An elegant Italian living room dominated by tone-on-tone colours, the refined tranquillity of a moment to take a break, an all-embracing sip of coffee: the calm of this moment suspended in time, with a totally satisfying mood, is suddenly interrupted as taste takes the limelight. The new Lavazza campaign created by Armando Testa is constructed on this unexpected plot twist
The concept is precisely the explosion of taste of Lavazza Esprsso Gourmet, the new line of caramel and chocolate flavoured NCC capsules.
Two new flavours, two parallel stories. In addition, as well as the contents for each reference, there is also a film for the whole range featuring the two domestic settings as if located in the same building, exploiting vertical media.
This full funnel campaign, 100% digital and social, which includes three subjects, goes live from December on Lavazza channels, first in Italy and then on international markets.
An engaging approach that uses a strong visual metaphor to describe the new flavours emphasising how indulgent they are and the experience of a new taste.
Credits
Client: Luigi Lavazza Spa
Agency: Armando Testa Spa
Executive Creative Director: Michele Mariani
Digital Creative Directors: Paolo Fenoglio, Gabriella De Stefano
Vecchia Romagna is back with the third edition of their Branded Content “Maestros of Emotions”. The stars featured this time are two great Italian actresses: Valeria Golino and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who describe their most authentic relationship, without playing any characters. The dialogue touches on three values that have always been part of the brand’s DNA: time passed and still to come, emotions experienced and the maestros who left their mark on the personal and professional lives of these two women.
The format has been renewed compared to the previous editions and it allows the actresses to tell their own stories: sharing moments in their lives, both private and professional, a dialogue that flows just like when friends confide in each other.
Vecchia Romagna celebrates the stories that come to life when enjoying a good glass of Brandy, in this case Vecchia Romagna Riserva Tre Botti, an elegant blend of spirits aged in three different barrels. The project was developed by the Armando Testa agency and created in collaboration with CairoRCS Studio. It can be viewed on the digital platform of Corriere della Sera and on all Vecchia Romagna’s social channels.
CREDITS
Group Director of Marketing Spirits: Alessandro Soleschi
Head of Marketing Core Brands: Daniele De Angelis
Global Brand Manager Vecchia Romagna: Chiara Casati
Banzai and the Armando Testa Group have been awarded “Site of the day” and “Developer Award” the most coveted recognition in the web design sector on Awwards, for their creation of an innovative web experience for the brand of instant noodles. It was entirely created by the AT Factory, the Digital & Tech unit of the Armando Testa Group.
Grif Group, the company which supplies the retail trade with 360-degree products and marketing strategies has relaunched Banzai on the market with a completely new rebellious and innovative look, thanks to the restyling work done by AT Design, the Branding & Design unit of the Armando Testa Group, to ensure the brand connects with Gen Z and beyond.
Iconic colourful and irreverent, the new packaging blends the aesthetics of manga with the language of Gen Z, endowing the brand with a strong identity. The same concept has been applied in social media with the opening of the brand’s channels (Meta, Tik Tok) and the publication of engaging content in line with the target.
The characters represented the starting point to create a unique digital experience: Veronica, Spike, Rosy and Paul, members of the lively Banzai Gang – come to life on the website as they meet in Izakaya, which becomes the setting for the whole experience, accompanying users on a digital journey that combines aesthetics, interactivity and storytelling. Every element of the project was conceived to merge online and offline in an easily flowing and involving dialogue, thanks to the use of 3D technologies.
The restyling of the new Banzai website represents a giant leap forward for the agency in the world of 3D web experience and innovative design.
