Arrigo Berni and Maria Sebregondi of Moleskine and Manfredi Ricca of Interbrand tell the story of Moleskine’s brand growth.

Milan, Italy (November 30, 2016) – Last night was the commencement of Utopian Nights, the series of events promoted by Interbrand to offer a proprietary look into how brands serve as the most formidable growth accelerators.
“Big brands generate growth by connecting needs, desires, vision, and creativity” said Manfredi Ricca, Chief Strategy Officer EMEA & LatAm at Interbrand. “Utopian Nights explores the borderlines between brand, business, and culture, and were born so as to give a more human, inspired, and intimate interpretation to some of the more enthralling stories.”
The Utopian Night “Inspiring Journeys: The Growth Story of Moleskine” was the first of this series of meetings. Arrigo Berni, Chief Executive Officer at Moleskine and Maria Sebregondi, Co-Founder and Board Member at Moleskine, together with Manfredi Ricca, Chief Strategy Officer EMEA & LatAm at Interbrand, described the brand’s growth path.
Growth is as vital to companies as it is to people; it has a different definition for each brand, and every story is unique. Moleskine’s Anatomy of Growth is reflected in the brand’s capacity to see and interpret what people really care about, in its ability to align internal cultures and create an organization that can present a remarkable experience while keeping its promises to customers.
Interbrand helped synthesize their “Inspiring Journeys” positioning as the core of the Moleskine brand. It embodies the brand’s cultural essence and links it with travel and adventure, guiding the brand along its path for growth and orientating the development of new products and the creation of new experiences—such as the Moleskine Café.
Arrigo Berni, Chief Executive Officer at Moleskine, stated that:
“Right from the beginning, Moleskine has been perceived as an inspirational brand that, through a legendary product, highlights its attribution to a creative category. Today Moleskine’s turnover is estimated to be around €350 million at retail value in 115 countries worldwide, the outcome of uninterrupted growth that is still under way.” Realized in a competitive context characterized by substantial instability, Moleskine’s extraordinary growth is a clear testimony of the amazing power of inspirational brands to accelerate growth.
The Moleskine Café, developed in collaboration with Interbrand and recently opened in Milan, transforms a location into the experience that has always been at the heart of the brand: the creation, celebration, and exchange of stories, ideas, and travel impressions. By reinterpreting the traditional café littéraire, the Moleskine Café has the feel of a café, art gallery, and bookstore, with the creative ambiance of a place of inspiration.
“We wanted the Moleskine Café to be a bit like a large three-dimensional notebook, with the café’s black counter like the cover of a notebook, immediately recognizable and distinctive; its ivory walls like the white pages on which a stream of new, different, creative ideas are constantly drawn and proposed via continuous interaction with our audience… A place where ideas and the desire to share experience can grow” explained Maria Sebregondi, Co-Founder and Board Member at Moleskine.
The brands that have the greatest opportunities for growth today are those that are no longer identified simply by a product, but become synonymous with a motive and viewpoint on the world, then build an ecosystem around it. Moleskine is a paradigmatic example of this.
“Moleskine is a brand whose products are the manifestation of a more profound vision, anchored by creativity, expression, and sharing. It is from this authenticity that the brand draws the legitimacy to continuously expand towards new horizons to offer fresh, interconnected, and outstanding experiences,” concluded Manfredi Ricca.
About Interbrand
At Interbrand, we believe that growth is achieved when an organization has a clear strategy and delivers exceptional customer experiences. We do both, through a combination of strategy, creativity, and technology that helps drive growth for our clients’ brands and businesses. With a network of 29 offices in 22 countries, Interbrand is a global brand agency, and publisher of the highly influential annual Best Global Brands and Breakthrough Brands reports, and Webby Award-winning brandchannel. Interbrand is part of the Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) network of agencies.