Monday, July 27, 2009

Sixty Group Fashion Company

I am now home back in Arkansas, but wanted to post one last time on my final experience with an Italian company, this time in Pescara, Italy. I spent 3 days last week with a fashion company called the Sixty Group. Sixty Group brands include Miss Sixty, Energie, Killah, Murphy & Nye and Refrigawear. Their most popular brands are Miss Sixty and Energie, both fashion brands mainly targeted at younger men and women including teens and adults in their twenties. During my time with Sixty Group I conducted research comparing their online marketing strategy with their closest competitors. Popular trends include business Facebook, Twitter and Blog pages as well as Youtube videos. Companies are learning to combine the four outlets to inexpensively reach their customers and stay connected with them. My job was to compare how well Sixty Group was developed in these areas compared to competition such as Diesel, Replay, Guess and Tommy Hilfiger. I was able to compile a presentation to present to them on the final day showing them my research and also suggestions for furhter development of their online outreach.

The pictures below include a few of the Sixty Group headquarters close to Pescara, and also a couple pictures of Pescara before I left. As I said, I am now back home in Arkansas, but I will never forget the 6 weeks I spent in Italy. The lessons I learned about business and international relationships will prove invaluable to my future career. Once again, I would like to show my appreciation to the Arkansas World Trade Center, Pescara World Trade Center, Center for Retailing Excellence, Walton College Career Development Center and all the companies that I spent time with for the unprecedented support that I received to even be able to have this internship in Italy. I look forward to what lies ahead in the next few years as I leave my student status. For more information or additional pictures, please contact me at pdifani@uark.edu.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A Week with Mataluni Group

So since the last time I posted I have done quite a bit, again. I worked with Mataluni Group, a company that produces various olive oils, vegetable oils and seed oils. Some of the brands that they produce are theirs, but many of them are for other companies and brand names. Many of the brands you would recognize and can be bought all over the world.

While at Mataluni, located in small town Montesarchio (Pop. 10,000+), I worked alongside Gianluca (pictured below) in their International Sales Division and was able to see what their international sales/marketing strategy is and how it is carried out on a daily basis. They also allowed me to tour their laboratories where quality control is managed and standards of their products are tested and protected. For example, before any delivery of oil from a farm is accepted by Mataluni, a sample is taken from the truck and tested multiple times in their laboratories on-site.

In another picture below, you might notice that I am in a bright orange shirt beside Gianluca again. This was at an annual event they had going on in Montesarchio for the entire week called "Summer Camp 2009" where the local community came together to compete in sports such as beach soccer and volleyball, and enjoy the entertainment of local bands, a merry-go-round, superslide, kids train and various vendor stands. Gianluca and many other community leaders were very instrumental in making this week-long event happen and as part of my experience in Montesarchio they let me help by being a referee for a few volleyball games. I even had an Italian bratwurst with eggplant on it, which was quite tasty!

Overall, it was an excellent opportunity to live, work and play in a smaller Italian community and spend time with local people. For the weekend, I took a train to meet Tripp and Scott again, this time in Rome. We saw all the sites including the Vatican, Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Trevi Fountain among others. The best way to describe Rome is MASSIVE. Everything is huge. My time in Italy is quickly coming to a close (for now) as I will be returning home to Arkansas on Friday, July 24th. I finish up in Pescara and will work 3 days at MissSixty, a fashion company, before coming home. See you soon!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Venice and La Donatella Dessert Company

Buon giorno! It's been another week since I posted last! The time is flying now it seems like. Internet access was limited this week so I have waited until this point to send another update on this blog or post new pictures to facebook. Venice and the surrounding area was a very nice place to spend a week! Elisabetta Gottin and La Donatella treated me very well and offered me more opportunities to gain invaluable experience with Italian business, this time in the area of sales and visits to Italian retailers.

During this past week, I spent most of my time shadowing Elisabetta Gottin. Mrs. Gottin is the Commercial Director of La Donatella and as such she manages all sales responsibilities within the company. She seemed to have her hand in most operations of the company and I was very impressed with her ability to keep track of such a large business. I arrived in Venice on Monday and essentially spent the afternoon meeting the personnel at La Donatella, based in Jesolo, Italy. Jesolo is about 30 minutes north of Venice. On Tuesday, I went with Mrs. Gottin to meet with a buyer for IPER Stores in Milan. Seeing how buyers work in a retailer other than those we are familiar with in the states was very interesting and a learning experience for me. After the visit with the buyer at IPER, we went on a short tour of Milan and then visited an actual retail store on the way back to Venice to see how a store in Italy is set up and also to see La Donatella's products in-store. Mrs. Gottin also took me by beautiful Lake Garda and Verona on the way home, just adding to the experience of the day.