Thanks to this innovative approach, as well as the two awards mentioned earlier the Armando Testa Group has also been the recipient of prestigious international recognition in the web design sector including:
Favourite Website Award of the Day on The FWA, the leading platform to recognise digital excellence, on 10th November 2024
Website of the Day (WOTD) on CSS Design Awards, quoting excellence in UI, UX and Innovation, on 17th November 2024
Site of the day on CSS Nectar, on 22nd November 2024
As well as the two awards already mentioned:
Site of the Day (SOTD) on Awwwards, the most coveted recognition in the sector, dated 14th December 2024
Developer Award on Awwwards, for the technical innovation and development of the project, dated 14th December 2024
With this new direction the Armando Testa Group aims to consolidate its presence on the international digital design scene, taking a position as a reference point for brands that want to connect with their consumers in an innovation and memorable way.
The huge star-moon is shining bright, the trees are covered with snow and a group of young dreamers is singing “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”, holding their personal bright dreams tightly in their hands, they bring to life an enormous magic tree which glows before it turns into a cookie.
All the ingredients for a dreamy Christmas are already there, but like every year, the project developed by the Barilla Pan di Stelle marketing team along with the strategic and creative team from Armando Testa adds a month bursting with lots of other surprises.
Online, cinema, e-commerce, in store: believe right up to the stars means getting your dream to reach every touchpoint.
The film, in cuts of 20” and 15”, shot using the 3D ledwall technique, was directed by Federico Brugia, produced by Brw Filmland with post production by Band. On air from Sunday 8th December on TV, and from 9th on digital, cinema will also follow with the 20” version.
A musical greeting, because this time the iconic track which accompanies the Pan di Stelle Manifesto Film too, is sung by the young voices of kids, with an arrangement by Operà Music. It delivers the message of the new campaign, obviously with a Christmassy style: “Happy Holidays to anyone who never stops dreaming, and believing right up to the stars”.
The words of Chiara Pisano, marketing director Pan di Stelle: “Every year we are happy to send our best wishes to all dreamers, using Pan di Stelle’s unique and special way: with a pinch of a dream and sweetness but also with an invitation to never stop believing in dreams, because they’re the most powerful light we all have. This year the Dream Manifesto and believe right up to the stars campaign, developed together with the Armando Testa agency, tells authentic stories of people with a dream who do everything to make it grow, in 2025 the project will continue with important brand activism, and Christmas is the perfect time to turn on the magic switch, before continuing to remember that dreams also exert an important impact on reality.”
Following Pan di Stelle’s Christmas tradition, the special edition packs are already available in store. They were designed by the Armando Testa agency as was the new shape of the biscuit, this year like a tree as in the last image in the film. And if you buy at least two packs you can take part in the Notti da Sogno contest, to win one of thousands of Bassetti duvet cover and pillow case sets, for a cosy good night in the Pan di Stelle sky, to dream all the way up the magic staircase that leads to the star-moon.
The dream also lights up when we think about the gifts we all exchange at Christmas.
The little girl in the film who starts off the singing is holding a gift wrapped in the Pan di Stelle’s first gift wrapping paper: buy just two products from the range and get it free immediately, so you make every gift magical even before you unwrap it.
What’s more, Amazon is now selling the Pan di Stelle Xmas box, created in partnership with THUN– a leading company in the world of quality gifts. It contains the Christmas pack of biscuits and a decorated mug, like the box inspired by the new film.
Credits:
Agency: Armando Testa
Creative Direction: Monica Pirocca and Michela Sartorio
Creative Team: Gaetano Corvino and Chiara Demichelis
Head of Strategy: Guglielmo Pezzino
Head of Research & Consumer Insights: Emanuela Calderoni
Client Director: Benedetta Buzzoni
Account Team: Biagio Carrella, Francesca Toschi
Production Company: BRW Filmland
Executive Producer: Simona Ferraro
Director: Federico Brugia
Dop live action: Pancho Alcaine
Off line post production: Tex
Post Producer: Caterina Falvo
Editor: Vilma Conte
Post production/ Vfx: Band
Vfx Supervisor: Alberto Mantini
Unreal Environment Artist: Mattia Bruno
Colourist: Adriano Maestroni
Location: TEN DOTS Virtual Production Studio Sofia
Music: “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”
Written by MACK DAVID, AL HOFFMAN, JERRY LIVINGSTON
Christmas is at our doorstep and Fabbri 1905, the iconic Italian brand famous for its sour cherries, is celebrating with a new outdoor campaign, dedicated this time to Fruit in Liqueurs.
