COMMUNICATION PLANS
(AND LEGACY OF GLOBAL EVENTS)
A plan studied down to the smallest detail, crowned by success with a coverage beyond all expectations on all the top international media coupled with an enormous online visibility made possible by an original narrative on the social media.
EVENTUALLY, after a six-month stint as the main icon of Expo Dubai (see photo below), the re-production of Michelangelo's masterpiecebecame the inspiration for research and innovation projects in the protection of the artistic heritage affected by wars and natural disasters worldwide. What follows is the story of…
THE DAVID TWIN
This is the story of a communication journey that lasted over two years, starting in summer 2020 with the first contacts to ensure high-profile media coverage of the different phases of the Project: the most accurate reproduction of Michelangelo's masterpiece ever made. The David Twin became the great icon of the event in the United Arab Emirates in the middle of the Expo’s semester, its most notable testimonial wtih an impressive campaign of mega boards and displays in airports, metro stations, and motorways
1.
The announcement
The announcement of the unprecedented project took place on October 1st of 2020 at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence where the original David is located: the event, attended by a selcted media crowd made of senior reporters from Italian state television network RAI, the nation’s main daily paper Corriere della Sera and New York Times took place amidst the limitations of the ongoing pandemic, inside a museum which would shortly be closed to visitors due to the Covid, a circumstance which made the digital acquisition of the David much easier.
2.
The Digital David in the global media
In the days following the announcement (see the video), dozens of newspapers around the world, from Repubblica to the New York Times to La Vanguardia, made it a front page story. Newswires, TV channels and radio stations in the five Continents also dedicate a lot of space to David Gemello: among others, the Associated Press, CBS, RIA Novosti, and the BBC
3.
On the front page of the New York Times…
4.
…And on those of Repubblica, La Vanguardia, Wall Street Journal
(the articles can be viewed by clicking on the images below)
5.
The unveiling live at the Italian Pavilion
The unveiling of the David re-production on the construction site of the Italian Pavilion at the Italian Exhibition at Expo at the end of April 2021, or five months before the start of the Universal Exposition, was a major media event, broadcast live on RAI1 and attended by Italian and UAE government mebers as well as coverde by journalists and photographers from all over the world
6.
A testimonial of Italian cultural heritage: the CNN report, seen on all the Emirates flights
The first of many great "commercials" for the cultural heritage of our country, made possible by the David Twincommunication project, went on air and online in May 2021 when CNN called the re-production of Michelangelo's masterpiece as an ace in the hole for Italy and its tourism affected by the decline in tourist flows during the pandemic: the report, showing the main stages of the project up to the installation at Expo site, remained available for a year on the on-board content programming all the Emirates flights
7.
An icon of Italy in Dubai and for Dubai…
The story-telling of the project in the international mediawent on throughout the summer of 2021 and a few weeks before the start of the Expo, a further peak in its visibility was recorded. In fact, the US weekly Time included Dubai among the 'World's Greatest Places 2021' (surprisingly, no Italian place was in the list) and mentioned three reasons: one was the David reproduction at the Italian Pavilion.
Then, once the Exhibition had begun, an exclusive report on the Reuters agencyborke the news od the project of a center for the restoration and re-production of works of art damaged in conflict areas (a project based precisely on the experience of David Twin) followed by more reports on the BBC, Gulf News and The National as well as by hundreds of tories on the social media posted by micro and top influencers visiting the Italian Pavilion.
...and to lead the re-birth of the art cities in Italy after the pandemic
The CNN headline marked by itselfc the extraordinary impact og this project of global promotion of Italy’s art heritage
8.
Italy’s beauty and innovation on display worldwide thanks to the BBC
The story went on with a special report by ‘Click’, the famous tv show on technology and innovation (see below, stating at 00:11:20)
9.
The“3D David” on social media
The great visibility of the the Digtial and Twin David Digitale on traditional media prompted a virtuous communication cycle that extended to the digital channels with hundreds and then thousands of textual, photographic and video contents posted by influencers, physical and virtual vistors on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and above all on Instagram... of which the link below offers an overview
10.
A portray of the David-Twin project
Massimo Sestini, one of Europe’s top photo-reporters and winner of the World Press Photo award, speaks in this video of his personal experencecovering on an exclusive basis the most specific steps of the David reproduction, from the early stages of the digitalization up to the Twin’s arrival in Dubai
11.
The re-production is now inspiration for projects in the technological research for the artistic heritage
An Italian lawmaker successfully proposed and got approved an extra measure as part of the nation’s budget law for 2022, (here the details) to ensure a legacy for Italy’s particiaption in Expo Dubai: three projects funded by the State, among which one inspired by. the David re-production.
12.
Memory and future
In the photographic book celebrating Italy's participation in Expo Dubai that I edited for Mondadori publishing company, an entire chapter is dedicated to the David Twin and to the over 1 million and 600 thousand well-known or unknown visitors who admired him as they passed through the Pavilion. Below are two excerpts from the introductory text I wrote.
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