects for the OTB Group. I experimented with the first mobile versions of the sites and opened most of the brand's social channels which, until then, had only been present on Facebook. The next stop was Luxottica where I joined as head of omnichannel marketing for the Sunglass Hut brand, with particular focus on the American and Chinese markets. From there I moved to Lotto as Marketing Director: I coordinated every aspect of communication at a global level, from advertising to sponsorships, obviously including digital and e-commerce. Again as Marketing Director, I joined the Calligaris Group and, subsequently, a few months ago, in Cigierre. I am now Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for the Old Wild West, Wiener Haus, Pizzikotto, Shi's, America Graffiti and Smashie brands.
What do you think about the use of social media in the B2B and B2C market segment?
Social media is always an opportunity for communication and should not be underestimated. They allow you to communicate the corporate values, history and projects behind the brand by involving the public. The difference in the use of social media from the B2B to the B2C market lies, among others, in the metrics to refer to. Cigierre, which operates in B2C, looks at interactions, engagement and the fan base, but a B2B company has different engagement dynamics and, consequently, different performance indicators. Social media, however, are now present in the lives of all of us, even when we operate as professionals or in our role in the company. They therefore constitute a non-negligible element also in B2B communication.
Which social network is more in line with your business model and which is less?
Cigierre, understood as a "corporate" company that brings together various brands, is currently only present on LinkedIn, but we are also evaluating other social networks, mainly to communicate recruitment and academy activities. For the individual brands we manage, however, social networks are essential channels. We are present on all the main platforms and Instagram is the social network we pay the most attention to at the moment. On the other hand, food is one of the most trending topics on Instagram and our products, tasty and appetizing, are perfect for channels where aesthetics and visual performance are priority aspects. Facebook still has the largest communities, while TikTok is growing at incredible speed and with excellent results in terms of engagement. Twitter, on the other hand, is perhaps the least relevant social network for us at the moment. We are also evaluating other channels, such as Twitch, for example, where strategy and content must be carefully calibrated to the platform's target. Brands like Old Wild West and America Graffiti, in particular, certainly have excellent development potential on these channels.
The data shows that having a low number of followers damages the brand image, what do you think?
I believe that the number of followers is a metric that still has value: it is a piece of data that people look at and that influences the perception that is created of the brand. Having said that, I am still quite against follower acquisition campaigns and prefer to grow communities through the publication of content relevant to the target audience and then promoted with media investments on the platforms. Furthermore, in a reality like Cigierre, made up of hundreds of restaurants in the area, there is the risk of a dispersion of followers due to the creation of satellite pages that fragment the community, moving users from the official channels to the more local ones. In this case the high number of followers, in addition to the "blue check", is one of the details that distinguishes the official page among all the noise of smaller profiles.
How important are online reviews, are they important?
Reviews in the restaurant industry are essential. At Cigierre we monitor them constantly and with great attention, both from the headquarters and from individual premises, from Google to Trustpilot, via social channels. Managing numerous brands and almost 400 venues, we have also activated tools that allow our area managers and restaurant managers to respond quickly and interact directly with consumers who leave a review, whether positive or negative, in compliance with some centrally defined guidelines. It is essential to analyze and manage the opinions of our consumers. These represent a fundamental indicator of our work, the service offered and customer sentiment towards individual brands.
Have you thought about enlisting the help of professionals from the social world given the importance achieved by digital platforms and their management complexity?
Certainly. Cigierre collaborates with many agencies and digital professionals both for online advertising activities and for social media. Each brand has its specificities. We therefore have several partners who support us in the management of individual channels, while maintaining the definition of the brand strategy and some core activities internally.
What are the future corporate communication projects?
At Cigierre we have several communication projects we are working on. These include all the activities of digitizing orders and payments or the loyalty program which is constantly evolving to adapt to the changing needs of customers. We also constantly explore new communication channels and always develop new content to involve all our targets, which are multiple. I only cite as an example the world of gaming or collaborations with content creators. As regards the social sphere, on the one hand we want to continue to develop existing channels by increasingly stimulating the interest of our fans. On the other hand, we will develop new strategies for emerging channels that we deem relevant for each individual brand.