Marco David Benadì, partner & CEO of Dolci Advertising, is 47 years old, married to Barbara, and a proud father of Beatrice and Alberto. His work takes him between Turin and Milan, constantly traveling between southern Italy and Paris.
Before we start discussing Dolci Advertising, a 50-year-old independent Italian agency with offices in Milan and Turin, and a branch in France, let’s get to know him better: “I’m the son of an entrepreneur and a dynasty of antique dealers, raised in a solid family to whom I owe a lot. I try to be a worthy helmsman of a fascinating Italian story that is called Dolci Advertising. I’ve always had to work hard, but I’ve always derived immense pleasure from it. Today, I see myself as a small entrepreneur working alongside great Italian families who bring their wonders to the world. I am a man who believes in what he does. I was born and raised in Turin, a bold city full of hidden passions, with a very warm heart. A city that knows how to invent and can still surprise, but I couldn’t live without Milan, the other half of my life. It’s a city that captures you, but also gives you so much—a kind of vitamin I cannot do without.
In addition to being the CEO, you are also a university lecturer and collaborate with prestigious master’s programs of excellence. What contribution do you gain from this activity?
You learn the most when you teach. After being a contract professor at the University of Turin in the Faculty of Economics, coordinator at IED in Turin, and visiting professor of marketing and communication at Città Studi in Biella, the Faculty of Economics in Pisa, Ilas in Naples, in Rome, Siaf in Volterra, the Faculty of Communication in Teramo, and Iuav in Venice, I now focus my remaining hours on the Business School of Il Sole 24 Ore, where I am a lecturer and a member of the scientific coordination in the area of marketing and communication. More than 1,500 hours of contact with future generations, with tomorrow, with the pure energy that overwhelms me… I will never be grateful enough to the thousands of young people, managers, and entrepreneurs I’ve met who have given me so much. Despite all this, I don’t consider myself a teacher, perhaps more of a coach…
Dolci Advertising: what are its distinguishing features and main strengths?
We do a job we love, and we try to cultivate it every day with a pinch of serenity and joy, despite our world becoming increasingly filled with unease, short-sightedness, and a strenuous protection of the position. We continue our journey, fueled by conviction, passion, and seriousness. Where the taste of action, the ability to set an example, and the optimism of will make challenges not only manageable but also possible, simply because we believe in ourselves. We have a founder and president, Silvio Dolci, who has the grit of a young man and reminds us every day of the values of seriousness, keeping one’s word, courage, ethics, and respect. We do this for our profession and instinct, in an agency that believes in its DNA, in the independence of thought and creativity, and instead of staying behind, clinging to the trophies of the past, it focuses on the ideas that drive the future. Ideas guide strategy, and today, if you are not future-oriented, you are already past. We stand alongside our clients, from strategy to positioning, from creativity to execution.
All this might seem taken for granted.
For our clients, we cannot simply do the ‘due,’ we expose ourselves, we are part of their internal decision-making processes, and we are often involved in discussions about the grand vision of the future, between the generation that created it and the one that will develop it tomorrow. Dolci Advertising is a healthy company, recognized by the market, that knows how to dare and understands that life is infinitely rich and overflowing, even in its deepest struggles and disappointments. For us, each campaign is like planting a flower; then over time, looking from above, we realize we have shaped a wonderful garden.
Why should a potential client choose Dolci Advertising?
Because it is a fiercely independent agency. Because for 55 years it has been loyal to brands, their growth, their success, and their relationships with people. Serious and deep relationships are built over time.
What are your most recent projects?
We are a bit naive… reserved in a world where shouting might pay off more. I can whisper to you… (laughs) that we have expanded our network of skills and professionalism. Finally, on July 14, we regained the Bastille, our Parisian residence, thanks to an increasingly close collaboration with Patrick Norguet, a world-renowned designer and architect specializing in retail design. With him, we have worked on the design & communication project for the new Divani&Divani stores. We have consolidated our partnership in London with Bridge Dgtx; with Claudio Agazzi, we are developing RetailTune to help brands use the digital model more intelligently to coordinate CRM, online shops, and social media. Speaking of brand projects, I could mention Armani with the two campaigns Frames of Life 2016 and 2017, the repositioning of Divani&Divani, the international campaigns for Natuzzi Editions, communication for Benetti Yachts, the new major online and offline communication platform with Scarpe&Scarpe, international work with Zambon and Stannah, social projects with the Ambrosoli Foundation and the Banco delle Opere di Carità, not forgetting Aley, Agrimontana, Illy Group, Italsempione, Barbieri you’b’jou, Tenerità, Bisbigli, Bem.
