Hands in the dough but also online. A historic pastry shop in Milan decided to tell its story in one shop docu series online started with the people themselves, accomplished pastry chefs who study, knead and create masterpieces. A way to celebrate the company and remember its founder. A piece of history that builds the future. There Martesana cake shop was founded sixty years ago in one of the most iconic areas of the capital Milan, in Naviglio with the same name that is clearly visible. Here master pastry chef Vincenzo Santoro opened his shop in 1966. Now the company has five sales points between Milan and Como, a team of about a hundred people, including about thirty pastry chefs and a turnover of 7.6 million euros. Products from people tell stories It’s called Lievito Padre, an homage to startup founders of the past. «We put people and their uniqueness first, which is reflected every day in the excellence of the desserts we create in our laboratories. There are no automatic processes here: we like to dip our hands into the dough. For example, on stage there is the work of our yeasts, experts who know the chemical properties of sourdough and guide its development to create the perfect gluten network in a dough”, says Marco Marsico, Head of Sales & Marketing Martesana. This five-part series was shot entirely in the laboratory. «With this series we want to strengthen the sense of belonging and brand reputation. The human dimension generates interest and increases desire. “There is also a theme of valorization of historical arts and crafts,” explained Marsico.
Employees and storytellers
Show your face and amplify the story. When economic confidence employees become narrative mediators, guiding the purchasing choices of consumers or a new generation of professionals. Thus marketing clears customsemployee advocacyform collective narrative which turns the company’s people into micro media, i.e. bearers of credibility. This is a setback company-produced contentcontent produced by the company. What a paradox: in the growing phase of synthetic content with the doubling of artificial intelligence, real faces and voices dominate the scene. Thirty years ago, two British sociologists, Nicholas Abercrombie and Brian Longhurst, theorized about the rise of the performer: the spectacle would soon transcend its natural boundaries and invade all the interstitial spaces of everyday life, including the workspace. “This phenomenon emerged in a few pioneering campaigns in the 1990s and has slowly grown into a huge boom in recent times. It all stems from the need for human contact, connection, meaning. Because person-to-person communication is impactful, authentic and inspiring. And why the collaborators storyteller in the role of ambassador, he acts as a guarantor of the truth of the message and the coherence between what is communicated and the internal reality of the company”, says Alessandra Mazzei, full professor of economics and business management and director of Cerc at Iulm University. The trend is to make everyone spokesman company. «The advantage is a narrative about the impact and memorability of messages as well as the economics of increasing the effectiveness of the desired campaign. Identity is the most important thing: if expressed well, the corporate identity will emerge in a distinctive way. With faces, expressions, situations that are unique to a particular company,” Mazzei said.
New celebrities are growing
Good deeds multiply. From Salesforce pioneers to Microsoft men, from Starbucks baristas to Lego designers. Meanwhile, Airbnb has opened its video blog Stories Belong Everywhere dedicated to the story of its hosts and employees. In the project The Stories We Use Patagonia employees and customers talk about their most frequently used clothing items and improve over time, which is a symbol of sustainability and shared values. In Italy, Heineken has a training program for its employee ambassadors. At Generali there is Smile, an abbreviation for social media link education. It aims to support Alleanza Assicurazioni consultants in using social media professionally, managing their online presence and image, developing new opportunities and strengthening relationships with customers. The company has three thousand smile consultant which acts as a voice for company initiatives with more than 200 thousand posts published in the last nine months for more than 100 million contacts on social media. The campaign is also being shown on TV: Illy has been making a program for several weeks to talk about coffee starting with its people. Enel celebrates the energy of emotions with a new ad created exclusively with in-house creative resources. Even anniversaries are shared moments: the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has decided to celebrate seventy years of its presence in Italy with storytelling based on the voices and faces of its people.
Story out of control?
But every coin has a downside, and uncontrolled amplification can expose your organization. It is no coincidence that cases of internal communications reaching external audiences and the press are increasing. The one that is causing the most commotion is Amazon New York Times about replacing human labor in the workplace. «The externalization of issues and problems carried out by collaborators outside aims to strengthen the message and gain support. This is a modern form of organized labor action. A trend that will only increase as we all become users of communication tools. In the case of company-led campaigns, one risk is the potential gap between what is represented and internal reality, which could undermine the fabric of the organization. Furthermore, the diffusion of storytelling collaborators can result in a approval effect» said Mazzei. The solution comes from transparency: avoiding cynical choices that favor the interests of a few and are short-term.
