MERCATO METROPOLITANONORTH EUROPE

A BRANDING CONCEPT FOR NORTHERN EUROPE

MERCATO METROPOLITANO

1

THE CONCEPT

Exporting MM business model leveraging onpeople involvement

Brand analysis

RE

LAT

ION

AL

RAT

ION

AL

FUN

CT

ION

AL

EM

OT

ION

AL

{ Brand Personality }

If MM, as the brand, were to be described as a person, the characteristics, intensions and values it would have are:

Who are you?

What are you? What about you?

What about you and me?

Accesible

Social Responsible

High quality products

Different

FlexibleNaturalHealthy

Good(tasty) Local + Italian

Educational

Environmentally sustainable

UrbanExpert of local variety

Fresh deliverer

Outdoor + Indoor

True to the location

Short chain

Cross selling

Converging the “mood”

Artisanal Broad food Experience

Health safety

Economically sustainable

Efficient retailer systemOptimized space

Synergy with other stakeholders

Hub

Inclusive

Easygoing

Trust

Local Context driven

Direct storytelling

{ Brand Role }

About relationship between MM and the target customer. Attributes that describe social, functional and psychological role in the target customer’s lives

ConvenientLearning experienceFreedom

AestheticSense of community

Origin awareness

Proudness Coziness

Transparency

Trendy Passion

Social responsible

{ Brand Memory }The MM brand experience would lead to an emotional connection which would eventual-ly become a brand memory,

{ Brand Competances }What MM offers to customer in terms of product functionality and service quality

Two levels for involvement

-SATELLITE GARDENS-DELICATEVENTS

System mapMM system overlaps with the city, through urban gardens

Luca

Ciro

Mario

Bruno

User

MMambassador

Farmer

Product

Money

Event

Urbangarden

2

BENCHMARK ANALYSIS

BOROUGH, LONDON

BOROUGH, BRAND VALUES

TRADITION

INTERACTION

QUALITY DIVERSITY

INFORMALITY

BOROUGH, BRAND PROPOSITION

“London’s most renowned food market; a source of exceptional and international produce. But it’s not just the sheer quality: it is also about the people and the place”

MARKTHAL, ROTTERDAM

MARKTHAL, BRAND VALUES

DESIGN

TRADITION

VARIETY URBAN

INTERACTION

MARKTHAL, BRAND PROPOSITION

“The food Walhalla of the whole Netherlands”

TORVEHALLERNE, COPENHAGEN

TORVEHALLERNE, BRAND VALUES

PEOPLE

TRADITION

FRESHNESS VARIETY

PASSION

TORVEHALLERNE, BRAND PROPOSITION

“A food market, where everything is bursting with freshness: and where everyday we promise to take the passion and personality of the square.”

WHOLEFOODS, LONDON

WHOLEFOODS, BRAND VALUES

HEALTH

QUALITY

VARIETY SUSTAINABILITY

CARE

WHOLEFOODS, BRAND PROPOSITION

“With great courage, integrity and love – we embrace our responsibility to co-create a world where each of us, our communities and our planet can flourish. All the while, celebrating the sheer love and joy of food.”

BRIXTON MKT, LONDON

BRIXTON MKT, BRAND VALUES

MULTICULTURAL

TRADITION

DIVERSITY INTERACTION

COMMUNITY

BRIXTON MKT, BRAND PROPOSITION

“The community and local people are at the hearth of our market”

BOQUERIA, BARCELONA

BOQUERIA, BRAND VALUES

MULTICULTURAL

PEOPLE

VARIETY INFORMALITY

TASTE

BOQUERIA, BRAND PROPOSITION

“It’s a paradise for senses”

OSTERMALMS SALUHALL, STOCKHOLM

OSTERMANS SALUHALL, BRAND VALUES

TRADITION

QUALITY

VARIETY WARMTH

TASTE

OSTERMANS SALUHALL, BRAND PROPOSITION

“Inspire people with the quality and the ingredients of the Swedish and international cuisine”

Outdoor experience and a unifying brand architecture are crucial points of difference to stand out among competitors

Direct selling

Local Products

Premium market

Community based

Proprietary brand products

Outdoor experience

Product system

Physical elements

Place Emotion

Low

Medium

High

BOROUGHMARKTHAL

TORVEHALLERNEWHOLEFOODSBRIXTON MKT

BOQUERIAOSTELMANS SALUHALL

BLUE OCEAN ANALYSIS

The dotted areas stand for niches that are exploitable for creating valuable PODS against surveyed competitors.Apart from Wholefoods (here depicted with a dashed line), who is adopting a grocery store format, all the main competitors share the same traditional street market features.

