Pubblicità All'italiana: Understanding
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PUBBLICITÀ ALL’ITALIANA: UNDERSTANDING CAMPANILISMO AND DETERMINING INFLUENCES ON ITALIAN ADVERTISING A Professional Project Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by VINCENT TACCHI Dr. Esther Thorson, Project Chairwoman Dr. Amanda Hinnant, Committee Member Dr. Shelly Rodgers, Committee Member DECEMBER 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my chairwoman, Dr. Esther Thorson, for her constant guidance and motivation over the course of my project. Dr. Thorson’s expertise and insight in the field of advertising was invaluable throughout this entire process. My deepest gratitude also extends to my two brilliant committee members, Dr. Amanda Hinnant and Dr. Shelly Rodgers. It was an absolute privilege to learn from them, as they are the two best professors that I have ever had. I cannot thank them enough for their accessibility and interest in my studies over the past 16 months. I would also like to thank my parents, Mark and Andrea Tacchi, for everything. Thanks for listening to my hour long rants on how “I didn’t sign up for this” and how “there’s no way I’m going to get all this done.” Without them, none of this would have ever been possible. Thank you to my wonderful siblings, Leah and Steven, who were always there to make me laugh and relax during hectic times. I love them all so, so much and am the luckiest person on Earth to have them as parents, siblings and best friends. Now, I will write in Italian. Ringrazio i miei carissimi prozii, Silvano e Deanna. Non ci sono parole che riuscirebbero spiegare quanto sono grato per tutte le cose che avete fatto per me. Mi avete accomodato come vostro figliolo e mi avete fatto sentire sempre a casa. Vi voglio bene con tutto il cuore. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………….ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...iv KEY WORDS……………………………………………………………………………..v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………...1 2. FIELD NOTES…………………………………………………………………5 3. EVALUATION………………………………………………………………..30 4. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE……………………………………………………...33 5. ANALYSIS……………………………………………………………………42 APPENDIX A. PROJECT PROPOSAL………...…………………………………………….68 B. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS & TRANSCRIPTIONS……………………….110 iii CAMPANILISMO AND ITS INFLUENCES ON ITALIAN ADVERTISING Vincent Tacchi Dr. Esther Thorson, Project Chairwoman ABSTRACT This study seeks a deeper understanding of the Italian social identity phenomenon campanilismo and to discover its influences on the creative strategies of domestic Italian advertising campaigns. Four advertising techniques: standardization, global consumer culture positioning, local consumer culture positioning, and foreign consumer culture positioning, were utilized as frameworks in this study of Italian advertising. In order to better comprehend the topics of this project, ten semi-structured interviews were held with advertising professionals, eight semi-structured interviews were held with average Italian consumers, and a 13-week internship with an Italian communications agency was completed. The information received through the internship interviews demonstrated minimal to zero influence from campanilismo on the creative strategies of Italian advertising campaigns. Advertisements incorporating the studied advertising techniques do not resonate deeply with Italian consumers, though overall preference goes to those advertisements incorporating Local Consumer Culture Positioning, which promote Italy and the “Italian-ness” of the product. The results from this study give a unique perspective on the utilization of the reviewed global advertising techniques, as the campanilismo-influenced Italy offers a population with various cultures, dialects, and values in one country. iv KEY WORDS International advertising Campanilismo Italy Global Consumer Culture Standardization Italian advertising Local Consumer Culture Foreign Consumer Culture Italian Cross cultural advertising v Chapter I I did not know that a little promise made to my Great-Uncle Silvano in Pietrasanta’s Piazza Duomo would have an everlasting effect on my life. I was 16 when I first met him, but we were unable to communicate outside of hand signs due to the English-Italian language barrier. My promise to him was that I was going to change that, and that I was going to return to Italy within five years and I will bring with me the ability to speak the Italian language. Learning Italian started as something that I did during my free-time, as I thought that learning a few words and verbs as I went along would render me a capable speaker by the time I returned to Italy five years after my initial promise. Something happened during my lax, non-intensive self-taught lessons, however, that caused me to dedicate more of myself to learning the Italian language. Perhaps it was my immediate appreciation for the