Month: June 2021

Cultivated, open, curious: these are just some of the characteristics of female readers of magazine that emerge from a new survey by Mondadori Media entitled “The value of print”, conducted in collaboration with the Istituto More and Bva-Doxa, on a sample of omen aged between 25 and 55 who regularly buy and read women’s and lifestyle magazines in Italy.

The survey looked at the lifestyles, habits and reading experience of the sample with a view to drawing up a profile of contemporary readers and identifying that current value of print media, in a scenario in which everyone an increasingly plural media diet.

According to the survey, the female readers of magazines have a hugely varied cultural consumption compared with non-readers: they go to the theatre (45%), exhibitions (58%), they read at least 5 books a year (64%) and also read daily newspapers (81%).

They also have a higher spending capacity and propensity to consume: more than half of the magazine readers (56%) reported a higher spending capacity and that they spend a lot on travel, in particular in Europe (61%), food and beverages (38%), restaurants (27%), clothes and accessories (24%), the home (18%) and technology (18%). 39% adores shopping and more than half (51%) wear prestigious branded items.

In terms of purchasing, 41% of the sample define themselves as demanding and selective, a figure that rises to 49% for the readers of Mondadori Group magazines, who also have a greater interest in branded products (56%). Overall, 39% of the sample is willing to pay more for a product that gives satisfaction and significant importance is attributed to the list of ingredients (41%) in food and wellness. Special interest also emerged for body care: with readers frequently visiting beauty centres (34%), gyms (28%), spas (11%), or buying cosmetics (27%). If we consider only the female readers of Mondadori brands, the purchasing proportion rises to 35%.

An examination of the benefits of reading printed magazines showed that magazines provide an intense and rewarding experience. Interaction with the title is an authentic experience that permits a relaxing and concentrated use (76%), which also makes it possible to pause and reflect on details (69%). Reading is slow and takes up more time and is also less wasteful (67%), making it possible to remember more about what is read (57%), and is perceived not only as providing access to content but also as a moment for oneself (71%).

In fact, the multi-sensorial element offered by magazines is marked, and this in turn stimulates the imagination by activating various senses: tactile contact with the magazine and paper is appreciated (67%), as are the images that allow one to immerse oneself in different environments and situations (57%) and the smell (47%).

Appreciation was also expressed for advertising (77%), which is considered non-invasive if the quality is high (61%), and even has a suggestive and inspirational value, in particular among the readers of Mondadori titles, who are glad to look ad magazine advertising (85%), above all for luxury brands and cosmetics (74%). Attention to the quality of the images and details encourages a higher level of enjoyment and satisfaction among readers, in a continuous flow with the actual editorial content. A more attentive engagement with the pages of a magazine also helps to stimulate memory, in fact 94% of readers claim to have bought products that they have seen in magazines.

Richer, livelier, more accessible: Prometeo, the magazine dedicated to popular science and history, gets and update and a revamp in terms of both content and layout.

First published in 1983, Prometeo over the years has become a point of reference for scholars, university students, researchers, teachers and enthusiasts, thanks to a wealth of detailed and authoritative content in the fields of human, social, physical and natural sciences.

In the new issue, the Mondadori Group’s quarterly magazine embarks of a path of renewal and presents itself to readers with a new enhanced and contemporary formula. On the one hand, an offer of more diversified content, that combines clear exposition, attention to style and the editorial quality for which it has always been known, and, on the other, a more accessible approach, with the experimentation of new language and channels of communication taking the offer to a broader audience.

An evolution that begins with the magazine and continues online, with the launch of a new web site prometeomondadori.it as well as on social media where Prometeo will have a Facebook profile and soon also a presence on Twitter.

The new Prometeo will offer readers and users an eclectic, original and multi-faceted selection of content. From history to the sciences, and from philosophy to art and literature, with the ideas, theories and original perspectives of some of the best scholars of the age.

The revamping of the content is accompanied also by a new layout design and the research involved in the articles will be supported by more harmonious images and illustrations that integrate and enhance the texts, making the magazine more attractive and user-friendly.

THE CONTENT OF THE NEW ISSUE
In the first part of Prometeo readers will find a sequence of articles by established authors dedicated to episodes of history, scientific hypotheses, as well as to forays into linguistics and literature, and philosophical considerations. Starting, in fact, from the myth of Prometheus: from Aeschylus to the present a figure that has inspired essays, stories, and works of art of all kinds, the Greek scholar Giulio Guidorizzi tells who he really was.

And then science. Giorgio Vallortigara, a neuroscientist and member of the Scientific Committee of Prometeo, proposes a radical hypothesis: consciousness as a phenomenon different from thought. In a Crossover special, Prometeo also devotes great attention to the evolution of knowledge and applications in the field of artificial intelligence, an increasingly important issue.

And then, of course, there is art with The Families of Man feature dedicated to an exhibition of fifty great photographers, which opened at the Regional Archaeological Museum in Aosta, telling the story of the end of modernity, the connected world and the pandemic.

