Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
EuroPCom 2014: Imag[in]ing Europe
5th European Conference on Public Communication
Workshop C2 "Global reputation building"
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
Brand
Expression referred to the people, the companies,
the movements, the parties, the sports clubs, the
cities, the territories and the nations.
The word origins from rural languages with Celtic
roots:
marking the animals’ herds in order to recognize
the propriety
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
Historically the cities, the territories and the states
had stems and ensigns
as a symbolic representation of customs, strength
and identity.
In the course of history
the wars, the conquers and the religious conflicts
had many symbolic characterizations.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
Brand in modern age
Important moment for the
business enterprise.
A symbolic and synthetic sign, which
makes the brand recognizable,
but also develops financial values
and gains the customer’s trust.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
20th Century
The “public branding” has witnessed a strong comeback
of the symbolic values,
with the affirmation and the conflict of ideologies.
Two World Wars and a long “Cold War”
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
Today
The re-discovery of a branded image represents
for the public institutions (especially the
territorial ones) the capacity to:
•Recap the identity process
•Measure continuity and discontinuity
•Understand the evolution of the collective
symbolical heritage
•Manage and modify the narrative
communications
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
The narration of cities and communities becomes a
complex theme of the public communication,
assuming the role of:
Sharing the identity process
and the promotion of attractions
Representation of the competitive
identity
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
The big events
(cultural, sporting, scientific)
become often occasions for the revision of the
relationship between the identity (vocation)
and the told story.
For the city of Milan
the double opportunity to welcome the
Universal Exposition in 2015
and to begin
the transformation of the city into a “metropolis”
is the right time to accurately treat its
branding policy.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
In democratic contexts
The brand is not a political property
It is the people’s property.
Explaining the relation between identity and change is a
collective right.
The governing institution has the task to promote and regulate
the public debate,
while trying to define a point of synthesis and sharing.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
A city corresponds to the
inter-competitive systems of interests.
For the institutions the rule is to
avoid a representation of a single part for a whole.
Managing the complexity
in a concise but pluralist form.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
The administration of the city of Milan has created in
2012 a Committee Brand Milano
with the presence of
representatives of various sectors
of the social system
(enterprises, universities, associations, religious and professional sectors)
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
It is important to analyze the historical relationship between the
identity-related values and the transformation of the narrative
communication in this past century.
From Expo 1906
(which was being held in Milan with the main topic of the
European and transportation tunnels)
to Expo 2015
(which will be held in Milan with the main global topic of
Feeding the planet, Energy for Life),
it has been estimated that the
fundamental changes of city-telling have been at least ten.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
An exhibition regarding this history at the
Triennale di Milano(April-June 2014)
is currently circulating amongst the suburbs of the city.
Shows - poetry, literature, music, dancing about the history of the city and of the communities in the
cities’ streets.
Seminars and meetings about this issue.
A big analysis of the public opinion
on the identity of the citizens
(inhabitants, users of the city, border workers).
A film produced by the RAI about the change will be
presented at the beginning of Expo.
Two books will be out soon.
In February, just before Expo, there will be an international
forum,
forum dedicated to the evolution of the narrative regarding the
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city from the various observers around the globe’s perspective.
Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
Conclusion
The 5 principal themes of the
“new history”
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
1. The final transformation of the
industrial economy towards a
complex form of the material and
non-material production.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
2. The transformation of the historical
village (1,5 million inhabitants) into a
metropolitan city,
with an “infinite” tendency, on a territory
of up to 5 million inhabitants.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
3. The increase of
glocal cultures
inside the urban economy
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
4. The re-evaluation of the cultural,
environmental and scientific heritage
(after being considered marginal in the centrality of
the industrial economy)
In order to also re-discover the
touristic vocation
of the city
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
5. Fashion, design and football
at an internationally competitive level
but in a context of a process of innovation,
that implies not only the luxury, but also the
quality of the social life.
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
A model of experience
Methods, narrative production, relation between
competences and powers (institutions, politics,
culture, economy)
We are currently working on the transformation of this
committee into a permanent organ
(equal to the service of other entities).
The construction has been placed in the interior of the
Triennale di Milano
(internationally reputed for the design culture).
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Europcom – Bruxelles 15-16 otttobre 2014
Stefano Rolando – Brand Milano
In bookshops
November 2014
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