This delicacy, which can be enjoyed pure, tried iced or paired with some recipes, is an ideal gift for a refined after-dinner drink over the festive season: there is an extra opportunity to publicise Fabbri Fruit in Liqueurs to the general public thanks to the restyling of the labels and the brand’s wish to revive the culture of consuming this product.
The territory chosen by the brand continues to be love, already dominated by Fabbri with their campaigns dedicated to Amarena, Sciroppi and Toppings: the star of the outdoor campaign is actually a small cup of cherries in liqueur and one of them, as if greedily “stolen” with a fork, and thanks to a natural drop of liqueur it turns into a heart.
The campaign for Frutta al Liquore Fabbri was conceived by the Armando Testa agency, which has been working alongside the company for a year, meeting the marketing needs and advancing the brand’s knowledge about its consumers.
The outdoor ads are featured in the main cities in Italy.
The Municipality of Assisi and the Armando Testa agency are collaborating together once again to create the communication campaign dedicated to promoting winter tourism in 2024-2025 in the city of Saint Francis.
The goal of the campaign is to describe the variety and wealth of activities planned in the area of Assisi for the Christmas and New Year season. At the same time showcasing Assisi in its role as a capital for tourism at 360° : a place with lots of attractions for all kinds of visitors, not only those looking for a religious experience.
The creative idea is the « Christmas » development of the idea used for the summer tourism campaign : in the very name of Assisi, which features a « Si » (Yes) at its very heart, you can find the answer to anything you might ask of an unforgettable experience. Above all at Christmas, when it becomes even more magical.
Indeed Assisi answers « Sì » to everyone, regardless of age, whether you are travelling alone, as a couple or with your family. It’s a city that says yes to anyone looking for nature, beauty, art, music, theatre and even to anyone who gets swept up in the magical Christmas atmosphere, with its lights, markets, festive trains and trees majestically decorated with lights.
In this case too the « Sì » of Assisi becomes the visual element featured in a unique way in the campaign, giving it a strong and distinctive identity making it communicatively effective and having all the synthesis of a logo.
The campaign includes targeted planning in the outdoor circuit of the metro of Rome and Milan, the use of billboards in Umbira and a content strategy on the social channels of the Municipality of Assisi.
Credits
Client: City of Assisi
Agency: Armando Testa
Creative Direction : Raffaele Balducci
Creative team: Daniele Bona, Alessio Caminiti, Thomas Marino
The time has come to write a new chapter in mixology. That’s the way Amaro Montenegro is inaugurating the new edition of The Vero Bartender, the cocktail competition of the authentic taste that attracts the talents of bartenders at the international level every year.
On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of Amaro Montenegro in 2025, The Vero Bartender is back with a new concept created by the Armando Testa agency. “Shaping the Future” invites participants to embark on a journey with destination 2165: a future where the infinite possibilities of mixology can be explored, but where Sapore Vero remains the key element in every cocktail.
What techniques and ingredients would we use if we were bartenders in 2165? The new edition presents us with an opportunity to experiment, create and innovate, but above all to surprise the jury with a cocktail of the future based on Amaro Montenegro.
The competition was elaborated upon at every stage by Armando Testa, with a digital first ecosystem, structured on a number of different touchpoints: guiding everything, a hero video with a premium and minimal visual identity, ad hoc social planning, website and press announcement dedicated to the trade magazines. The organisation and management of the events, including the Italian final and the global final of the competition, have been entrusted to the agency LGS SportLab.