Absolutely new in the second part of the magazine is “LIBRIXIME”, a special section of over 45 pages entirely dedicated to non-fiction and its authors. A wide-ranging overview of what readers can find in bookstores. Among the titles featured in the next issue are eleven non-fiction titles, a column dedicated to foreign titles and reprints, the short portrait of the philosopher Giorgio Agamben and an interview with the writer Benjamín Labatut.

A NEW SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
The quality and authoritativeness of the content of Prometeo will be overseen by a new Scientific Team, comprising the historian Sabina Pavone, the economist Severino Salvemini and the neuroscientist Giorgio Vallortigara. The editorial responsibility is entrusted to Gabriella Piroli, a Prometeo journalist since 2012.

These names will be joined by a new Editorial Committee which brings together well-known academics and scientists with younger scholars: Stephen Alcorn, painter, portraitist and illustrator, as always responsible for the cover, Roberto Battiston, professor of experimental physics and long-term head of the Italian Space Agency, the journalist Gianluca Beltrame, Piero Boitani, professor of comparative literature, and well-known English literature expert, David Bidussa, a social historian of ideas, Umberto Bottazzini, the internationally renowned mathematician, Patrizia Caraveo, research manager at INAF and great populariser of science, Pier Luigi Celli, manager, essayist and writer, Luisa Cifarelli, Professor of particle physics and a reference point for physics in Italy, Chiara Franceschini, professor of Art History, Antonio Lucci, a philosopher who works  between Turin and Berlin, Alberto Oliverio, neurobiologist, and among the founders of Prometeo, Mariagrazia Pelaia, translator and member of the Editorial Committee for almost twenty years, and Giorgia Serughetti, researcher in political philosophy.

Donna Moderna, the Mondadori Group brand that is the point of reference in the women’s segment, with a total audience of around 11 million users (Source: Nielsen Media Impact Data Fusion, December 2020), is launching a special insert with the issue on newsstands this week dedicated to the latest Italian holiday trends: slow and sustainable tourism, which focuses on the discovery of the country’s historical and natural wonders.

From medieval towns to the cities of art, hikes immersed in nature to beautiful cycleways, and from panoramic railway routes to the unmissable spots for campervan enthusiasts, this special insert of the magazine edited by Annalisa Monfreda explains how readers and users can enjoy a “slow” holiday that is consistent with the enhancement of often forgotten cultural assets and landscapes.

“We talk about ways of travelling that people are finding increasingly attractive but often struggle to adopt because they think they might not be appropriate for their physical capacities or are just too uncomfortable.  But this is not true, as we see from the stories of people who have tried, sometimes almost by chance, these ways of travelling and never looked back. The itineraries that we have selected are ideal for beginners!” commented Donna Moderna editor, Annalisa Monfreda.

A 24-page journey, broken down into four chapters each introduced by a travel influencer and dedicated to holidays on foot, in a campervan, on bicycle and by train respectively. Each chapter includes six trips presented in six profiles, full of information about travel times, distances and the unmissable stops along the way, as well as a range of practical and original suggestions to make the best of your holiday.

Starting with itineraries strictly on foot, with panoramic walks through Tuscany, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia-Romagna, Campania and Sardinia. They will be introduced by an interview with the singer-songwriter Jack Jaselli, who, though born in Milan, is an inveterate wanderer, and who has made an 800-km trip on foot along the ancient Via Francigena, from Pavia to Rome.

This is followed by the narration of Anna Luciani, couch-surfer and low-cost traveller who, armed with a video-camera, has travelled the length and breadth of Italy along with her partner Simone Chiesa, interviewing foreigners who have settled in Italy. Her suggestions will guide readers along routes that can be made by campervan and the discovery of landscapes and the food and wine specialties of Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Umbria and Calabria.

Introducing the chapter dedicated to cycling holidays, through the mountains and along the coasts of Piedmont, Liguria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Lazio and Sicily Sicilia, we will have the Como-born cycling influencer Francesca Giani, an authentic ambassador of the concept of sustainable mobility.

Meanwhile, the pages that look at train-based itineraries that cross the country from North to South, from Alto Adige to Puglia, by way of Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise, will be accompanied by the words of travellers Tiziana Nuvoli and Stefano Floris, well-known for having travelled around the world always and only by train.

At the heart of the special insert is a poster with a pull-out map designed to bring together all of the proposed itineraries, the unmissable attractions and hints and suggestions about how to move around in each region that you can take with you.

Lastly, there will be the Donna Moderna online community involvement: in fact, the entire special will also be available on the web, while on social media the brand’s more than 3 million fans (Source: Shareablee + Pinterest and Tik Tok, May 2021) will find photos of the most beautiful itineraries and individual stop-offs, a map that can be screenshot and saved as well as interactive video stories with a survey to identify the most attractive destination. Plus, by using the hashtag #donnamodernainviaggio, users can also have the chance to see their own photos shared across all of the magazine’s social media channels.

