Tools for Companies

In business, we all know that image is everything. This dogma has always governed the market and forced brands, especially in the luxury segment, to search for and find a spasmodic “look and feel” accuracy so that it is as much in line with its audience as possible. And of course, the arrival of social media has only amplified the overwhelming power of photography, which is increasingly sophisticated and targeted. But talking on a global scale, everything changes, because the same product cannot be offered on different markets with one single promotional campaign. It must be reformulated according to the tastes of that specific audience. There are two alternatives: you either have an internal resource that “speaks” the language of that audience, or you rely on experts who know that market well and know how to tailor the end result. Among the business services selected by VO+, there are also those who have created a high-end delivery system in line with what is collected from boutiques and taken to the homes of VIPs & Co., as well as an App for detailed customer profiling.

1. XINGU

2. THREADS

3. KLARNA

4. IN-TO CHINA

5. EPLAY

XINGU
WHO: MATTIA STUANI, CO-FOUNDER
WHY: IN LESS THAN THREE YEARS IT HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AMAZON PARTNERS IN EUROPE AND THE MAIN ONE IN ITALY
WHERE: MILAN, ITALY
WEB: XINGU.TECH

The right man in the right place at the right time. With this sentence we might sum up the journey that led Mattia Stuani in less than three years to become, together with the other co-founders of Xingu, one of the main Amazon’s partners. The "spark" that triggered the rapid and burning chain reaction and the rise of this startup to a respectable role both in Italy and in Europe takes place in November 2017 in San Francisco: right there, by chance - or maybe not - Stuani met a marketing partner of Amazon US, and realized that shortly thereafter, the Old Continent would also need similar personalities. So, he came back to Italy, found the leading investors within two months and founded Xingu in January 2018. This name was not a random choice, because Xingu is nothing more than a tributary of the River Amazon, so this name clearly reveals the ambition to become equally strategic for the digital Amazon. The target was hit and sunk in no time at all, since in January 2021 Xingu was acquired by Labelium, a digital agency that boasts 26 offices around the world and makes it its flagship asset to provide services to companies interested in landing on the largest marketplace in the world. In the last nine months, Xingu has thus become a consultant for about eighty Made in Italy companies but not only, and has also opened representative offices in Germany, France, Spain and the UK, along with support services in the USA, Canada, China, Singapore, Austria, Australia and Brazil. Its strength lies the consultancy service provided in ADV, performance marketing, digital analytics, electronic invoicing and all those operations that must be activated to debut a brand on Amazon. And if it is true that nowadays jewelry is still considered a world far from that of Mr. Bezos, a first glimmer of change occurred in Vicenzaoro September: Xingu was present, the companies showed great interest and one among them, Rue des Mille, immediately got on board.

THREADS
WHO: BONNIE TAKHAR, FOUNDER
WHY: A PERSONAL SHOPPING APP THAT STARTS FROM THE MARKETING INFLUENCER
WHERE: LONDON, ENGLAND
WEB: THREADSSTYLING.COM

Inspire. Purchase. Deliver. Improve. The claim of the agency that organizes communication content for luxury brands aims at building brand awareness through texts and images that can be used on social networks and in print. And once the goal has been achieved, work begins on the target, with shopping experiences tailored to the customer. For example, with the chat commerce formula, the latest e-commerce evolution where interaction takes place directly with the customer through channels such as whatsapp and wechat. A 2.0 version of the old “door-to-door” sales model that marked an era, like the strategies implemented by companies such as Avon or Tupperware.

KLARNA 
WHO: FRANCESCO PASSONE, COUNTRY MANAGER
WHY: FLEXIBLE AND INNOVATIVE INSTALMENT PAYMENTS FOR EUROPE'S STRONGEST “UNICORN”, VALUED AT MORE THAN 5.5 BILLION
WHERE: MILAN, ITALY
WEB: KLARNA.COM

Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Niklas Adalberth's story will sooner or later become a film. For sure, because one of the fastest biz of recent times thoroughly deserves it. “Legend” has it that in 2005, Sebastian was still a young guy working at Burger King, spending his days at the conveyor belt cooking burgers to finish paying for his studies at the Stockholm School of Economics. Niklas was working on the same assembly line. The two became friends and, as each day passed, they came up with the idea that soon after gave rise to the “unicorn” Klarna, one of Europe's most widely quoted fintechs, now worth several billion. It is currently one of Europe's largest banks: 4,000 employees, 2 million transactions a day, providing payment solutions to 90 million users through 250,000 dealers in 17 countries. These include Italy, with a portfolio of over 1,200 companies and 97% coverage of home banking portals within the country. The services that have decreed the company's rapid rise are as simple as they are convenient: online purchases can paid in instalments, even after delivery.

IN-TO CHINA 
WHO: RICCARDO RUBBIANI, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER WITH RAFFAELLO GIARDI
WHY: A START-UP THAT AIMS TO MAKE SMES AUTONOMOUS IN THEIR INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESSES THROUGH TARGETED ADVICE ON IMAGE, COMMUNICATION AND LIVE STREAMING
WHERE: CARPI, MODENA, ITALY
WEB: IN-TOCHINA.COM

The digital evolution changed the world trade panorama, even more so, perhaps, in China: the outright mentality of the approach to purchasing. Observing this revolution were, in the Far East, Raffaello Giardi, a business development expert, and Riccardo Rubbiani in Italy, who gained an in-depth knowledge of banking and insurance services. Putting together their experiences, in 2018 they founded Selling Srl, an innovative start-up that now operates under the brand In-To China. «We started from Italy but our goal is to have the first hub of European brands in China, which can rent and set up their virtual "stand" in the first metaverse dedicated to exports.» We are talking about what we might call the automation of consultancy processes for companies wishing to take a correct approach to the Chinese market, which speaks a different language from every point of view: communicative, social and aesthetic, as well as practical (customs clearance, collection in local currency…). «The two sexiest services, in addition to profiles directly in the local language, and visuals in Chinese, streamed live from Italy or China on China and Virtual Tours of the company.» By exploiting technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality, a so-called "miniprogram" is created ad hoc for each SME, highlighting individual companies within a container that immediately identifies the target: Italian Lifestyle. This is the name of the common virtual “store”, which becomes an ideal showcase for SMEs on channels such as Wechat or Taobao.

E-PLAY
WHO: DANILO ALAGI, CEO ART&SOFT
WHY: E-MANAGEMENT, E-CREATIVE, E-NETWORK. TECHNOLOGY AT THE SERVICE OF HIGH-END JEWELRY, FOR CUSTOMER PROFILING AND CRM MANAGEMENTX
WHERE: VALENZA, ITALY
WEB: EPLAYLAB.IT

The ePlay lab is a laboratory of IT ideas applied to the world of high-end jewelry. The agency offers management and communication projects "tailor-made" around the needs of those operating in the high-end sector, bringing the concept of "made-to-measure" to the world of marketing and communication. Its bespoke offer ranges from management software and CRMs, to promotional websites, e-commerce and digital marketing. In the eManager section, CRM and ERP softwares are dynamic and configurable. The CRM provides customer profiling and offers effective tools: task, event, news management and shared calendars. The ERP ensures simplified management of the company and its branches, real-time data synchronization, stock control and checks on business performance. The eCreative package offers the possibility of creating high-profile websites and e-commerce in terms of design, browsability and technology, with strategies aimed at increasing visibility and online reputation. Lastly, the eNetwork section with all the activities for increasing in-store and online sales.