With the current crisis as a backdrop, we are at a time in history when creativity and determination can lead to solutions that no one expected. In the last decade, Italy has seen the emergence of a new crop of successful brands that can compete for consumers' attention, garner investment, and boost the country's economy. Interbrand and the International Advertising Association Italy (IAA Italy) performed a poll to find these new Italian realities, resulting in the report "Next Generation Italian Icons." These are young companies that have shown clarity of vision, resilience, and the capacity to innovate. They are also realities that are contributing to the economic, environmental, social, and cultural debates, driving change in the competitive landscape and in society, winning the confidence of their stakeholders, and increasing utility for the ecosystem in which they operate. Each of these new icons has taken actions and used strategies that are based on innovation. These actions and strategies are changing or have changed the competitive balance in their field, which has had big economic effects. Most of the Next Generation Italian Icons (NGII) were started in the last few years, according to the data (67% of the sample has been around for less than 10 years), but none of the chosen companies were started before 2010. Almost all the companies chosen (about 80%) should be thought of as medium-sized businesses. The remaining 20% of the sample is made up of small companies (13%) and large companies (7%). Also, about 20% of the chosen companies stand out because they had at least one woman on the founding team.
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