The Donna Moderna special dedicated to slow holidays in Italy has been warmly received also by advertisers, confirming the positive trend in the brand’s advertising sales, both print and digital, since the beginning of the year.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. (LEI Code 815600049A1F9AFE6666) announces the purchase on the MTA (Electronic Stock Market), in the period from 31 May to 4 June 2021, of no n. 78,287 ordinary shares (equal to 0.030% of the share capital) at an average unit price of €1.6563 for a total amount of €129,669.23.

These transactions were made under the authorization to purchase treasury shares approved by the Shareholders’ Meeting of 27 April 2021, and as part of the purchase programme to service the 2021-2023, 2020-2022 and 2019-2021 Performance Share Plans, the start of which was approved by the Board of Directors on 13 May 2021 (as per the disclosure made on the same date also pursuant to Article 144 bis of CONSOB Regulation 11971/99, and to Article 5 of EU Regulation 596/2014).

The following table details the purchases made per day in the above period of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. ordinary shares, ISIN Code IT0001469383:

The purchases were made through the authorized intermediary Equita Sim S.p.A. (LEI Code 815600E3E9BFBC8FAA85), independently and with no influence from the Issuer as regards the timing of the purchases.

Following the purchases made so far, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. holds no 306,438 treasury shares, corresponding 0.117% of the share capital.

Purchases in detail in the complete pdf.

Arnoldo Mondadori often entertained writers and publishers in his family home in Meina, and would ask them to write a mot juste or sign their name on the wall above the fireplace.

Fondazione Mondadori is marking the fiftieth anniversary of his death with a digital exhibition that takes those signatures as a starting point to look back at Arnoldo’s relations with some of the leading figures from the 20th-century world of literature and publishing, from Eugenio Montale to Alba de Céspedes, Mario Soldati to Lavinia Mazzucchetti as well as Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Mann and Walt Disney. Interviews, archive documents and videoclips portray a home that was a place to work, to welcome friends and family, as well as a setting for encounters that hold a place in the history of Italian culture and publishing in the 20th century.

The exhibition is organised in three sections. The first, Villa Mondadori in Meina, looks at the history of the lakeside house, from its purchase in the 1920s as a summer residence open to friends and guests, to its use as a refuge and branch of the publishing house during the Second World War.

The second and third sections of the exhibition, Authors and The Publishing World, examine Arnoldo Mondadori’s relationships with some of the authors of the signatures above the fireplace: Enzo Biagi, Valentino Bompiani, Dino Buzzati, Piero Chiara, Alba de Céspedes, Lavinia Mazzucchetti, Domenico Porzio, Vasco Pratolini, Colette Rosselli, Renzo Segala, Mario Soldati.

The exhibition is online on the Fondazione Mondadori website from Friday 4 June.

50 years since the death of Arnoldo Mondadori: program

Il cam(m)ino dell’editore. Storie di Arnoldo Mondadori a Meina opens a program of initiatives dedicated to the publisher on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, on 8 June 2021, organised in collaboration with other entities

They include:

1. A commemorative postage stamp printed by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato and issued by the Italian Post Office on Tuesday 8 June.
2. Two books examining the figure of Arnoldo Mondadori, published by Fondazione Mondadori for the «Biblioteca» series. The first is entitled Lettere all’editore. Aleramo, de Céspedes e Manzini autrici Mondadori, edited by Sabina Ciminari. The second, Dear Mr. Mondadori. I romanzi americani nel catalogo Mondadori 1930-1960, is edited by Cinzia Scarpino and traces the history of the American novels in the Mondadori catalogue between the 1930s and the end of the 1960s.
3. A reprint of the biography Arnoldo Mondadori by Enrico Decleva for the Mondadori series «Oscar Storia»: in his examination of the life of the distinguished publisher and entrepreneur, for which he was awarded the Acqui-Storia prize, Decleva describes a fundamental period in arts and culture, the creation of a mass market for books and journals in a century of important social change. The book will be available from 8 June.
4. A celebratory book, produced as a collaboration between the Mondadori publishing house and Fondazione Mondadori. The book will use a collection of dedications by the authors to Arnoldo Mondadori as the springboard to recount key moments and personalities in the history of the publishing house. The selection will be made by Alberto Cadioli, who will edit the book and write the introduction. The publication date will coincide with the conference to be held in the autumn.
5. A conference on themes and trends in contemporary publishing, starting from the figure and entrepreneurial story of Arnoldo Mondadori. The conference, organised in collaboration with Mondadori, will be held on 7 October, the moderator will be Mario Calabresi.
6. A docu-drama produced by Anele di Gloria Giorgianni and directed by Francesco Micciché, alternating archive material and personal accounts on the life of Arnoldo Mondadori.
7. The creation by the Mondadori publishing house of a scholarship for the next edition of the Master in publishing at Milan University, in collaboration with AIE and Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori. The scholarship will be dedicated to the memory of publisher Stefano Magagnoli, who died recently and was for many years one of the leading names in Italian book publishing.