MMPORTA GENOVA

MERCATO

METROPOLITANO

MMPORTA GENOVA

MERCATO

METROPOLITANO

3

A BRIEF PRAISE OFSTREET MARKETS

Paul Gauguin, TA MATETE

(The market)

30/40.000Number of street markets in the only European Union(source: Market Trading in Europe, UeCa report)

The most popular londones soap opera revolves on dramas and vicissitudes around a local street market

Facts and figures of street markets

A pole of civic life through centuries, street markets account for a relevant percentage of european trade.Now the format is thriving on a new wave of popularity. Its function of social coagulant is finding appreciation and diffuse awareness. Its hints at tradition project customers back to an ideal world where familiar customs and faces are to be found. Where curiosity can feed on the new and colorful, and discomfort is banned in the name of a polished informality.

4.

TRENDY NOW

URBAN FARMING

“I had been thinking about how the food my family ate affected our health.[...] Planting a garden at the White House – a garden where children could learn about growing and preparing fresh, nutritious food – could be one

small way to get started.” Michelle Obama

URBAN APPROPRIATION

“#Nevicata14 is a free space re-conquered by people, a place ready for use”. #Nevicata14: project for a new public re-use of Piazza Castello, Milan

URBAN FARMING & URBAN APPROPRIATION

Patrizia di Monte,Ignazio Gravalos: “ESTO NO ES UN SOLAR”:project of re-appropriation of overgrown urban places. (Photo courtesy Esto no es un solar)

COMMUNITYGARDENS

Community gardens started 30 years ago in the Usa, as a protest against Councils which were abandoning poor neighborhoods.

Now they are spreading all over europe. A community garden is not only a place where to grow vegetables and flowers: you can also

share your knowledge, attend a workshop, do a performance, improving the neighborhood and your life. (Source: Orto diffuso)

Another big POD: involving customers throughout theme events and education to sustainable agriculture

Direct selling

Local Products

Premium market

Education (Urban farming)

Events Community based

Proprietary brand products

Outdoor experience

Product system

Physical elements

Place Social Emotion

BOROUGHMARKTHAL

TORVEHALLERNEWHOLEFOODSBRIXTON MKT

BOQUERIA

REVISITING THE BLUE OCEAN ANALYSIS

In the light of the trend analyis reported above, a new graph that keeps into account also the social dimension of the retail experience in the form of urban farming and food-cultural events.

OSTELMANS SALUHALL MMPORTA GENOVA

MERCATO

METROPOLITANO

5.

SATELLITES GARDENS

PROMOTING EDUCATION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE URBAN FARMING AS PART OF MM BRAND IDENTITY

COMMITTING THE BRAND: MM SATELLITE GARDENS IN NEGLECTEDURBAN SPACES

Brands are asked an important action in 2015: commitment. Joining a good cause for the overall well being is what consumers expect from companies.

MM Satellite Gardens are aimed at improving neighborhood life, by reusing abandoned properties through agreements with local authorities, or private entities.

MM FARMING WORKSHOPS

Classes and workshop ma be run periodically by dedicated staff. Participants will get the basis of tilling, sowing, harvesting and pruning. Sometimes, to

even better engage the MM community, farmers could be invited to give lectures, thus having the occasion to sponsor their own product.

WORKSHOP

INVITES HELPED BY

PREPARATION OF THE AREA AND LEARNING

ALL DIFFERENT TOOLS

SOWING OF THE COMMON FRUITS /

VEGETABLES

TAKE CARE OF THE PLANTS

HARVEST AND PREPARE

How the workshop works

BRANDED GARDENING KIT

Estimated cost: max 90£

SMALL BRANDED GREENHOUSES FOR MM WORKSHOPS

Estimated Cost: <60£

DELUXE GREENHOUSE FOR BIG URBAN GARDENS

Estimated Cost:max 400£

LOGO PROPOSAL#1 LOGO PROPOSAL #2

To boost the bond between satellite gardens and the ship store, special events can be held, like community lunches or outdoor parties hosted by Mercato. Metropolitano

Discounts for partner gardens

Teaching kids to make them aware adults

Gardeners’ lunch and events

Already existing neighborhhod gardens could have the chance to joing MM satellite gardens, thus benefiting of special discounts in the ship store

Education to sustainability since the very early stage of life can contribute to raise consciousness about sustainability and health matters.

6.

