National Interest Project Foreign Press, Italy's success stories Eighth summary report Analysis for the period November 20, 2009 to February 13, 2010 © This document is for the exclusive use of Aspen Institute Italia ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 For personal use only. This document is to be used exclusively for Aspen Institute Italia institutional purposes. Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – Summary for November 20, 2009 – February 13, 2010 (cont.) Introduction This summary aims to give a brief overview of the image of Italy conveyed by the major international print and electronic media between November 20, 2009 and February 13, 2010. As the world economy began to show its first signs of recovery, the international press readily dedicated coverage to Italian business success stories, primarily charting the country’s good performance in the face of the difficult economic situation through articles on the growth of Italian businesses in foreign markets. Still attracting much media attention was the Fiat-Chrysler integration, though new deals – such as Mediaset’s expansion in the Spanish television market – were also reported in the monitored newspapers. Meanwhile, coverage of Italy in the papers of emerging economies continued to focus on “Made in Italy” products and fashion. In the period covered by this summary report, personalities from the Italian cultural scene featured little in the foreign press. There were also very few references to exhibitions of Italian art. In contrast, sports-related coverage of Italy was up on the previous reporting period. Work carried out for “Foreign Press, Italy's success stories” (with updated figures) On a daily basis since April 1, 2007, the analysis has covered depictions of Italy in the most influential foreign print and electronic news media titles (a list of which can be found at the end of this summary report). Over the course of 32 months, over 8500 articles have been considered. These items have been divided into three topic areas: - “Italian Business”, relating to views on Italian companies and Italy’s economic policies; - “Italian Culture/Italian Life”, which deals with cultural, social, natural heritage and, hence, tourism-related aspects of the country; and - “People from Italy”, a section dedicated to profiles of and material written by our fellow Italian citizens. A decision was made not to take into account any views of a strictly political nature in monitoring the foreign press for articles on Italy. Over 2000 articles, selected on the basis of their relevance to the abovementioned topic areas, have so far been added to the publicly-accessible section of the Aspen Institute Italia website. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 For personal use only. This document is to be used exclusively for Aspen Institute Italia institutional purposes. Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – Summary for November 20, 2009 – February 13, 2010 (cont.) Commencing from this reporting period, the analysis also included major international scientific journals with a view to identifying studies conducted by Italian researchers and academics. This new initiative is aimed at highlighting Italy’s contribution to global knowledge production. Commentary on Italy in the foreign press Fiat still in the spotlight: relaunching Chrysler under new management Over the last two months, the international press kept the spotlight on Fiat’s relaunch of US carmaker Chrysler. Coverage of the story focused not only on industrial strategies, but also on the Italian managers charged with pulling off the operation. One of these, Alfredo Altavilla, CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies, was profiled at length in the January 26 edition of the International Herald Tribune, which noted that he “spends at least as much time in Michigan as Italy these days, […] to oversee progress in building the engine that’s vital to making the Chrysler Group LLC partnership run”. The piece went on to describe him as “the most likely candidate” to succeed Marchionne in running Fiat’s automotive business. The foreign press also continued to focus on the business strategies of the Turin-based group, both in Italy and abroad. On December 19, the financial pages of the United Arab Emirates daily Gulf News examined the US automaker’s efforts to integrate the Lancia and Chrysler brands in an article entitled “Chrysler to debut first Fiat-designed car”. Similar coverage was given to the Italian car group by The Wall Street Journal, which (on December 23 and 24) carried two articles revealing Fiat’s plans for its Italian factories and those of its US offshoot. On the occasion of the Detroit Auto Show, the New York-based finance paper turned its focus on Sergio Marchionne (on January 12), referring to the hard work done at Chrysler in the previous months. The article stated that, over that period, Marchionne had “ousted several veteran executives, [and] flattened [… the company’s] bureaucracy”. The Financial Times (on January 13) dedicated an editorial to the group’s CEO, entitled “A long haul for Detroit’s new prince”. The major French newspapers also devoted considerable attention to Fiat’s plans. Between late December and early January, Le Figaro and business dailies La Tribune and Les Echos reported on the Turin-based company’s strategies, focusing on the firm’s renewed investment in its home ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 For personal use only. This document is to be used exclusively for Aspen Institute Italia institutional purposes. Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – Summary for November 20, 2009 – February 13, 2010 (cont.) country, as emphasized by the headline in Les Echos (on December 23): “Fiat commits to investing in Italy”. January 25 saw the publication of the Italian group’s annual accounts. The following morning, all the major international newspapers covered the story, underlining that despite the losses sustained as a result of the difficult economic situation in 2009, Fiat could look forward to the future with confidence. “Fiat loses 848 million but is optimistic and will issue dividends”, ran the headline in Spain’s La Vanguardia, whilst The Wall Street Journal noted that, according to financial analysts, 2010 would be “a year of transition and stabilization”. The Spanish newspapers, for their part, devoted special attention to Fiat’s sporting brands, following the contract signed by Fernando Alonso to race for Ferrari in the Formula One World Championship. In two articles (on January 28 and February 5), El Mundo examined the appeal of the Alfa Romeo brand and its integration with Maserati, whilst ABC (also at the end of January) gave considerable coverage to Ferrari and its new sponsorship deal with Banco Santander. On January 19, El Mundo featured yet another article on the company, this time concerning the problem it faced with fake merchandise carrying its prancing horse emblem. The Madrid-based paper noted that “Ferrari is instructing police on how to distinguish genuine from counterfeit products”. “Made in Italy” exports pick up on the back of recovery On the back of the first signs of global recovery, demand for “Made in Italy” exports returned to growth. The business pages of foreign newspapers carried several articles focusing on the export performance of Italian businesses. The first to tout the new encouraging signs for Italian exports was France’s La Tribune in an article (on January 2) entitled “Made in Italy exports underpinned by Asian recovery”, which highlighted that: “Exports from the country that some unjustly considered the “sick man of Europe” have broken all records”. La Tribune (on December 24) featured yet another Italian success story, reporting on the increase in sales and the growth in China of footwear manufacturer Fratelli Rossetti. The good performance of Italian products, especially luxury goods, also received ample coverage in the English-language newspapers of emerging markets. On December 7, Gulf News reported how Lamborghini’s sales had exceeded expectations, whilst the January 19 edition of China Daily highlighted the excellent ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 For personal use only. This document is to be used exclusively for Aspen Institute Italia institutional purposes. Foreign Press, Italy's success stories – Summary for November 20, 2009 – February 13, 2010 (cont.) prospects for 2010 of fashion house Ferragamo. The same Chinese paper, in an article on December 1, had praised Armani’s new online sales strategies. The Italian fashion and design industries received much attention from the international press during the period covered by this report. On December 7, the German Süddeutsche Zeitung profiled Italian company Artemide, focusing on its innovative efforts in the field of lighting design, while on December 11, the Financial Times reported on the latest deal signed by Safilo to produce eyewear under the Tommy Hilfiger brand, and the December 29 edition of Le Monde carried an article on the products of the Italian leather goods label Bottega Veneta. Le Figaro (on January 16) dedicated a page to the style of Dolce & Gabbana and, on the following day, the Financial Times reported comments by Giorgio Armani regarding his future in business. The economic importance for Italy of another of its top-performing sectors, the agro-food industry, was also highlighted in the foreign press. The Süddeutsche