Credits
Client: Montenegro Group
Group Director of Marketing Spirits: Alessandro Soleschi
Head of Marketing Core Brands: Daniele De Angelis
Global Brand Manager Amaro Montenegro: Camilla Menarini
Head of International Channel & Customer Marketing: Valentina Pisano
Global Brand PR Hospitality & Events Manager: Marta Fabiani
Alfasigma has selected Armando Testa as their creative partner, after a pitch to assign the communication campaign for the brand partner NeoBorocillina.
NeoBorocillina has been at the forefront of treating sore throats for more than 80 years. Now they are back on main channels with new creativity which emphasises their wide range, consisting of pharmaceutical remedies and natural supplements.
The creative idea describes how different types of sore throats can impact anyone’s day. And it does so with a strong distinctive symbolism: special threatening tattoos which disturb the throats of the characters. That’s where NeoBorocillina steps in. With a response tailored for every need, it alleviates symptoms thanks to a blast of rapid action for long-lasting relief.
NeoBorocillina’s aim, with this campaign, is to underline not only its action which can provide relief from different types of sore throats, but also how close it is to consumers, sealing it with the new payoff: “Dalla parte della tua gola”. “On the side of your throat”.
Specific subjects dedicated to various types of sore throats will follow — early symptoms, severe with cough — as well as creativity dedicated to Propolmiele+, the line of supplements to improve oral health.
Credits
Client: Alfasigma
Director Consumer Healthcare: Adelaide Raia
Marketing Director Consumer Healthcare: Serena Ferrari
Group Brand Manager Area Pain&Cold: Chiara Francini
Brand Manager NeoBorocillina: Edoardo Lipari
Media Manager: Barbara Orsi
Advisor: VA Consulting/Ebiquity Alessandro Arbitrio, Sonia Rocchi, Matteo Siffredi
Yamaha Motor Europe returns to the most important motorcycle event of the year with a series of incredible new products. Once again this year, innovation and performance reign supreme at Eicma. The Japanese giant is taking advantage of the experience and creativity of the Armando Testa agency once more for their new international campaigns and is also collaborating with AT Studios, where many of the productions were created, from Italy to Mount Fuji.
Each campaign was a journey into one of Yamaha’s many worlds, all once again featuring the distinctive Armando Testa signature, and capable of making each message exciting and memorable in addressing a range of different targets in the 2-wheel world. From collectors on board their TRACER 9, 9 GT and 9 GT+ on the most legendary routes in the world, who rediscover the pleasure of riding with the new Y-AMT technology, to fans of the historic Paris-Dakar – for them tackling the hell of the Sahara Desert is absolute heaven. The quote from Dante “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” adds a creative emphasis to the video of the Ténéré 700 Rally, which celebrates the perfection and the attention to detail in the “MAX is in Details” project dedicated to the new TMAX Tech MAX created with the help of generative artificial intelligence, star of the Sport Scooter segment where the new NMAX 125 Tech MAX and NMAX 125 have been added to the roster. Their addition is publicised with the video “Join the MAX” a real call to action dedicated to the younger target.
Finally, riders who dream of riding through the Tokyo nights on board their Hyper Nakeds see a new “dawn” of the Dark Side of Japan emerge in the film “Dawn of a New Darkness”. A population of Okami, the traditional Japanese masks that depict the wolf, howl at the new star lighting up the Japanese nights. While the medium-displacement MT-03 is introduced as the sharpest vehicle for cutting through the nights in the concept film “Sharp in the Dark” and the MT-125 as the true social network capable of connecting young people to a passion for motorcycles and hanging out together in the video “Connect to the Dark”, which highlights the new connectivity features of the bike most loved by youngsters of the Dark Side of Japan.
The campaigns include three different cuts of 90’’, 30’’ and 15’’, as well as a 10’’ teaser, print and catalogue images are planned for all the brand’s digital and social channels.