DELICATEVENTS

Against any easy stereotype, a new concern over health and lifestyle is driving northen europeans to choose different patterns of consumption.

The traditional pub format is losing ground. A rate of 31 pub closures per week in the Uk last year testifies a radical change: customers go out no longer for just getting plastered, they also look for quality food. (Source: The Guardian)

THE GASTRO-PUB FORMAT CATERS FOR MORE SOPHISTICATED NEEDS OF URBAN PEOPLE: A SPACE TO

SOCIALISE, WORK ANDCONSUME GREAT FOOD. THE “STARBUCKS MODEL” LACKS OF THE LATTER OF

THESE 3 ELEMENTS

CASE STUDIES

Oaxen SlipBeckholmsvägen 26, Stockholm

Classical “north bistro” format, selling quality food in a neat, desgin-refined location

The Lighthouse 441, Battersea Park Road, London

A self-describing gastro pub mixing traditional pub experience with quality food and original dishes. Events and live gigs are also unavoidable part of the experience.

OSLO Amhurst Road, Hackney, London

Food, quality booze and concerts make of this former railway station one of the most talked about venues in London.

UgolëkBOLSHAYA NIKITSKAYA, MOSCOWExperimenting with ingredients and food display to create sophisticated combinations in an only apparently informal bistro.

ADAPTING TO THE NORTH

THEME EVENTS DEDICATED TO FOOD CULTURE MIX.LEVERAGING ON THE “SMALL BITES” HABIT TO SERVE A COMBO OF GOOD ALCOHOL AND ITALIAN PRODUCTS SAMPLE.

DELICATEVENTS TO PROMOTE ITALIAN QUALITY PRODUCTS AND FOOD CULTURE

DEGUSTATION SELECTIONS ARE ALREADY POPULAR IN FINE GASTROPUB AND NORDIC BISTROT IN NORTH EUROPE, AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL JUNK TO MATCH BOOZE.

HEALTH STRESSING PACKAGING

In the wake of the 5aDay campaigns so popular within Great Britain and Scandinavia, a strong focus should be put on the “5colors a day concept”, through communications and packaging

ADAPTING TO THE NORTH: GIGS, LIVE PERFORMANCES, DESIGN, PANTRIES...IN A WORD: HYPE.

PROVIDING ALL THESE ELEMENTS WILL MAKE OF MERCATO METROPOLITANO THE PLACE TO BE.

Appealing to North European customers should imply an exceptional care of indoor and above all outdoor lights,

far much more than what is required by their Mediterrean counterparts - for obvious cultural and climatic reasons.

LIGHTS

7.

CONTEXTUALIZATIONS

LONDON

WHY LONDON

Guerrilla Gardening

Born from private initiative, guerrilla gardening has spread throughout the City, gathering already existing communities of local “urban farmers”. They call for anyone interested in the “war against neglect and scarcity of public space, as a place to grow things, be they beautiful or tasty”.(Source: Guerrillagardening.org)

5aDay

Healthy habits have been spreading in England and translating into food packaging and media tam-tam way before the same thing happened in other part of Europe.

City Harvest Festival

The City Harvest Festival is an annual competition among urban farms and community gardens.This kind of events and initiatives are very much appreciated by local dwellers.MM could leverage on this kind of format, which matches outdoor activities, food occasion and social encounter.

URBAN FARMING

Main clusters of community gardens and urban farms

Suggested areas for MM satellites gardens

MM SATELLITE GARDEN IN PECKHAM RYE

STOCKHOLM

WHY STOCKHOLM

Savvy consumers

Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark are characterised by a strong focus on health, and environment, combined with a large portion of ethical, value-oriented customers.(Source Euromonitor 2014)

Postmodern changes

“Swedish food culture has changed dramatically. [..]More fancy restaurants serve Italian food and the New Nordic and New Scandinavian cuisine has become increasing popular in the last 5-10 years. These two cuisines combine old storage flavors with modern fresh tastes, raw ingredients from the forests and seas prepared using new techniques, often in a post-modern, artistic way.(R.Tellström, Snapshots of Swedish food Culture)

A new food hub?

GREAT CARE OF DETAILS, FROM MENU DESIGN TO PACKAGING. MENU WILL ADAPT TO SWEDISH CUISINE, LEVERAGING BOTH ON THE ADAPTATION OF ITALIAN INGREDIENTS TO LOCAL RECIPES AND ON PROMOTING SWEDISH QUALITY PRODUCTS.

MM DELI SHOP IN STOCKHOLM