The Italian-American businessman Mariano Turrisi, founder and president of the Made in Italy Group, recounts why he must defend the true Made in Italy products and the Italian identity as well as the companies who make them.

Can you tell us about “Made in Italy” as seen from the United
States?

When you ask an American to close his eyes and picture “Made in Italy”, the resulting images immediately call back a bowl of spaghetti, a red Ferrari, fashion, design, elegance, style and, most of all, our history. They consider “Made in Italy” a synonym for elegance and prestige. It represents the best of what every American dreams about and desires. They don’t make it a money issue and they are even willing to save in order to purchase at least one “Made in Italy”
product.

What “Made in Italy” products are mostly appreciated in the US?

Italian food! That wonderful thing that Americans sum up with the phrase “Eating Italian”. Unfortunately, many Chinese as well as Americans open up bogus Italian restaurants, knowing they will fill their restaurants with customers because of the popularity of Italian dining. But usually the plates that they serve their clients are not “original” because often the main ingredients are not from Italy. In second place, no doubt, comes clothing, shoes, hand bags and accessories that make Americans feel a little of the Italian elegance. And then come the cars. In prosperous cities, owning a Ferrari, a Maserati or a Lamborghini is a prestigious status symbol. It means being on the top.

Do the “Made in Italy” products that Americans cherish coincide with the Italy that they love to visit or dream about?

People love to impress their friends, family or business associates by recounting the details of their magnificent holiday in Italy. They are passionate about the artwork and the ancient architecture such as the Colosseum. They worship our art galleries like the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. And they simply adore the Tuscan countryside complete with vineyards and lazy long lunches. Capri or Positano are favorites for a fabulous excursion. Unfortunately, the rest of the south is
ignored and we must do what is necessary to promote the Meridian. People either don’t know much about it or they have heard negative things thanks to film and fiction alike that stereotypes the south.

Can it be defined as a niche market or a great potential to expand its own consensus?

It’s definitely a niche market. “Made in Italy” aims naturally at quality, luxury, prestige and creativity. Our target, then, is purely the privileged class. Just as you have economy and first class in air transport, so “Made in Italy” is the premier class of fine craftsmanship exuding superiority and distinction. There are no competitors of which we should worry about but there is a tremendous problem with counterfeit copies. Our aim is to subdue the cancer, safeguard our legitimacy and find the right instruments to protect consumers from fraud. This needs to be controlled and we have taken the step of producing a special bar code that guarantees authenticity of our products and identifies their traceability.

What must an Italian company do to introduce its products in the international arena?

Because they are already Italian, they have the enormous advantage of free marketing thanks to their well regarded reputation. Our strength is represented by those companies that use quality as a weapon to compete in the market. Very often, though, small and medium size companies suffer from budget problems,
language barriers or lack of knowledge for distribution channels. That is why the Made in Italy Group was created. Through our structure and trademark we are able to take the companies by the hand and lead them successfully through the often challenging obstacles of international market competition. Furthermore, we
are willing to provide economical investments to those companies when there is a high demand for their products and it becomes necessary for them to raise production. The more companies that unite under the Made in Italy Group’s umbrella the stronger the possibility there is to become stronger in the marketplace. It will become easier to safeguard their products from counterfeiting as well as protecting their identity. There is power in numbers!

“Made in Italy” has come a long way. It has become a cross fertilization between culture, art, handicraft, manufacturing abilities, territory and history. It is a natural born offspring of the Renaissance and of Leonardo da Vinci. How do you intend to convey this to the Americans?

How many works of Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci are there in the world? Very few and of great value. In this same manner Italian products must be limited in production but of very great value and high cost. The Made in Italy Group is building the Little Italy Resort in Las Vegas, a town growing at an inflated pace.
Today there are over two million visitors visiting every week for business, amusement, gambling or just relaxing. And we have come up with a unique vision that combines the art, culture and traditions of our past with today’s innovation and imagination creating an experience at our resort that will present to our guests an acute awareness of both present and past and the timeless sophistication of our Italy. Free trade and globalization are certainly an extraordinary communication vehicle, but sometimes they flatten the past. That’s why it is important to reconstruct tradition and history, make them tangible and as close as possible to the truth. They may be mere symbols, but they are important and significant. It will be a splendid physical representation of our past for those that look to the future reminding them of the grandeur of our history. All too often globalization has been interpreted as a kind of economic war in which identities, populations and traditions are at stake. Only if we manage to respect our traditions will we be able to look into the future with serenity, confident of our innovation capacities and creativity. In other words, we will be able to look at the world as a great opportunity without any fears.