ISSUE
005 TWO THOUSAND & FOURTEEN – 1
Dear colleagues,
pag. 2
BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS
Our Divisional CEO Marco Pezzana gives us an overview of 2013’s year end achievements and sets the five priorities for 2014 pag. 3
NEWS FROM OUR WORLD
Articles from the Group and from our companies in India and UK
With 2013 well over, we are ready for the opportunities and challenges the new year will bring. In this issue Marco Pezzana gives us an overview of 2013’s year end achievements and sets the priorities for 2014. We also have tones of news: from the Group photo-shoot to the success stories of product and process innovation; insights on new products, such as KLYP+, the PIXI in colour and the Pocket. And then events and initiatives for our employees and CLICK ME, revealing the curiosities and desires of two colleagues working in Manfrotto Distribution France. As always we invite you to get in touch with the editorial staff at snapshot@manfrotto.com to share news and highlights from your “imaging world.” We would love to hear from you.
pag. 4-6
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
Article from our CMO Renzo Rizzo, news about the market, products and events
HIGHLIGHTS ON 2013 COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGNS pag. 7-9
RECENT EVENTS
A round up of events and initiatives from the recent months and “Picture of the Month” winners pag. 10-11
PEOPLE FOCUS
Article from our HR Director Marco Scippa, welcome to new employees, CLICK ME and an overview of 2013 main initiatives
Product highlight: check out the new colour options of Manfrotto PIXI
2014 BUSINESS PRIORITIES Dear colleagues, I am delighted to kick off 2014 with some good news regarding the year end achievements of our Division in 2013. Despite the challenges faced as a consequence of lower consumer demand and declining sales of cameras worldwide last year, we have managed to outperform the market with Manfrotto branded tripods and bags, thus delivering a solid performance for the brand. More importantly though, the effort that we have put into reorganising the business (Project One Company) and in further improving our manufacturing efficiency, resulted in a very strong financial performance that sees the Division improving gross margin percent and cash flow ratios versus 2012.
Message from the Divisional CEO, Marco Pezzana
3. Introduce new product categories and commercialise them direct: during 2013, we managed to build our strongest ever presence on the web, with almost 12M visitors on Vitec Imaging sites and 150.000 fans on Facebook, making Manfrotto the most popular imaging accessory brand on the web. We are now preparing to leverage this commercially by developing a portfolio of new Manfrotto branded accessories, complementary to tripods, bags and LEDs, that will be sold on our sites exclusively from Q2.
This is a very important achievement because safeguarding the Division’s profitability during difficult economic conditions is a key enabler to continue investing in people, new products and manufacturing technologies, thus securing solid foundations to outperform competitors and return to solid growth as the global economy recovers. Looking at 2014, we are expecting to see improving economic conditions and recovering camera shipments worldwide, particularly in the second half although growth may still be moderate compared to historic DSLR sales trends. In this environment we need to be faster and more combative than ever! More specifically we should focus on five primary initiatives that we must deliver with passion and absolute commitment this year:
House Organ Vitec Group Imaging Division Vitec Group Imaging Division Via Valsugana 100 36022 Cassola (Vicenza) Ph. +39 0424 555 855 Email: snapshot@manfrotto.com Registered at the Court of Verbania no. 1/2013, dated 19th March 2013 Editor in Chief Marco Pezzana Managing Editor Christian Ricci Editorial Staff Francesca Sandonà, Shanaray Langdon Editorial collaborators Nina Barot, Giorgio Boscaro, Beth Botterill, Federico Canino, Davide Cappellini, Emanuele Casagrande, Laura Cascone, Gabriella Costa, Mukul Kashyap, Silvia Luison, Troels Persson, Marco Pezzana, Alessio Piazzetta, Renzo Rizzo, Claudia Rossi, Emilie Roy, Francesca Sandonà, Marco Scippa, Nick Tsang, Jonathan Vera, Stefania Vercesi, Christian Westrelin, Verity Woolnough Translations Easy Speaking, Francesca Sandonà Editor XY.IT Srl Via Roma 42 - 28041 - Arona (Novara) Ph. +39 0322 019200 Fax +39 0322 019209 Email: info@editorexy.it VAT n. 02068000039 Registered at the Court of Verbania no. 335 Registered at Roc no. 14750 Privacy Data Controller Editor XY.IT Srl Parties can exercise rights foreseen by art 13 of D. Lgs. 30/06/2003 n. 196 by writing to the editor Graphics and Printing E-Graphic S.p.A. Via Cesare Battisti, 270 37057 San Giovanni Lupatoto (VR)
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1. Continue to win over market share in supports, by driving repeat purchases: this is about focussing all efforts on our new 2013/2014 products, particularly Befree, 190 and 055. These items should be targeted both at new camera users but also and most importantly at Manfrotto owners. The Befree is a great addition to the equipment of all photographers who may already have a full size tripod but need a lightweight, portable traveller to do outdoor photography. The 190/055 tripods deliver very innovative features and a captivating design compared with previous models so that many of our customers may now be induced to replace them. The same principle applies to Gitzo with the new Mountaineer, the bestselling tripod for this brand now ready to launch with a contemporary design and a fantastic set of new features. Pivotal to growth will also be the launch of the new Compact family, with renewed design and features but more importantly expanded in range depth, now designed to replace the obsolete 390 collection in consumer electronics, thus setting the opportunity for new exponential growth! 2. Stimulate multiple purchases by growing in adjacent categories: focus on Manfrotto bags and LEDs. Following the recent launch of Manfrotto Pro/Advanced bags and Spectra LEDs, we now have a portfolio of high performance products designed to be the perfect complement of the 190/055 tripods. For the first time we are able to offer exciting bags and LEDs to our core customers as well as cross sell multiple product categories, thus offering greater value than our competitors. Driving Manfrotto bags sales to a leadership position is the biggest opportunity for growth this year! We have great new products, the strongest brand presence on the web and a number of fantastic marketing initiatives to be deployed exactly at the time when our main competitors are facing significant challenges.