Credits:
Client: Yamaha Motor Europe
Agency: Armando Testa Group
Executivecreative direction: Nicola Cellemme and Georgia Ferraro
CreativeSupervisor: Lorenzo Blangiardo, Maria Meioli
Creativeteam: Chiara Panattoni, Carlotta Gilardi, Roberto Capodanno, Gaetano Corvino, Francesca Graziani, Marcello Maiorana, Maria Carmen Ranieri
The 2025 Lavazza Calendar by young talent Omar Victor Diop explores the concept of blending 130 years after the company was founded
November 6, 2024
Who knows whether Luigi Lavazza imagined a hundred and thirty years ago that the Lavazza coffee blend he’d just created would go on to embody such innovative values that they would still be relevant over a century later. It was certainly his hope, because he believed that the secret of quality coffee lay in the composition of the blend, and because his visionary talent recognised the potential of coffee as a prized material that would bring the stories of millions of people together over a steaming cup of coffee.
Continuing in the vein of the last two editions of the Calendar, which focused on collaboration and inclusion, for 2025 Lavazza has chosen the ‘blend’ as the key concept driving the aesthetic approach behind the shots in the new Calendar, with creative direction by advertising agency Armando Testa. In the words of Francesca Lavazza, Lavazza Group Board Member: “With this project we want on one hand to emphasise the importance of the art of blending as a source of inspiration since 1895, but also the importance of the people who have contributed to the Group’s growth and success and are in the process of building its future. Let’s Blend – 130 years forward is a choral calendar that takes us into 2025.”
To celebrate the anniversary, Lavazza chooses to talk about the present and, above all, looks to the future by commissioning new generation talent Omar Victor Diop to produce the images in the Calendar. Diop is an extraordinarily elegant French-Senegalese artist who creates a single choral photograph in which joyful chromaticism expressing the visual vibrancy of his home culture is combined with skilful composition that references the great tradition of Renaissance painting, giving life to four tableaux vivants that celebrate the idea of the encounter and blending, adapting it according to two key concepts. The leitmotif linking the four seasons, dominated by shades of light blue, pink, green and ochre, is the counter that symbolises the place where multiple cultures and experiences come together through a shared love of coffee. The photographs, which compose a symphony of the four seasons, are populated by 36 protagonists invited from the world of Lavazza to embody certain key moments in the Group’s history.
Every triptych features a ‘talent’, a prominent personality linked to the world of Lavazza, surrounded by the protagonists chosen for the story that will lead to the celebration of a hundred and thirty years since the Company was founded.
Francesca Lavazza comments: “With the Let’s Blend project we wanted to symbolically create a great reunion, in which everyone who shares the same value finds visibility in a collective fresco made up of 36 people. The photographer, ambassadors, chefs, baristas and trainers, with the Group’s collaborators and longstanding partners… a blend with different roots, origins and roles, but all sharing Lavazza’s values and with the task of propelling them into the future.”
So, it’s in front of the endless counter of an ideal bar that a new concept of extended community is created, based on shared values, aimed at fostering the richness of difference.
Just like a blend, which in coffee brings together a mixture of original characteristics and whose result is always more than the sum of its parts, so the union of people who share the history of Lavazza – from the baristas who devote care and attention to every aspect of preparing and serving their coffee to the internationally renowned designers who develop tools and environments – contributes to defining the magic and uniqueness of a brand like Lavazza. It’s a tribute to an idea of warm humanity that weaves relationships between equals and believes in knowhow and contamination, a humanity that welcomes the other and broadens its horizons, recognising the extraordinary value of every person.