Italian rock star Vasco Rossi – whose songs helped teach me grammar – or maybe it was seeing my Italian relatives again two years after making my promise and the realization that my progress over the past couple years had been rudimentary and minimal, but I was newly motivated to learn the language of my Grandfather and his family. Needless to say, all-things-Italian became an obsession and, at the time, my lone academic passion. I took every Italian class that I could at the University of Missouri, declaring an Italian Area Studies minor in the process. As a freshman in college, I began looking for career paths that would allow me to utilize my future-fluency in Italian, as I was positive that the dedication and diligence that I had toward language learning would 1 result in me not only fulfilling the promise that I made to my Great-Uncle, but in complete bilingualism. I returned to Italy four years after the promise was made, one year less than anticipated, as a speaker of the Italian language. While my fluency continued to develop over a semester abroad in Florence, I was proud to have maintained my promise with my Great-Uncle. It was during this time in Italy, however, that my dreams of working in Italy were put on hold. In the midst of a recession, it was clear that the work opportunities, and the opportunities for me to find a job in a place where it would be mandatory to speak in Italian, were limited. As a 20 year old with one academic passion and beginning preparations to enter “the real world,” I was unsure of a career path to take, and where that path could possibly take me. Oddly enough, it was once again something Italian-related that helped me realize my other passion: advertising. Shortly after my return from my semester abroad in Italy, Fiat’s newest advertising campaign was released in America. The commercial was very Italian in nature, and I was enthralled. For the first time in my life, I felt spoken to by an advertisement and wanted to become a part of the group of people who can speak to the masses and can use nothing more than a slogan or a 30-second commercial to emit emotion. As a student already enrolled in the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s Strategic Communication department, I began considering focusing the majority of my studies on advertising. This project is the combination of my two greatest passions, and I am lucky to have had the opportunity to complete it. With this project, I looked to better understand Italian advertising, as well as the social identity phenomenon of campanilismo. As I have 2 an intended career path in international advertising, I viewed the opportunity to work and complete research in a foreign country as an experience that would be both beneficial and invaluable as I prepare myself for a future in advertising. The framework of my study is advertising techniques utilized for speaking with, what is believed to be, the world’s population that is becoming more and more globalized. The country of Italy, one with citizens heavily influenced by campanilismo, a phenomenon that influences attachment to one’s hometown and a disassociation with the country as a whole, offers an interesting location and scope in which to apply these advertising techniques. While Italy can be considered a “world of its own,” as it is a country with various cuisines, dialects, and values that vary by its 20 regions, I was interested in discovering if the studied advertising techniques were utilized in a way that combated or promoted the existence of campanilismo among the Italian people. It is important to mention that this project was just as much a personal endeavor as an academic one. I planned on using my time in Italy to continue to improve on my fluency and reach absolute bilingualism, as well as search for work with global advertising agencies located in Italy. One of these goals was reached, as I can say with both confidence and certainty that I am bilingual. My goal to one day work in Italy, however, was once again deterred by Italy’s on-going recession and my personal desire to begin my career in the United States. Upon completion of this project, I feel more than prepared for a future career in advertising. I now enter the workforce with international work experience, augmented fluency of a foreign language, and insight on both the advertising habits of Italian agencies and products and the values of Italian consumers. As my career goal is to 3 become an advertising consultant with expertise in global advertising and communication, I feel that I am on the right path after developing a deep understanding of Italian advertising and the Italian people. 4 Chapter II Weekly Report #1 (June 6, 2014) Today, June 6, 2014, concluded my first week as an intern with Sidebloom in Pisa, Italy. I received brief orientation from one of the company’s founders, (name omitted for privacy, will be referred to as Founder1), and was also introduced to the other members of the staff.