4. Further strengthen our commercial stance in Japan, China, USA and Germany: these four countries in particular will see an unprecedented level of activity to develop Manfrotto business further. In Japan and China we are preparing to deploy a “Made in Italy” marketing campaign to support the 190/055 and Befree carbon introduction with a view to strengthening the local perception of our brand and taking additional share from local competition. In the USA we will continue to drive Manfrotto bags sales in particular to further expand on the strong results already achieved during Q42013. In Germany we will re-establish a leadership presence in the market thanks to the renewed efforts of Martin Bongard and his team that will be strengthened by the return of Manfrotto to Photokina in 2014! This will be implemented in a new slick format, focussed on local customers and, more importantly, working closely with the leading camera brands. 5. Continue to drive efficiency as necessary to fund further investments in S&M: during 2013 the Operations Team managed to deliver unprecedented cost savings by working more efficiently than ever before across the manufacturing, procurement and supply chain. The cost savings achieved have been reinvested in driving our R&D, Marketing and Sales efforts: in 2014 we will continue to work on that efficiency, thus further increasing our presence and brand awareness in the market compared to the competition. Last but not least - people: during the last two years we have changed and reorganised the Division, as necessary, to enable the implementation of Project One Company. As a result, today we can count on the most talented and efficient team that this company has ever had! In 2014 HR focus will shift from designing and implementing a new organisation to supporting each of us in working together, cohesively, expressing our talents to the best, and also with passion to develop further both as a business and each of us in our careers. I am confident we are now ready to start driving significant growth again and I look forward to beating budget together in 2014.
NEWS FROM OUR WORLD
INDIA
UK
Mukul Kashyap
WELCOME TO THE NEW OFFICES Manfrotto Indian offices have recently moved to a new location in the suburb of Andheri East, Mumbai. We are now settled in a larger up-to-date office within the Sahar Plaza Complex at 221, Level 2, Midas, J.B. Nagar, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri East. The new office, which was officially opened on 10th January 2014, covers 522 sq. ft. Have a look at the pictures!
Nina Barot
WORKING WITH JOE MCNALLY Lastolite has been working for the launch of 3 new products, co-designed with world renowned photographer Joe Mcnally: the Joe McNally Ezybox Speedlite Plus, the Joe McNally Skylite Rapid with Masks and the Joe McNally 4:1 Umbrella. To support the launch, Joe took time out of his busy schedule and flew over to the UK to shoot video tutorials for each of the products. Directing the shoot was top photographer and videographer Drew Gardener, whose camera and editing team have put together 3 inspirational films, which will be available to view via www.lastolite.com in conjunction with the launch in February. Stay tuned and surf the website for more details!
GROUP
Verity Woolnough
THE NEW GROUP PHOTO-SHOOT Vitec’s corporate photo-shoot took place in London from 18th to 20th December 2013. The aim was to capture visual content to represent the Vitec Group brand and the markets we serve: Broadcast & Video; Photographic; Military, Aerospace and Government. The photo-shoot focused on Vitec’s innovative products and solutions around the camera. This required the selection and transportation of over 100 products from across Vitec’s global locations, making it the most ambitious photo-shoot yet. Despite these logistical challenges, the three day shoot was a success, running smoothly with a productive and positive team. This was due to the fantastic support provided from the Divisions. The photo-shoot was a truly collaborative project with divisional communication leaders working together to provide key products and technical advice with additional on-site support from brand managers and marketing teams, proving that we really do work better when we work together. Both video and stills were captured from the photo-shoot depicting a range of application set-ups and market segments. Alongside our leading products, five different models were featured to provide demographic and cultural range. The content from the photo-shoot will be used across a variety of Group communications such as the website, Annual Report, brand templates and videos. Group aims to share the content with the Divisions in the spring – please check the HUB for further information.
