WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE EXPO2015 IN MILAN?
Expo2015 is the Universal Exhibition that will roll in Milan, Italy, from May 1 to October 31, 2015. Over the next 5-months, Milan will host more than 140 countries that will show to the world their best sustainable nutritional innovations.The goal of the event is that of finding a final solution to guarantee healthy, safe and sufficient food for everyone, while respecting our Planet and its equilibrium. The1.1 million square meters of the exhibition area will be visited by over 35 million of individuals.
World expos have always been a major marketing and branding event for countries.
It is a perfect opportunity for participating countries to establish and reinforce their brand image and positioning among existing and potential clients/visitors through architecture, experience and messages. The pioneering concepts used in World Expos often have huge influence over many aspects of the society, including art & design, branding, international trade, many very relevant to Icicle, our partners and clients.
There is so much for brands to learn from a world-class event, with government’s budgets - some pavilions are completely financed by privates like the one of USA - appointing top architects, designers and production experts to build the brand and with one being placed next to each other, it is a feast for the visitor.
The Expo2015 might be a perfect example of how brands/countries can use the 5 Stages of Sustainable Brand Experience.
Are you pro or con the Expo2015?
The event has just started and there are already those who criticize the event because of its official sponsors being CocaCola and McDonald. This is clearly an interesting choice, which has been defined by someone as the greatest threat to the brand identity and mission of the most important event for the future of the Planet.
However, the issue is not whether or not we are in favor of the Expo because of its sponsors. The fact is that we cannot afford not to be in favor of a better quality food and of a better quality life for all farmers and for all citizens of the Planet.
Some solutions about the future of our Planet can come from CSR certifications like we have already explained in a previous post, or can also come from a different choice of the materials that a company decides to use: Keep calm and save trees – what’s in your paper?
If we really care about problems as the deforestation and the climate change, we need to start from they way we eat. In fact, 40% of the greenhouse gases come from a system of industrial agriculture and the best way to reduce the gases it’s to return to organic farming, to small farms and family farms, and to local seeds.
The 6 pavilions I plan to visit at the EXPO2015?
While I am planning my visit at the EXPO, I have a feeling that can be summarized by what our Studio Director, Marrion Charreyre, said in a previous post:
“Europe is not the first place that springs to mind these days as a good place for doing business, given its gloomy economic outlook, but a recent trip back home made me realize there are more opportunities than I had thought.”
Expo is huge and requires more than the single day available to the ordinary visitor. That’s why I plan to spend at least 3 days at the event.
1) First, I'd like to visit he Korea pavilion because of its great architectural design, very futuristic.
I also heard that inside the pavilion there are plenty of visual interactive “games” that can stimulate your creativity. Plus, the hostess and stewards enhance the experience with an impeccable customer service.
2) The Azerbaijan pavilion is also another incredible creation of architectural design. I must confess that with such a design I also have great expectations about their nutritional innovations to feed the planet inside the building. We’ll see...
3) Japan pavilion because of its animation graphic, as well as the most brilliant example of harmonious union between Tradition and Creative Industries.
People who visited it told me that this is the quintessential experience at the Expo, when the doors close behind you, in the yearned darkness of the halls, you’ll admire an installation that hypnotize your mind with lot us flowers, rice, benevolent ancestors and relaxing storks.
4) The Italian pavilion and its Tree of Life. First of all, because I am Italian. Second because I think that the Tree of Life it’s a nice reinterpretation of the idea of the Olympic Stadium of Beijing designed for the games of 2008, it’s the center of the EXPO, you simply need to be there.
However, I also have great expectations about the theme of the Italian pavilion: What would the world be like without Italy? ... I mean... a sad world… no? (to note the photo of Europe without the Italian peninsula)
5) How important are the honeybees to feed the Planet? The answer is vital. That’s the theme of the Hive, the pavilion of UK. From the description, the pavilion invites the visitors to immerse themselves in the life of a typical honeybee.
Yes, that is a great idea.The description is at the high level of my expectations for the country that first hosted the Expo back in 1851, London.
6) Dulcis in fundo, the Swiss pavilion and its idea of responsible consumption: ”Is there enough for every one?”
Why do I want to visit it? Because I want to get an apple before they finish!!
Ok wait let me explain better.
If William Tell had gone to the Swiss pavilion yesterday, he would have been in serious difficulties. The reason? Just three weeks after the opening of the EXPO, the apples that made up the top of the Swiss Pavilion were already finished.
The idea of the four towers that make up the Swiss Pavilion is based on the concept of responsible consumption. Each visitor can take (at will) some of the four foods that make up the buildings: salt, coffee, water and, of course, apples.
Once emptied, the four floors of the towers will go down in contemporary level by level, until you reach the ground floor. In this way the intention is to symbolize dynamically the consumption of food.
The question now arises: if two entire floors have already been "consumed", will the Swiss Pavilion survive till the end of the event in October? The mission around “responsible consumption” was that of leaving something for the others till the exact end of the event.
This is just one of the messages sent to the mankind from Expo2015 in Milan.
After better thinking, I changed my mind and I think that I’ll visit the Swiss pavilion but I’ll do my part not touching any apple. I also have a slogan for my action: #LeaveApplesSaveExpo2015
About the authors: Bonnie Chan Woo is the CEO of Icicle Group
Adriano Caccamo is the Global Marketing Manger of Icicle Group