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Home > CANADA > Spotlight
GIOVANNI VITALONI: "EXPERIMENTING AND CREATIVITY IS NICO DESIGN'S MOTTO"
Rome (Ign) - "Our success is the fruit of company coherence: for years we have been aiming entirely at experimenting and at creativity and the results are there for all to see". This is how Giovanni Vitaloni sums up the mission of Nico Design, of which he is the owner. The company is based in Turin and is one of the world's leading eyewear companies that in only fifteen years has become a leading name in creative eyewear. Worldwide success, recognised and celebrated with the prestigious Silmo d'Or award, awarded for the Racing model, and the Eyewear of the Year award, received for two consecutive years.
Your trademark means attention to design. Can you describe the creative process in your company that launches a new product on the market?
The creation of a new frame by Nico Design is the fruit of extraordinary team work which involves all our company. We have a style centre that creates the initial project which is then passed to the Style and Marketing office for approval and brainstorming to add any changes. The idea then passes over to the design and the first Cad drafts are elaborated for the initial prototypes and the pre-production phase. The most important phase for us is represented by our research of new materials with manufacturers who need not necessarily work in the optical sector. For years we have been conducting a series of experiments with innovative materials that have been very successful with the public. We also draw continuous inspiration from contemporary art.
How is business going?
Just great! Nico Design has 20 employees and a yearly turnover of €7m, 75% from exports. Our biggest markets are presently France, the Scandinavian countries and Spain, but we are also interested in penetrating the United States and the Japanese markets. Japan sells eyewear made by our largest competitors, those who best represent the world leaders in eyewear. Having cut out our own niche in this market makes us very proud.
Nico Design's website (www.nicodesign.it) is very elegant and stylish. You have also created a portal (www.vanniocchiali.it), that is inter-active with users. Do you believe in the Web as a tool for creating customer loyalty?
The two websites are necessary for reaching different objectives. The corporate website (Nicodesign) is intended more for communication with distribution and commercial partners; it is designed to allow us to interface with the other operators in the sector and maximise this context. Vanniocchiali.it, instead, is designed specifically for the consumer, with the objective of creating a community around our brand: there is also a section - the Vanni-tosi - created specifically for our fans; an interactive forum that contains pictures our customers send us to show us how good they look with our eyewear. The Internet is a very important communication tool for us. With time, it will become essential.
Up to now, what future business development do you see on the horizon for Nico Design? Which market sectors to tackle?
Our company mission remains the design and production of high quality design eyewear. This represents our core business where we focus our attention. A short term objective is to be among the top ten leading creative eyewear companies in the world. Our turnover now places us among the first twenty, but we are about to make the big leap. We can also increase our turnover in Italy: the market seems to be moving and offers many new growth opportunities.
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