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PRODUCT
HIGHLIGHTS THE WEB, PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF SALES AND MARKETING Renzo Rizzo
Global shift from physical to web retail - Increasingly, consumers around the world turn to the web for a growing number of their purchases, in the west as well as in the east. For example, in China e-Commerce is probably growing faster than anywhere else, despite a late start due to people’s lack of confidence with on line payment systems. Kantar Retail estimates that e-Commerce in China will total 51 billion € in 2014 – or about 10% of total retail sales and is projected to surpass 20% in 2015. Web purchases are becoming increasingly important for imaging in general and for our categories specifically. In China, 39% of the people we interviewed in quantitative research claim they bought their tripod on line, and 45% said they did so for bags. In the US e-Commerce is much bigger than in China, even if growing at a slower rate: 2013’s figures show 184 billion € which is +16% vs. year ago. We estimate that in 2013 35% of the Imaging Division sales were generated on the web, vs. 19% back in 2009. This 35% is the result of our direct sales over the web; of the sales by Amazon and other “pure internet” players, and the sales of traditional retailers who also have major web sales operations (B&H and Adorama, as well as many more around the world). We need to ride this growing tide if we are to increase our sales in the coming years, and we have to ride it very well. In 2013 we made important progress towards the goal of becoming a web savvy company in terms of sales, marketing and advertising. And there is more to come in 2014. Let’s review the two key steps to engage web customers: create awareness and generate a sale. Creating awareness on the web – success in social media in 2013. At the beginning of 2013, disappointed by the lack of progress of the agency that had set up and was handling our social media efforts, we decided to take the matter into our own hands. We assigned a person in the communication department to lead the effort and step up our results in terms of visibility and interactions. This person was supported by an individual consultant and by the web specialists in each of our key countries.
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The problem with the agency’s work was not the platform, which was nice and usable, but the content. In fact, a social media effort needs a nice “container” (in our case a blog mirrored into a Facebook page, and in other social media platforms), but even more importantly it needs fresh, relevant and compelling content that people find interesting and that generates a strong dialogue between the brand (us) and the public. In time, this dialogue, which is never immediately related to sales but to building knowledge and relationships, will also result in increased traffic and hence sales on our sites and on the sites of our customers.
To me, Social media is like a party, where you meet the brand and get to know and talk to each other; then the interest generated by the conversation leads you into the store next door (the website) where you engage in product browsing, sales evaluation and then purchase. I’ll say more about sales in a minute but regarding the conversation on social media, I’d say, the results have been outstanding. In fact, within a year we quintupled the likes and the interactions. Our “Imaginemore” Facebook page now has over 150K likes and 20K “people talking about this” – the latter is a key measure of engagement, not just contact. Between all the likes, postings, comments and visibility by one’s friends this is the equivalent of 10 million traditional “contacts”, at a lower cost per contact than what we’d have had to achieve the same results with traditional media. Plus, the quality of interaction generated by social media is also more relevant and engaging for customers than that of, say, a traditional print ad. because it is more intentional and more closely related to one’s interests and passions.
Selling on the web – great progress in 2013. Obviously conversation is not enough and in 2013 our direct web sales more than doubled reaching close to 2,4 million € worldwide, up from 1,4 in 2012. These figures are the combination of our western sales on the Shopatron platform and the ones we have in China on the tMall platform. The growth has been remarkable enough in the west (+24%), but is really stunning in China. In China we launched the platform in mid 2012 resulting in 248K € of sales in the first 6 months reaching a total of 900K € in 2013. These results come from several actions that we undertook in 2013. First, we stepped up the quality and attractiveness of our web sites, creating a “landing page” for each of the key products which displays all the visuals and details like advertising videos, high definition photos, stop motion videos and product information in a compelling way. It also now features a very prominent “buy now” button. Second, we established an e-commerce manager to guide and support our resident web specialists in the different countries, setting goals, sharing best practices and recording progress. Third, we increased the level of collaboration and sharing between the web specialists and their commercial counterparts in their country – the job of the specialist is now not only to adapt and create content in the local language, but also to collaborate in traffic building activities like social media (e.g., by scouting for interesting bloggers to contribute content) and to establish a constant dialogue on promotional and sales ideas with the local commercial team. Late in the year we also created a new storefront on eBay to sell older stock and started the sale of gift certificates – new initiatives that should further boost results in the coming months. And more to come in 2014… Our plans call for a further increase in brand and product awareness through implementation of new and easier site navigation, increased use of Facebook and social media based contests and increasing web distribution of our advertising videos. As for sales, in 2014 we will also experiment, with the launch of web only products, in categories where physical retail listing is difficult or expensive. Stay tuned… and click to like Manfrotto’s Facebook page and posts!
