Archive of the Category 'Miscellaneous'

Last Thursday, February 5, the Blue Note in Milan hosted the Edilportale Awards 2009, in which sponsor of the ceremony, Ediportale, the renowned Italian portal for building and architecture, rewarded “the work of marketing agencies and corporate marketing departments which created original and winning advertising strategies, reaching the communication excellence in one or more advertising channels”.

As in 2008, this year we were nominated in a variety of categories, being competing on more channels with 5 nominations: Best Event Communication,((Design On Stage Trascreativity)), Best corporate website (Refin.it), Best stand and trade-fair marketing (Cersaie 2008), Best web campaign (R+Evolution), and, above all, we were in the running for the “Best Marketing Department of the Year”. This was perhaps the most sought-after prize of the night, and we were up against companies of the calibre of Merloni, Fassa Bortolo, Riello, Saint-Gobain, Velux.

We came 1st, and, in the opinion of the jury, we won thanks to our “integrated approach in managing the DesignTaleStudio-Karim Rashid event, web campaign and website”. Winning was immensely satisfying and we would like to share the accolade with all our staff, our creative and technical partners and, last but by no means least, with you, our blog readers.

2008 saw the beginning of a new partnership between Refin and Ghenos Communication, a Milan-based agency specialising in the field of interior design, whose customer-base includes companies such as Bulthaup and Listone Giordano. Below follows a short profile of the agency, and we are certain that this will be the beginning of a path full of mutual satisfactions and positive results.

Founded in 1996, Ghénos S.r.l. Communication is an agency operating in the communication field for those companies that need highly qualified and specific assistance, offering communication programs tailored to the specific needs of the customer. 

The team at Ghénos, led by Gabriella Del Signore, consists of a group of people who have been working in the design-furniture field for many years, especially for “design-oriented” companies. 

The agency’s policy is that of working with a limited number of companies, both on a national and international level, selected on the basis of specific characteristics: quality of products, of distribution, of service and strategies, that is to say leaders in their field.

From this stems the decision to focus on a few customers, all leading companies in their respective fields, aiming at obtaining a good visibility in the different media, either in Italy or abroad, through the press office activity.

Our agency manages the public relations with National and International media through constant, daily contacts and gives a total assistance service to companies during all the meetings and events with journalists.

As a consequence, the partnership with our customers is complete: we operate in absolute synergy with the customer, creating a real partnership; this is an “appealing” aspect not only for the customer but also for the journalists who can find a reliable and accurate source of information.

“Assistance” is the keyword in our cooperation with the editors: quality in our proposal and above all precision and speed of reply.

Tonight at the Zelig in Milan, to coincide with the opening of MADE Expo, the award ceremony for Edilportale Marketing Awards 2008 will take place, the awards which, according to the prestigious web portal “Edilportale” distinguish the most interesting Italian companies in the field of architecture and building.

We, at Refin, have the honor of three nominations in three different categories:

• Marketing Department of the year
• Event of the year (Design On Stage)
• Best corporate web-site (www.refin.it)

Our appointment with destiny is tonight at the Zelig in Milan. We are looking forward to when the results are announced, having been nominated in so many categories is already a fantastic success but… winning is better! If the worst comes to the worst, we can at least still enjoy the performances of Ale e Franz…

UPDATE: alas, the results didn’t go the way we wanted. In particular, in the category “Event of the year” we were in the hunt right until the end but the award was won by others. Respect to the winners.

Wallpaper magazine has just published the Design Awards 2008 in its latest issue, that is to say the complete list of top-drawer design: places, furniture, fashion, designers…

Wallpaper is the bible in the field of design and coolness, there is no doubt about that and we are fans of the magazine. Leafing through the list of Awards, two aspects in particular, stand out:

• Italy is still one of the most important countries in the world in terms of design: as well as the award for the best hotel (the Riva Lofts in Florence), many of the category winners have an Italian “soul”, as they have been designed or marketed by Italian designers or companies;
• Perhaps it is a coincidence, but none of the award-winning interior design projects has been realized using ceramic materials. Does this mean that ceramic is out? This doesn’t seem to be the case to us, looking at the market and the increasing interest in ceramics recently shown by designers. The only reference to the ceramic world is the nomination of Jaime Hayon, a promising young Spanish designer who has recently worked much with ceramic materials.

To find out more about the Wallpaper Design Awards 2008:

• The complete list of award winners on the magazine’s web-site, with comments and photos.
• Some other blogs which have recently dealt with this topic: Panorama Bellavita, Design Buzz, Elmanco, If It’s Hip It’s Here.

Have you read any of them? Do you agree with us?

The Christmas break brought some wind of change to DesignTaleStudio.com. In fact, the web-site architecture has been radically renovated: a brand new home page opens on the main information section, targeted at corporate and product information with partially renewed graphics. The Blog and the Store are now managed as satellite mini-web-sites at the addresses blog.designtalestudio.it and store.designtalestudio.it.

