New social and Italian values: the levers to communicate the excellences (also of wine)

The top of the made in Italy, of every product sector, from wine to fashion, from hospitality to design, from automotive to yachts, is increasingly popular on social networks, where the Italian lifestyle is at the center of millions of discussions and posts. As can be seen from the Altagamma Social Luxury Index, created by Accenture Interactive, the world’s largest digital agency, which confirms a significant growth in the social presence of Altagamma’s brands, increasingly aware of the importance of this channel of communication and distribution, starting, of course, with those of wine, from Allegrini to Bellavista, from Biondi Santi to Ca’ del Bosco, from Ferrari to Feudi di San Gregorio, from Frescobaldi to Livio Felluga, from Masi Agricola to Mastrojanni, from Ornellaia to Tenuta Luce. Among the most interesting aspects, there is the fact that new Asian social platforms such as Tik Tok, Twitch, Douyin, Little Red Book are on the horizon and are attracting the attention of young people, while the made in Italy - an important reputational lever - shows a potential still to be developed. At the center of 84% of spontaneous conversations in all sectors are “Glocality”, for 21%, discussions related to the territory or origin of the products and the categories involved were mainly Food & Wine, Yacht and Hotellerie; “Luxury Lifestyle”, for 20% with the categories Hard Luxury, Yacht and Hotellerie in the lead; “Heritage”, for 19%, and “Events” for 17%, are led by Design, Yacht and Hotellerie. New trends also emerge in 2019 compared to the 2018 study, mainly related to wine & food: sustainability (7%), product customization (4%), limited editions (4%) and craftsmanship (3%). Thus the analysis on nine languages, 8 sectors, 35 international digital channels monitored over an entire year, including social media, blogs and forums, examining spontaneous conversations related to the 108 Altagamma brands. Together with data for the year 2019, this second edition presents the unpublished dynamics followed by social media during the Covid-19 emergency, which influenced online conversations, alternating between periods of silence and new peaks, in correspondence with the expected restart.
In the qualitative analysis carried out by the study, an area with enormous development potential emerges: the explicit reference to “made in Italy” - in social media conversations about Altagamma brands - understood not only as the denomination of origin of the products but more generally as a universe of Italian values (lifestyle, conviviality, manufacturing quality, elegance, link with the territory, etc.). An element of communication that can represent a very powerful lever of engagement with the new consumer, to the advantage of both individual brands and the country as a whole. The average social interaction index of Altagamma brands - analyzing the 5 pillars of the study - is 4.6, an improvement compared to 4.3 in 2018. In particular, there was an increase in positive comments (sentiment score). The volume of spontaneous conversations that mention Altagamma brands increased in 2019 compared to the previous year. In 2019, there were more than 8.8 million quotes on Altagamma brands' social networks, with an increase of 80% compared to 5 million in 2018, with the fashion sector in first place, with 48% of the total, followed by the automotive sector with 43%.
In terms of migration to the most innovative social platforms, brands have strengthened their presence on local social media such as WeChat, Weibo and VK (from 28% to 32%). The next frontier, however, is represented by emerging channels such as TikTok, Douyin (Chinese version of Tik Tok) and Little Red Book where luxury brands are still little present, but which are essential to intercept some key categories of consumers, such as young Asians. These are rapidly growing channels in terms of active users. Very popular in countries like China and India are becoming increasingly relevant for the younger generation. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of TikTok app downloads increased by 68% (reaching 315 million in the first quarter of 2020) and a 60% increase in daily users over the same period. 41% of users are between 16 and 24 years old and 70% are under 35 years old.
Little Red Book's app saw a 200% increase between 2018 and 2019, and by July 2019 the number of registered users had risen to 300 million. 86% of users are women and 84% are under 35 years old. Twitch, another emerging channel, already has 15 million daily users, with 3.6 million monthly streamers. It recorded an increase in views from 8 to 21 March 2020 and a 66% increase in views from Italian users in February 2020. 68% of users are millennials, 31% are women and 57% of total users are from Asian markets.
“There were almost 9 million spontaneous mentions of Altagamma brands in 2019, with an increase of 33% on the most consolidated social channels and still surprisingly low use of the Made in Italy concept. Altagamma has chosen to investigate this fluid universe concerning the 108 members of the Foundation representing 7 different segments and the most representative brands of the Italian Cultural and Creative Industry”, comments Stefania Lazzaroni, General Manager of Altagamma. “Social media communication is one of the most relevant tools in the brand's relationship with its target audience, but it is a constantly evolving scenario with profound differences between the Western and Asian worlds”.
According to Alessandro Zanotti, managing director of Accenture Interactive, “in this second edition of the Altagamma Social Luxury Index interesting ideas emerge to guide the marketing strategies of Made in Italy companies, one of which is the exponential growth of new platforms such as TikTok and Little Red Book, which are an important gateway for Asian markets and for the younger target. Analyzing the data of our observatory, emerge the business potential that you can stimulate through a careful definition of the brand strategies, especially in a complex and delicate phase like the one we are experiencing”.