Silvia Luison
MANFROTTO IMAGINE MORE 2013 turned out to be a very interesting and exciting year for Manfrotto Imagine More! We just want to review some of the things that happened over the last year and thank everyone who was involved in one way or another. First of all, thanks to the latest product launches, Manfrotto Imagine More Facebook page reached more than 150.000 Facebook Fans, that is a huge success for us! Good news which came after the recognition by Facebook Marketing Italia of Manfrotto Imagine More Facebook page as one of the most successful case histories! Facebook itself indicated our company as an example of good practice to follow on their personnel Facebook page.
Kerstin Hiestermann, with 133.286 followers (www.instagram.com/khiesti), is a very creative instagrammer who mixes real objects with drawings in order to create imagination orientated stories. Here is her blog: www.spielkkind.de. This blogger is ranked fifth among the most creative Instagrammers by BuzzFeed.
The project is ongoing and, of course, we are always overshooting: for the last few months we have been working with world-famous bloggers and Instagrammers, and some of them are going to receive some of our latest products to test. Surf the website to see some of them:
Chris Prakoso, a blogger who works on mobile photography, here’s his blog: www.moblivious.com.
Simone Bramante – here’s his Instagram profile www. instagram.com/brahmino - one of the most popular (probably the most popular) Italian Instagrammer, (followed by 348.988 people); Forbes wrote that he is one of the best 10 Instagram profiles to follow at an international level.
2013 was a busy and productive year and we’re grateful to everyone who read our blog, shared or talked about Manfrotto Imagine More projects. If you’d like to get more involved in 2014, check out our blog and become a regular reader! Stay tuned & Imagine More!
Alessio Piazzetta & Davide Cappellini
A SUCCESS STORY OF PRODUCT AND PROCESS INNOVATION:
THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW 190, 055 & MOUNTAINEER When we started to work on the important launch project of the new 190, 055 and Mountaineer, we promptly identified our “mantra”: more features at no additional costs. As usual, we impatiently began to think about cost reduction prospects, taking into account the experience we had had with the “old” product. One new feature among several others we are particularly proud of is the change in the gluing technology, that not only has helped us to optimise costs but also to ensure a safer process.
• New 190 and 055: when the project started, we were aware that we would have to reduce the weight, the size and the cost of the set disk/column. Here as well bi-component glue was the right solution since it helped to remove some metal components that had been included to ensure the joint. Thanks to this, we managed to balance the cost increase due to the new look and functional features defined for the set disk/column. Moreover, thanks to re-organisation of the various activities, this enabled us to integrate machining, assembly and gluing processes in one workstation, meaning that we managed to reduce timing and space occupied.
As to the gluing process, we definitely went for the bi-component glue: a good opportunity, several challenges and two solutions identified • New Mountaineer: we wanted to replace the traditional gluing system used for Gitzo with a cheaper and more efficient process: bi-component glue, that would allow us to cut out the machining. But there were two extraordinary problems: 1. How to apply enough glue on a limited space (g-lock tube) to ensure the mixing of the two components, without obstructing the functionality or jeopardising the look of the product. 2. How to guarantee the flow of tubes by properly aligning the tube to the g-lock, without involving any machining.
All this helped us reach the cost target set for the project. We would like to give more details to show the complexity of the project, that may seem banal, but it would take much time. We have therefore decided to include some pictures, showing people involved in the project and the solutions identified: we hope they can help to highlight the skills and the creativity shown by a passionate team, whose aim was to cope with and succeed in all the challenges and the (several!) complications we had. A team that is proud of the outcome. To the most curious of you, why don’t you come to Feltre to see what we mean with your own eyes! Stefania Vercesi
MANFROTTO IN COLOURS The photographic market has changed a lot in the last 5 years. Due to smartphones, social networks and popular photo apps such as Instagram, many more people are taking photos on a regular basis and becoming excited about photography. These people have different needs from our traditional customers both in terms of functionality but also in terms of design and aesthetics. For this reason we have developed new products and revamped old products with a great new range of colours which are targeted at these new enthusiast users. KLYP+ - We are proud to present KLYP+, our brand new, all-in-one photographic solution to enhance the quality of your iPhone® camera. Using the new photographic bumper you can accessorise your smartphone with a set of 3 interchangeable lenses, a brand new LED light and a tripod mount. The KLYP+ concept is designed exclusively for iPhone® 5/5S users; people who love to shoot pictures
or record videos to share with friends thanks to userfriendly, intuitive and very compact accessories. The overall consumer experience is enhanced by KLYPapp+, a redesigned new version of KLYPAPP, the perfect software support to the KLYP+ accessories. On top of the clap&shoot function, the app now features manual focusing and exposure, filters, frames, watermarks and finally time lapse & stop motion effects. Go to the iTunes store and download KLYPapp+. PIXI - The great success of the black PIXI is continuing to achieve tremendous results in all countries, from HK to Japan, from US to Italy. In order to ride this positive trend and to cater to the preferences of the increasingly large and diversified photographic market, we decided to expand the range of colours. In particular the new white, red/anthracite and pink/anthracite PIXIs provide an answer to the ever increasing demand for more stylish products in the world of photography. These brand new colours are aimed at users who approach photography with a playful spirit, sharing moments, emotions, experiences and wanting to achieve that by expressing their own style.
