Month: September 2013

Saturday 21 September, in the middle of the Milan Fashion week, sees the start of Food Experience Mondadori, which, now in its third edition, highlights the stylistic links between good food and fashion, following the April edition that was entirely dedicated to food&design.

Until Monday 23 September, within the confines of “White” – the international window on contemporary fashion – the Mondadori festival-show on gastronomic culture brings to Milan, at the NHOW in Via Tortona 35, an exciting programme of events, in collaboration with Sale&Pepe, Grazia and Grazia.it.

Each day, from 09.30, there will be a mix of showcooking and detailed analysis with some of the leading protagonists of food&fashion who will give a first time account of the ways in which these two worlds meet. In particular, during the afternoon aperitifs organised by Grazia and Grazia.it, fashion taster Anna Marconi from Tasteofrunway.com will prepare unique dishes to combine with particular clothes or outfits, as the result of the same creative inspiration. This is how the creations of the designers CO/TE, Charline De Luca, Benedetta Bruzziches and Giorgiana di San Bonifacio Zappieri di Normaluisa become gourmet dishes that recall the look and feel.

In addition, great international chefs, invited by Sale&Pepe, will take part in cookery demonstrations with techniques and secrets from the most exotic cuisines. Including from Sri Lanka Wicky Prian, on Sunday 22 at 1 pm, a master of oriental cooking strongly based on a multi-sensory approach, and, on Monday 23 at 1 pm, the chefs Julien Chiudinelli and Jerker Kellermann with Marco Bonvicini from the Bjork Swedish Brasserie, for a show dedicated to the cuisine of Northern Europe. Among the guests on Saturday 21 at 1p, will be chef Alessio Algherini, one of the coaches from the new TV talent show “The Chef” which has just begun on La5, for a look at cooking on TV.

On Saturday and Sunday at 5.30 pm, meanwhile, is the time for the “White-Sale&Pepe Cocktail”, with barmen Carmen Clemente and Jor Dossena preparing and mixing ad hoc drinks for the event.

The Food Experience is also online. A team of food and fashion bloggers will provide live coverage of all the activities with photos, videos, live blogging and tweeting with the hashtag #FashionFood.

Meanwile, on www.grazia.it/fashionfood and www.facebook.com/saleepepemagazine you can find all the information and updates on the events in the programme

Tuesday 17 September, on La5, at 9 pm sees the start of a new TV show The Chef – Scelgo e Creo in cucina, created in collaboration by Mondadori and Mediaset.

A prime time challenge – for 11 weeks – featuring 14 contestants aiming for the title of “The Chef” under the guidance of chefs Davide Oldani and Filippo La Mantia, and with the help of two coaches: the food blogger Chiara Maci and the chef Alessio Algherini.

The selection of the contestants was made in June and July on the web site www.thechef.mediaset.it, that will trace the entire programme up to the final. In order to take part, the aspiring chefs submitted their candidacies with a video-recipe in which the displayed their skills in the kitchen with quality original dishes.

The production team and the two chef presenters made a selection from the contributions received of the best 50 candidates who in the pre-selection phase will be tested by the two coaches. From the first challenge they can proceed to the second episode 14 challengers, the real protagonists of
“The Chef”.

In fact they will take part in the advanced stages of the programme in teams, arriving at 6 semi-finalists and 4 in the final showdown. But only one will be pronounced the winner of the title “The Chef” and the opportunity of joining the staff of Filippo La Mantia’s new restaurant.

The coaches will have the task of training the black and white teams to enliven the theme of the challenge, more precisely, the “review” of a recipe from the monthly Sale&Pepe. The coaches will also be responsible for the shopping with a designated budget where they can use their imagination in finding new ingredients to use in the recipes.

Having analysed and commented on the shopping, the chefs will sound the starting bell for the “cooking time” and the contestants will have to prepare dishes both in the studio and outside. The tests will cover all kinds of food, from appetisers to desserts and the selection of the most appropriate wines to match the recipes.

The two presenter chefs will not only judge the results but also provide useful tips and suggestions and , each episode, will elect a winning team who will receive a prize of extra money to spend in their weekly budget. The best (who might not be in the winning team) and the two worst (one from each team) will run the risk of elimination. They will face a second challenge starting from a video-recipe sent in. the author of which will be a guest in the studio. The one who produces the worst dish will be eliminated from the programme.

The Chef is the first cooking talent show to be developed mainly on the web. Starting from the sharing of video-recipes and the selection through the site (which will be continuously updated with news and videos during the programme) each step of the competition will also be covered on social networks with dedicated fan pages on Facebook (The Chef), a Twitter profile (@The Chef_La5) and the hashtag #TheChef.

A summer of big numbers for Mondadori that saw the success of the re-launching of the most important brands in its portfolio confirmed.

July and August circulation figures rewarded Grazia, Donna Moderna and Tustyle, all of which were re-launched at the same time in May, and Chi, which once again distinguished itself in the women’s people segment for its close links to the readers.

For all of these titles, the months following the re-launch and in particular the summer months, have been very positive, reversing the trend in circulation with a total of over 1,200,000 copies a week (+37% compared with April 2013, prior to the re-launch). To these results should be added the excellent performance of add-on sales and the confirmation of growth in digital.