And the future?
We have welcomed six young newcomers, all under 30, with the intention and conviction of bringing new life, new energy, and fresh, innovative, and enterprising ideas into our team, thanks to their multidisciplinary and international approach. Lorenza Calcaterra and Karolina Lipozenčić have started a new journey with us as client partners with an international vocation. Art directors Davide Bombonato and Marco Signorile, both graduates in graphic design and art direction from Naba, and copywriters Davide Palvarini and Nicolò Battaglia, who hold a specialized master’s in copywriting and advertising communication from Iulm University, have joined us. We continue our mission of shared growth, focusing on the training and development of the most capable and promising young talents.
What is your approach to pitches and new business?
For fifty-five years, we have sown seriousness and good results; that’s why we enjoy a healthy and robust reputation. It often happens that the very entrepreneurs we work for refer our professionalism to other entrepreneurs and managers. We participate in pitches, sometimes politely saying no… affirmative no, of course. We affirm with a no our distance from projects that must always be urgent, beautiful, budgetless, and cheap. We affirm our yes to those who seek allies, to those who want people at their side who want to engage with them eye to eye, which means taking a stand, taking risks, and building for tomorrow. We do this in luxury, fashion, accessories, retail, beauty & pharma, senior marketing, and food, from Puglia to Paris. Most importantly, we do this thanks to a team of people who have found and appreciated each other, without stopping to ‘think’ despite the rush, always trying to ‘do things right’ despite increasingly limited energy.
Your essay ‘Su e giù per la vita’ was very well received. What was the idea?
The blame lies entirely with my children Beatrice and Alberto, who one morning at breakfast asked me a difficult, embarrassing, complicated question. One of those questions that often trouble fathers and mothers: “Dad, what is life?” I couldn’t answer and spent entire weeks aware of my weakness, but the kids gave me the opportunity to remedy that. They pushed me to take the journey from which the content of the essay emerged, but also Giovanni Messina and Stannah are the real culprits of this ‘up and down in life.’ The nine stories I encountered illuminated my thoughts, and even though I didn’t return with a single answer but rather nine, I understood many things. I realized that life is a journey, and even if many of the events that happen to us are hard and painful, the most beautiful things are those that surprise us and— as I love to say—‘mess our hair.’ I wish this journey would never end. I immersed myself in our country, in all the wonderful things, from faces to stories, from dialects to passions, from experiences to happy discoveries. My guests reminded me of how important memory is. I met extraordinarily ordinary lives, very original, fascinated by nuances, and I’m happy to have dedicated a sea of time and effort to this project. In the end, I gave myself a great gift. Life is a journey, not an accumulation of experiences. And even though there are moments when we should slap ourselves, there are others (and for me, this was one) where we remain enchanted.
Is it true that your latest book published by Lupetti, ‘Oggi abbiamo lavorato bene,’ returns to a theme dear to you: the dreams and courage of the entrepreneur?
As a child, I was afraid someone would hide in the dark to steal my dreams while I slept. So one evening, General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, a great family friend, promised to put a carabiniere in front of my room. After a few days, an officer in full uniform arrived at my house. Standing a meter tall, carved in wood, he was hung on my door. From that day, I slept soundly. Now that I’m an adult, I
It’s always ideas that drive strategies: an interview with Marco David Benadì
November 2017
On the right, Marco David Benadì, Partner & CEO, with Silvio Dolci, founder and president of the eponymous agency.
On the left, the international campaign ‘It’s a Benetti,’ created for the luxury yacht group.
On the right, the Armani Frames of Life 2016 advertisement.
In the photo, Silvio Dolci (bottom center) with the young talents. From left to right: Nicolò Battaglia, Marco Signorile, Karolina Lipozenčić, Davide Palvarini, Lorenza Calcaterra, and Davide Bombonato.
In the photo, the cover of the book written by Marco David Benadì, titled “Su e giù per la vita”.