POCKET - Along with the new launch of PIXI and KLYP we are also giving Pocket, our always-on support, a new launch. The launch will include refreshed packaging, a lower price in a range of exciting additional colours. The two sizes of the Pocket, small and large, are compatible with a wide variety of devices including Compact Cameras, Compact System Cameras and DLSRs. Both models are already available in black and grey and the small Pocket will now be launched in five new colours: white, blue, pink, purple and red. KLYP+, PIXI and POCKET are just the start of Manfrotto’s journey into colour. Watch this space! And check the web for special online promotions with all the kits available!
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HIGHLIGHTS ON 2013
COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGNS Laura Cascone & Claudia Rossi
In 2013 Manfrotto communication moved forward to a new important level. We strongly believe in the importance of communicating information about all our products, promoting not only professional photo and video supports, but also consumer devices, accessories, lighting supports and bags. To meet the needs of photographers who love to travel, we presented the Befree tripod. Compact, lightweight and portable, it is the ideal travel companion that fits into carry-on luggage and backpacks. A small team travelled around California with the prestigious American photographer Adam Barker creating a great story around this product. With Befree for the first time we created a comprehensive integrated communication plan through advertising, commercial and tutorial videos, social media and trade marketing activities. The results have been successful with 37.000 pieces sold in 9 months and a turnover of €2M. Following that, we presented the new Advanced and Pro bags aimed at our main target groups, accomplished and advanced photographers, where the strongest awareness and reputation of our brand lies. With these two innovative product ranges we have shown the superior technology, higher protection and exclusive style of the Manfrotto ranges. We also firmly believe in the importance of the visual experience as divulged through commercial and tutorial videos, that’s why we used these tools, eCommerce channels, to best promote our bags. With the launch of the new 190, we have maintained all the history and heritage of the core Manfrotto tripod family, but we have also developed a new contemporary way to promote and explain product features. The new video is a mix of advertising and tutorial aspects and it sets a new standard in promoting our best sellers and most recognisable products.
THERE ARE MOMENTS WORTHY OF A SET.
In launching our LED lights for the first time we started to rethink lighting products in different terms and we decided to communicate information about them in the same innovative way as we did for our best selling products (190, Befree etc.).
A perfect portrait.
KLYP+ has everything it takes to shoot perfect images on your iPhone® 5/5s. K With the new bumper you can accessorize your iPhone® with iinterchangeable lenses, a brand new LED light and a tripod mount. Stylish, portable, and exceptionally easy to use, the KLYP+ system is the first all-in one photographic solution that gives you flexibility and accuracy just like a real camera.
We presented two advertising campaigns aimed at two different target groups with different needs: photographers and videographers. The objective was to show and to suggest new and creative uses of these products and tell the customers these new lights are suitable for different purposes.
Perfect for a portrait.
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We also refreshed the Gitzo brand image through a new advertising campaign and a commercial expressing our attention to detail, passion, high technology as well as the reliability of the whole product range.
of black, white, red and pink options. These products have been designed to meet the needs of photo enthusiasts looking for accessories which are both portable and easy to use, and yet at the same time best represent them and their style. For each product we have created a different storytelling focusing on their most important features and with a very different tone of voice compared to their professional counterparts. Everything has been shown through commercials, advertising and social media campaigns.
Finally, with PIXI, Klyp+ and Pocket we have introduced the use of colour in the product development process and we presented a beautiful coloured collection made
The goal for 2014 is to continue along this path, improving brand awareness and perception of our products using all our communication tools.
Enlighten your images with the outstanding Spectra LED lights . Spectra LED lights offer a range of power levels and beam angles for all situations. The controllable output ensures accurate exposure and reproduction of skin tones and colour. Flicker-free technology gives peace of mind when shooting in variable conditions and the long battery life or mains power option make Spectra the essential choice for the videographer and photographer alike .
