Challenge
Italy doesn’t have an awareness problem. It has a perception problem.
While globally celebrated for culture and lifestyle, Italy’s position as a leader in innovation — across robotics, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing — was largely invisible to U.S. business leaders.
The result: missed opportunities, limited partnerships, and an outdated narrative that constrained economic growth.
Insight
You can’t replace a perception with more information. You have to disrupt it.
To change how Italy is seen, we needed to confront what people already believe — and then reveal something unexpected, credible, and actionable.
Solution
Challenge the default narrative by putting contradiction at the center of the campaign, by juxtaposing Italian imagery with breakthrough innovation to create tension and curiosity.
Connect media exposure directly to real-world interaction and partnership development through print, digital, and social (LinkedIn, FB, IG, YouTube).
Target decision-makers, business leaders, and innovation stakeholders in the U.S.
Facilitate direct connections between U.S. and Italian companies.
Orchestrate bilateral meetings and supported a high-impact trade mission.
Results
30% Lift in Awareness and Perception
Italy as an innovation partner (Source: American Chamber of Commerce + National Italian American Foundation)
200+ Bilateral Meetings
facilitated across two phases of engagement
8 Virginia-Based Companies Engaged in 108+ Executive-Level Meetings
conducted over a six-day trade mission to the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy
27 Business Relationships Established
between U.S. and Italian companies