In particular, the three women’s titles Grazia, Donna Moderna and TuStyle, reconceived in order to more effectively respond to the needs of three distinct female targets, recorded total average summer weekly sales of 800.000 – that have grown continuously compared with the same period of the previous year – overtaking the already ambitious target of 750,000 copies, announced during the re-launch phase.

“We are very proud of these results,” declared Carlo Mandelli, general manager of Magazines Italy. “Clearly it was not presumptuous of us to state that it was an unprecedented initiative in the Italian consumer magazine market that has rewarded the company’s boldness and the efforts of everyone. The circulation figures confirm this success and Mondadori’s leadership in magazines. This is also thanks to the organisational decisions taken before the summer in the Magazines Italy area with the creation of a new structure based on the integration of print and digital, form which we hope to draw further satisfaction in the coming months,” Mandelli concluded.

Grazia achieved an average weekly sale in the summer of 220,000 copies, an increase on the previous year; Donna Moderna, which maintains its leadership position in women’s magazines, saw a continuous rise in circulation in July and August, with a weekly average of 360,000; there were also excellent figures for TuStyle, which over the two summer months recorded an average weekly sale of 220,000 copies.

There has also been a continuing rise in the presence of the three brands in digital, with an overall increase in the average number of unique users of 55% compared with last year (source: Shinystat, July/August), also thanks to the launch of Tustyle.it and the new mobile versions of Grazia.it and Donnamoderna.com.

The richness and liveliness of the content and exclusive news coverage have rewarded Chi, which saw total average circulation in July and August rise by 13% compared with the same period of 2012, reaching a total of 410,000 copies, with a peak of over 520,000 copies for the 14 August issue.

There was also much appreciation for the new formula of GraziaCasa, launched in the spring after the reconfiguration of the interiors portfolio. The magazine, which has enabled Mondadori to strengthen its control of the sector, saw a substantial increase in circulation from April to today (+73% compared with the same period of 2012), with average monthly sales of over 90.000 copies.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. has today announced the appointment, with immediate effect, of Mario Maiocchi as chief executive of Mondadori Direct S.p.A., a company of the Mondadori Group – led by chief executive Ernesto Mauri – that operates in the retail sector.

Mondadori Direct, which operates across the country through a chain of over 550 shops – either wholly owned bookstores, of which 8 are multicenters, or franchised outlets – and online with the inMondadori.it site, which in 2012 generated total revenues of €245 million.

The board of directors of Mondadori Direct S.p.A. has at the same time appointed Mario Resca as chairman. Resca who, among other things, boasts an extensive and consolidated experience in Italian and international retailing was the man behind the McDonald’s phenomenon in Italy.

Maiocchi, 57, who was born in Bolzano and has a degree in economics and business administration from Milan’s Bocconi University, has had a significant career in different companies, both in Italy and abroad. He began his career at 3M Italia, moving in 1985 to Control Data Corporation, then Nashua and, in 1990, EMI Music. From 1998 Maiocchi occupied a series of positions with growing responsibility at the Metro Group, until 2008 when he was appointed chief executive of Unieuro, part of the European Dixons Retail Group where, in 2010, he was appointed managing director for South Europe.

Mondadori warmly thanks Renato Rodenghi, who leaves his operating responsibilities after having, in a long career in the Group, made a significant contribution to the development of Italy’s largest bookshop chain and the birth of a multi-channel system for the offline and online sale of mainly media products.

From this month the sale of national advertising for the Radio Subasio will be exclusively managed by Mondadori Pubblicità.

The agreement is a further fundamental step in the process of reinforcing the Mondadori Group’s advertising sales company which, already strong with its sales for R101, Radio Kiss and, since April of this year, Radio Italia solomusicaitaliana – with the addition of Radio Subasio consolidates its leadership in the Italian radio market.

With an average daily total of 8.9 million listeners and 23.8 million over 7 days, net of duplications, Mondadori Pubblicità’s new offer is extraordinarily complementary in terms of the stations listeners, both in terms of the target and distribution around the country. The addition of Radio Subasio to the Mondadori Pubblicità portfolio completes the coverage of central Italy, where the station is leader in terms of audience.

“This concession if further proof of the consideration of Mondadori Pubblicità for the radio business as a strategic asset with great development potential,” declared chairman and chief executive, Angelo Sajeva. “In the space of just a few months, firstly with the acquisition of the concession for Radio Italia and now the addition of Radio Subasio, we have significantly altered the configuration of the Italian radio market and our position in it. Our offer is now structured, both in numerical terms and the way in which it complements the different targets, it really can become the first choice of clients who want to use radio to advertise their products and services and,” Sajeva concluded, “with this acquisition, which will increase our annual revenues in the sector to over €60 million, we will also become one of the leading radio advertising sales companies in the Italian market.”

With a daily average of 1.6 million listeners and 6.1 million over 7 days, Radio Subasio is Italy’s most important local radio station.

“For us this opens up a new phase,” underlined Rita Settimi, president of Radio Subasio, “that we hope will be positive for a marked increase in advertising sales in a very difficult moment for the market as a whole.”