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06/11/13 14.03
Federico Canino
GOLDEN HOUR BEFREE CONTEST
The Befree Golden Hour contest ended on 31st December 2013. The global campaign involved thousands of photos sent in by enthusiasts from the USA, UK, France, Italy and Germany. Thousands of people have uploaded pictures into the different galleries: The Edge of Dawn, Long Exposure, Human Nature, Proximity to Nature, Living City, Magnificent Landscape, Towards the Light. Our contest helped to enhance the creativity of users inviting them to use the Befree tripod with the purpose of capturing the “golden hour”. The cross-media campaign was meant to involve point of sales, mobile devices (through the Golden Hour app) and our web assets. And finally the winner of the contest has been selected. The best picture worldwide was taken by an American guy, Nathan, who wins a trip to California to follow in the footprints of photographer Adam Barker, visiting San Francisco, Mono Lake and Mc Way falls. The most beautiful shots of each nation as well have been designated: country winners will get trips to Lake District (UK), Sorrento (Italy), Berlin (Germany) and Mont St. Michel (France) while the US national winner will get a Manfrotto gift cad worth $ 1.000. And then several fabulous product prizes for other winning pictures including 25 Befree tripods, 20 PIXI table tripod, 20 Active Backpack II, 20 Advanced Active Sling II.
recent EVENTS
Golden Hour International Winner (from USA): Waves
Surf www.manfrottogoldenhour.com to see winners and their fabulous pictures.
USA National Winner: Morning Ride
Italy National Winner: Surreal Landscape
UK National Winner: Calm in Champasak
France National Winner: Sunset on Doubs river, Besançon
Germany National Winner: Skyline of Denver Giorgio Boscaro
MANFROTTO SCHOOL OF XCELLENCE 2014 SHOOT AND SHARE PROGRAMME Our Shoot and Share Programme picks up the pace again with several photography courses for all, from basic to advanced level. The programme is open to all our Italian colleagues; relatives and friends are also welcome, so feel free to involve them in this great experience. For the first six months of 2014 here is what we are offering: • a seminar with Sara Munari on Street Photography; • a workshop with Giovanni De Sandre on Commercial Photography; • a workshop with Vanda Biffanti on Sport Photography;
• training with Photofarm team on Outdoor Photography; • training on how to use a tripod with Yorick Photography; • several workshops with photographer Marc de Tollenaere on great photographers; • a seminar with Monica Silva on Artistic Portraits. As you can see, there is a wide range of topics to develop your skills with famous and talented photographers. We look forward to having you with us! To enrol, please send an email to giorgio.boscaro@manfrotto.com, after getting your line manager’s approval and copying him/her in the email.
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LAUNCHING THE NEW MANFROTTO 190 SERIES & THE NEW MANFROTTO PRO BAGS COLLECTION Our New Benchmarks in Hong Kong & China November & December 2013 were two very important months for the Hong Kong & China organisations. Since the 190 already has a strong legacy and following throughout the professional and semi-professional community of photographers, we chose to launch it together with the new line of Pro Bags to further underline the high level of quality and features of this new series of bags from Manfrotto. The launch event in China took place in Beijing where the largest part of our dealers are located. The launch was separated into two sessions: • First session was with the press and media where the new products, as well as the ideas behind them, were presented by both HQ category managers and the local category managers. There were more than 35 members of the media present at the event and the estimated ad-value from the launch has now surpassed € 200.000. • The second session was focused around the top dealers of Manfrotto. They were given a first look of the new releases and had the opportunity to interact directly with the people behind the products. At the event the dealers were given the opportunity to place the first order, and that evening orders for € 180.000 were placed (for both bags and tripods) for immediate delivery.
in detail, and afterwards could touch and try the products. The second part of the event was dedicated to end users mainly recruited from the photo associations we have an ongoing cooperation with. In order for us to show our Italian heritage and at the same time show where the inspiration for the 190 leg warmers came from, the 190 and Pro Bags were revealed together with the latest model from Ducati (kindly lent to us from Ducati Hong Kong).
Later in December we organized two road shows (Shanghai and Beijing) where we invited two key opinion leaders to come and speak about their experiences when using our products and how they benefited from their features. At the road shows our category managers also gave the dealers’ sales staff in depth training in the products and the end users got the opportunity to really touch and try the products. The launch in Hong Kong was also a two session event, where first the press and media were introduced to the new products
After the media session ended, more than 200 photo enthusiasts came to participate in the games we had organised. Holding events and launches of this scale and complexity is all about team work, and to us in Hong Kong and China this has been a good example of how we can leverage the strong support we have from HQ to reach the level we are aiming for in the market. For 2014 we are looking forward to launching the new Manfrotto Advanced Collection which will complete the Manfrotto bag range and give us an even stronger position as a brand which truly enables photographers on all levels.