On Wednesday, I toured the production plant at La Donotella in Jesolo. This was a sweet experience for me, literally. I saw how La Donatella produces their products with such high quality and in such mass-production. It was very interesting and, like I said, sweet too. They had to let me taste a few of their favorite cakes! I also was able to sit-in on a few meetings today with the staff, which was also very interesting. Finally, we visited another buyer in Treviso, Italy of Vega retailers to wrap up the day. Mrs. Gottin also set me up in Venice for Thursday night and I met Tripp and Scott again for two more nights to complete the Venetian experience! Some pictures of the week are posted below. Look for more posts coming in the next few days, hopefully!
From Top to Bottom: La Donatella Logo, La Donatella Office in Jesolo, Mrs. Gottin and I visiting IPER buyer, IPER store, La Donatella products in-store, Donuts in production, Packaging cakes, Downtown Milan billboard, Lake Garda (Peschiera, Italy)

Monday, July 6, 2009

Since Last Post: A Chance to Play Tourist

Well I know to this point I have posted mostly on the internship side of things, writing about visits to various Italian companies and what not, but I was given the past week to play tourist and so here is the first post in a few weeks, covering my experience! On Wednesday, July 1st, I left Pescara traveling via train through Bologna and ending up in Florence. Florence is one of the more popular what I would call "tourist towns" in Italy and rightfully so... Florence is know for many famous attractions including but certainly not limited to the Duomo (3rd highest cathedral dome in the world), the Ponte Vecchio bridge, the Uffizi museum of art, the accademia (home of Michelangelo's David), and numerous other plazas, castles, and narrow cobble-stoned streets!

During my stay in Florence I forunately ran into two buddies from the UofA, Tripp and Scott, that began their study abroad program in Florence on the day I got there. I knew they were in Florence from the time I got there, but had a hard time communicating with them due to the fact that they were just getting settled in and had no cell phones and no internet to check email! Unbelievably, the second night in Florence, just when I thought I would never find them, I saw them across the street walking the opposite direction from me! I walked up to them and non-chalantly asked "hey fellas, what's up!"
Hangin' with Tripp and Scott ended up being a blast as we visited a few completely americanized venues including a place with a live Beatles coverband and another place with ESPN and a Padres-Astros baseball game on! It was the first time I had seen ESPN on the TV since I left the US 3 weeks ago... I cried. Anyway... on Saturday the three amigos also headed to the Cinque Terre to hike the 5 villages perched on cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. It was ridiculous and by ridiculous I mean amazing! Check out the few pictures I have posted below, and you can also see more on facebook if you have one... we took a combined 400+ photos of the hike. The views were beautiful the entire 7.5 mile hike! After the hike we headed back to Florence and lucky Tripp and Scott went to a Dave Matthews concert in coastal Lucca on Sunday and I headed for Venice where I am now! I guess I'm lucky too. I am visiting a nice dessert company here called La Donatella. Further details to come in later posts this week! Hope you all are doing well!

- Jordan

Friday, June 26, 2009

Mediterranean Games Opening Ceremony!

23 countries from around the Mediterranean Sea join together for an olympic-style tournament every 4 years. Countries compete in 29 sports including soccer, basketball, boxing, cycling, sailing and swimming, among others. Fortuneately for me, this year's games are being held in Pescara! Tonight was the opening ceremony for the tournament and it was nothing short of amazing! Very similar to the opening/closing ceremonies for the actual Olympic games, like the ones held last year in Beijing. Apparently, the same guy that put together the ceremonies for the Olympics in Beijing last year created the ceremonies for the Mediterranean Games in Pescara this year. It was raining when we left to go to the ceremony from the hotel so I didn't bring my camera, but I should have taken it anyway... just before the ceremony started, the skies cleared and a bright rainbow crossed the stadium. My bad...

This turned out to be an amazing cultural experience tonight, seeing how Italian people and represenatives from so many countries come together. Every part of the show was outstanding, from the singing and drama, to the introductions of the competing countries, to the fireworks show at the end! This will definitely go down as one of my favorite parts of this trip.
Participating Countries

Next Stop: San Marino & Rimini This Weekend!

So two weeks in Pescara has flooooooowwn by and I am about to move on to the San Marino World Trade Center. I will be staying in a coastal city just outside San Marino called Rimini. San Marino is considered its own country inside of Italy, like the Vatican. It is very small with a population of just 32,000+. Rimini is a much larger city, close in size to Pescara, and is supposedly a beautiful and fun place to be. Below are a few maps for you to see where San Marino and Rimini are. I will post more once I am there.

Monday, June 22, 2009

De Cecco International Marketing

Buon giorno! It's Monday (Lunedi) morning, my second day in the International Marketing Department at De Cecco. Friday I was given the responsibility of reviewing their website created specifically for the United States market. They have an Italian version and UK version that are already on the web, but the US site is yet to be released. My job has been to thoroughly review the work-in-progress site to ensure its'appeal to Americans and effectiveness. I am also comparing the site to other similar sites in order to identify needs and gain ideas. The end goal is to have a US website that is easy to use, understand, and appealing for customers to visit.

Another benefit of working with companies such as De Cecco is that I learn how companies outside the United States enter international markets. It is a long, tedious, and very competitive process. De Cecco is strong in the Italian market, many markets across Europe, Japan, and is growing in the United States. I continue to learn new things everyday and am very appreciative of the opportunity that I have to work at De Cecco.

Below are some pictures of the De Cecco office building (just completed), the Pescara-Chieti World Trade Center across the street from De Cecco, a GS Store, and a Gelati stand. I have also posted some pictures from me talking to my family on skype. Skype has been great! You should get it if you don't have it...

Arkansas WTC Building

Arkansas WTC Building

Arkansas - Italy Partnership

Arkansas - Italy Partnership