The reason is quite clear. When we launched the site in march 2006, DTS project was still under construction and a blog seemed to us the right “platform” to gradually think about the final positioning and the communication identity of the brand. In the meantime, we created new products, organized two important events such as Design On Stage and The Grand Design Tour, and published our first general catalogue. After the Cersaie trade-fair, we understood that this first phase had come to an end: it was time to start a real corporate communication on and for DesignTaleStudio brand.

We would like to stress that the motivation behind the decision is not to reduce the blog. On the contrary. By placing it on a partially independent sub-site, and not on the main site, we have the opportunity to exploit the peculiarities of this web format to the maximum, to open it to outside influences and, at the same time, set it free from the urge of product focusing.

So, a hearty welcome to 2008 hoping that you’ll appreciate this decision.

The Corporate Blogging Book is the title of Debbie Weil’s book, one of the most eminent experts on business blogging in the USA. We are very proud at being mentioned in the post-face of the book written by Leo Bellini, the curator of the Italian version of the book, amongst the main Italian corporate blogs, next to some of our benchmarks, such as Lago’s Design Conversations (whose blog has an interview dedicated), Benetton Talk and Quelli che Bravo.

We have just come out of a month of important discussions about our blog and DesignTaleStudio’s web-site in general and The Corporate Blogging Book was a great help during this time. This post heralds the dawn of some important changes on our web-site, expected to be made this week… but, meanwhile here some links related to the book:

• The review of the book on ETAS web-site
• The original book-site of the author
• Leonardo Bellini presents the book (video-interview on the “Blog and companies” panel during the Publishing trade-fair in Rome)
• Some reviews by Italian bloggers: Roldano De Persio (The Marketer), Massimo Carraro (Oh My Marketing!), Paolo Furini (Pensieri Liquidi).

Last Friday the traditional pre-Cersaie meeting, which saw the participation of the entire sales force, took place. It was the perfect occasion to go over the company’s current position, to recap the marketing and communication strategies and, above all, to give the agents a preview of all the new products that will be launched during the trade-fair.

There was great excitement about Refin’s and DesignTaleStudio’s new products. Introduced as the equivalent of Ferrari for Fiat, DesignTaleStudio is confirming its role of fore-runner and innovator, also according to our sales force on the field, and is acting as the ideal foil for some cutting-edge projects, specifically in the bar and restaurant sector. Thanks to its new product ranges always on the quest for large size formats and aesthetic innovation, DesignTaleStudio ceramics also address the residential architecture featuring, without compromise, a modern and refined design.

Another hot topic discussed during the meeting was that of the “Made in Italy” identity. Refin and DesignTaleStudio will continue to be “100% Made In Italy”, therefore a long-term guarantee of quality and reliability. And, again, according to our sales staff, in such cases, the market seems to appreciate our decision.

We will have the opportunity to go into greater depth on these topics in subsequent posts; as for our new products…come and visit us at our stand at Cersaie in Pavillon 36 (B32 C 37) and you will see!

DesignTaleStudio is the internal research team of Ceramiche Refin dedicated to the experimentation of new creative and technical uses of porcelain stoneware. DesignTaleStudio was born to overcome the bias associated with ceramic products, suggesting new destinations of fuse and enhancing their creativity and design.

The slabs designed and produced by DesignTaleStudio, the first project actually carried out, answer more to an artistic than an industrial logic: “hand-made ceramic canvases” able to relate visual tales through an original artistic drawing, attention to detail and the marked material imprinting. These products are the fruit of an open-ended discussion within DesignTaleStudio team, where the ceramic company comes face to face with leading figures from the world of art, design and creativity in general such as Elio Fiorucci, Michele De Lucchi, Karim Rashid, Peter Halley. The events and exhibitions organized by DesignTaleStudio are not just an occasion to see the result of this logic, but above all, encounters with many different creative minds, always on the run and always looking for new creative paths.

When we decided to bring DesignTaleStudio onto the web, the blog immediately appeared as the most suitable format. An open place and always under creative development, where the company is not perched on a pedestal performing a public speech to the audience, but where the audience is directly involved, listened to and interactive. In our blog, we will tell you everything that is happening at DesignTaleStudio: new products, events, and the “backstage”, to make you an active part of our team. But we won’t stop there: we will try and involve you in a discussion where you will be the main protagonists, giving your ideas and your proposals for new works.

We will start telling you, through words, images and videos, the planning of the important events of DesignTaleStudio for April 2007: Coverings trade-fair in Chicago and above all the exhibition Design On Stage at the Triennale in Milan. We have many other surprises for you, and the blog will grow and grow over the next few weeks: but the biggest surprise we are waiting for is yours.