Federico Canino
PORSCHE ITALIAN SKI CLUB Manfrotto is proud to announce that it is an official partner of Porsche Italian Ski Club and has been participating in amazing events that have been taking place in exclusive mountain locations. This year is the eleventh edition of these Porsche events, with a very popular formula that sees a combination of ski and car races on snow (driving their own Porsche). The main goal of Manfrotto participation is to promote our brand to demanding customers always looking for prestige and excellence. Our company will engage with affluent consumers presenting the new collection of KLYP+ products. Manfrotto organises, for each leg, a photographic workshop dedicated to the world of competition (ski and cars) in a breathtaking snow covered environment. We offer some good tips on how to shoot stunning pictures and catch the right frame; a task for which our products are an invaluable aid to photographers. In each stage we reward the 3 most beautiful images and winners receive a brand new 190 tripod, 1 Befree kit and a 290 tripod kit. Manfrotto was successfully involved in this initiative by Canon Italy, who have been providing technical support during the events.
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This represents the beginning of what we believe will be a strong business partnership between our two brands. Since December 2013, MD Italy has been part of AIFoto, an organisation that includes the most important imaging brands in Italy. The partnership established between MD Italy and the leader of this association, Canon Italia, so far has been a fruitful relationship resulting in our sponsorship of these exciting Porsche events. The calendar: Selva di Val Gardena (6th-8th December 2013), Madonna di Campiglio (24th-26th January 2014), Ponte di Legno (7th-9th February 2014), Zoncolan (21st-23rd February 2014), Cervinia (14th-16th March 2014).
recent EVENTS
Troels Persson
WINNER OF THE YEAR 2013 We are pleased to announce that the 2013 contest was won by Nick Tsang, with his picture ““Sunset”, taken during a birdwatching event organized by MD Hong Kong.
recent EVENTS
Marc de Tollenaere selected this picture as the best one. Nick wins a FujiFilm X10 Camera, the Befree Tripod and the BRIO 30 Sling Black Bag from the Manfrotto Stile Plus Collection. Well done Nick!
Emanuele Casagrande won the October contest with “Autumn”, an amazing picture taken in the mountains in the first days of Autumn.
Beth Botterill won the November contest with “Spooning”, wonderful picture!
Jonathan Vera won the December contest with “Chocolate Snow”, an amazing picture of his dog on the snow.
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2013 THE TURNING YEAR Message from the HR Director, Marco Scippa 2013 was difficult and challenging for all of us but at the same time, Iet me say, it was a turning year that helped the Company to get ready for a “leap ahead”. All Vitec offices in the world, all departments, all of us worked all the harder to build a new and more powerful, competitive and smart “machine”, to cope with a radically-changed market and its challenges. 2013 was a momentous year for both the projects and the changes that occurred: the new organisation and site in Ashby de la Zouch and MD USA, the re-organisation of the Jerusalem site with the new R&D centre, the “Project One Company”, the signing of the Supplementary Labour Agreement and several new products launched onto the market. What is extraordinary is that we managed to deal with all these projects in only one year, in a really tough market situation, preserving the value of the Company and also gaining market share. Just think about some competitors of ours: not only have they not been able to implement projects like ours but they have been experiencing critical economic situations, some of them next to bankruptcy. What we did, in comparison, is memorable. We actually played two winning aspects other companies did not have: dedication and teamwork. This of course required a lot of effort and some pain but today, while our competitors are counting the “damages” and are thinking of tough solutions just to “stay on the market”, we are stronger, refreshed and on the starting line, ready for our “race”. In 2014 we will definitely be able to reap the benefits of the hard work, carried out with a careful strategy to ensure a future full of satisfaction and good results for us. Let’s remain focused on our objectives and do better than our competitors! Enjoy 2014 Imaging Division: let’s keep up the good work and show what we are made of!
2013 IN PICTURES Francesca Sandonà
2014 has begun and we are now wholly involved in planning and implementing new and appealing PeopleFocus activities for everybody. In the meantime, let’s have a rapid fast-forward of what happened in 2013: we hosted several initiatives for our employees on subjects such as engagement and wellbeing and for the community, supporting causes we reckoned central and linked to our business. Here are a few examples and pictures of the work done.
MANFROTTO WINTER CHALLENGE
EATING WELL
The 18th edition of Manfrotto Winter Challenge took place in March 2013 on the snow of Passo Brocon, Ski Lagorai, North Italy. From the snowshoe walk and skiing races to the photo of the day contest, après-ski and the awards ceremony: a day for employees and families to have fun and share lively moments.
In April 2013 Italian sites included a Good3 product line in the vending machines - fresh fruit, juices, smoothies, yogurt – with the company contributing 30% towards the original price, allowing people to enjoy the fresh, healthy products at a more affordable price. Next step for 2014: extend the initiative throughout the whole Division.
We hope you like them and … if you have any suggestions and comments on how to improve our job, contact us (francesca. sandona@manfrotto.com), we would be glad to hear from you! GYM Our sites in Italy continued their agreements with sport centres in Bassano del Grappa and Feltre to get really favourable rates to attend gym and swimming pool. Manfrotto Distribution USA launched a similar initiative, reimbursing their employees part of the gym annual fee.
WATERAID & REACHING THE UNREACHED In 2013 Manfrotto UK confirmed its longstanding commitment to the community by supporting the two organizations - WaterAid (www.wateraid.com) and Reaching the Unreached (www.rtu.org.uk) - that help some of the world’s poorest people gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. SUPPLEMENTARY LABOUR AGREEMENT BLOOD DRIVE Last May MD USA supported a campaign to raise awareness among their employees on the need to donate blood and arranged a day on which employees could donate blood to support the New Jersey Blood Center (www.bloodnj.org). Well done!
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On June 5th 2013 the Trade Unions, the Company Trade Union representatives and the management signed the new Supplementary Labour Agreement for Vitecgroup Italy and Lino Manfrotto. A modern agreement focussed on people with new rules to enhance competitiveness, innovative Company welfare tools and experimentation.
From: Nantes, France Your hobbies: Photography & travels Do you like photography? What are your favourite subjects: I love photography, I have a Nikon D80 with a 35 mm and my favourite subjects are street photography and portraits Your role: Web Specialist MD France With the Company since: April 15th 2013 What was your first day at work like? My colleagues offered me a warm welcome, it was a very pleasant beginning Sum up your work experience here in one word: Rich A funny anecdote about something that happened to you here and you want to share with us: One day, during our sales meeting we made a joke to one of our sales rep, telling him that he would be in charge of Belgium ! He was about to panic! We then told him the truth and he was so relieved we all laughed together. I like the good atmosphere in the office, funny things happen everyday! What you like most about your job: The fact that I have the opportunity to work with different cultures What you like least about your job: I work with people I have not had the chance to meet face to face. We live in different countries and I would sometimes prefer to meet them face to face and have lunch together to discuss our projects, instead of talking to them using a webcam and a microphone An important thing you have learnt here: Team spirit What would you change in your life if you could go back in time: Nothing! Past is past And what would you not change: Following my previous answer, I would change nothing! Your biggest wish in your life: Never stop travelling
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Name & Surname: Emilie Roy
Name & Surname: Christian Westrelin From: Paris, France Your hobbies: Cycling and travel Do you like photography? What are your favourite subjects: Enough to practice regularly, especially landscape photography and still life Your role: Customer Service MD France With the Company since: August 2008 What was your first day at work like? It’s always exciting to discover a new professional world. The first day in Manfrotto was focussed on learning about the group and our products, really important for me and my job! Sum up your work experience here in one word: Always connected A funny anecdote about something that happened to you here and you want to share with us: One day I was dictating a URL address to a client, and came to //, the client asked me how to spell double forwards slash! What you like most about your job: Having to solve customers’ technical issues What you like least about your job: Not being able to resolve customers’ technical issues An important thing you have learnt here: Maintaining good relations with customers What would you change in your life if you could go back in time: Nothing, I believe I am a very lucky person And what would you not change: If we could go back, we would be able to correct all our mistakes, but life would lose its charm, which is why I prefer not to change anything Your biggest wish in your life: To continue to believe in humanity
WELCOME!
A warm welcome to our new colleagues:
Nina Barot Product Manager Lighting (Divisional Marketing)
Martin Bongard Lucrezia Bonollo Country Manager Junior Market Analyst (MD Germany) (Divisional Marketing)
Stefano Finessi Annette Grigg Sales Director Eastern HR Business Partner UK Europe / Russia / Middle & Germany (Manfrotto UK) East / Africa (Sales West)
Simon Rech Junior System Engineer (Divisional IT)
Sherell Cervino Customer Service Representative (MD USA)
Diane Di Vincenzo Trade Marketing Manager (MD USA)
Tony Kwok Marco Vidali Elena Mazzucco Category Manager Managing Director Product Manager Bags (MD Hong Kong) (MD China & Hong Kong) (Divisional Marketing)
Mauricio Alejandro Fabio Troian Louis Riccelli Finance Director Equipment & Tools Specialist Trujillo Morales BI Specialist (Divisional IT) (Operations Plants) (MD USA)
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