The images for the twelve months of the Calendar form a narrative that unfolds as if in a single long take and tells multiple different micro-stories, the “molecules” that make up a larger collective story. Jannik Sinner, Massimiliano Caiazzo, Whoopi Goldberg, Tullio Solenghi, Big Mama, Omar Victor Diop, Sara Gama and Omar Hassan appear alongside Ambassadors Daniela Fatarella General Manager Save the Children Italy, designer Cino Zucchi and Chefs Norbert Niederkofler, Federico Zanasi and Chiara Pavan. These famous names are featured with Lavazza people, with professionals including coffee specialists, baristas, trainers and even Luigi, the friendly robot in the Pleasure Makes us Human Global Campaign, who represents the more futuristic side but is also rich in Brand sentiments. The triptychs, which are compositions of carefully selected objects with a precise meaning, like clues in an intriguing treasure hunt, expound the concepts of Blending Times, which brings together personalities of different generations, Blending Roots, in which each subject showcases their different origin, Blending Cultures, a mixology of different traditions and cultures, and lastly Blending Minds, where complementary attitudes, skills and professions are mixed together. They are people who work in different fields and express themselves in art, sport, culture, business, gastronomy and innovation, all areas where Lavazza has an active role to play.
Blending is therefore a “kind of foundational word in the Lavazza dictionary”, says Michele Mariani, executive creative director at Armando Testa Group, who also explains that “we thought it was important and interesting to underscore this concept. Talking about blending today highlights a major value at a time in which the world seems a little more problematic, a little more arid and often unmindful of differences. So, the invitation to collaborate, share and coexist is now more than a desire, it’s a necessity”.
Following in the footsteps of the 2024 Calendar – More than Us – with images by African photographers Thandiwe Muriu, Daniel Obasi and Aart Verrips, the new Calendar by Omar Victor Diop showcases Africa’s centrality as a continent of innovation, no longer ‘emerging’ but now a group of countries and cultures in great ferment. A symbolic place of the utmost importance for the Group. “Africa is a place of identity,” says Francesca Lavazza, “because it’s the original home of the coffee bean (the Kafa region of Ethiopia) but also a continent of harmony, bursting with energy, experimentation and belief in the future. All values in line with Lavazza’s DNA. With its natural wealth, Africa is also the stage for a number of sustainable development projects by the Lavazza Foundation, through which Lavazza Group aims to turn coffee into a huge opportunity for producer countries: a high-quality product for prosperous communities that respect and protect the environment in the framework of long-term sustainable development”.
With the 2025 Calendar, Lavazza is continuing its advocacy of responsible business practices and universal values. An international Group with over 5,500 people, Lavazza puts the values of sustainability and inclusion at the centre of its growth, moving
forward with the mission it embraced 130 years ago, in which people and the environment are now the true protagonists. Connected, to create something precious together.
CREDITS
Supervision & Coordination: Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. Francesca Lavazza, Member of Board Luigino Finelli, Creative Content Production Manager Photographer: Omar Victor Diop Creative Project: Armando Testa S.p.A. Executive Creative Director: Michele Mariani Creative Directors: Andrea Lantelme, Gabriella De Stefano, Paolo Fenoglio Graphic Designer: Michela Repellino Digital Graphic Designer: Beatrice Mezzocolli Project Manager: Gina Graci Digital Client Service: Francesca Romaldo Production Advisor & Talent Management: The Producer International Production Company: The Box Films Executive Producer: Federico Levizzani Producer: Maria Elena Amatulli
Photo dpt. Light Director: Estelle Chauffour Digit Tech: Cesare Maragnano, Nicholas Beutler, Andrea Mariniello Retoucher: Marine Woehl Set Designer: Stefano Grossi Stylist: Giuseppina Maurizi Stylist BigMama: Cristian Lorenzoni Stylist Massimiliano Caiazzo: Ramona Tabita Make Up Artist: Fulvia Bartoli Hair Stylist: Antonella Muggeo Groomer – Londra @OneRepresents: Sarah Whiteside Hair and Make Up BigMama: Serena Polh Hair Stylist Whoopi Goldberg: Diarra Sidibe Make Up Artist Whoopi Goldberg: Renata Di Leone Film-maker: Mattia Ruggeri
Special Thanks: Renata Rinaldi – Lavazza Group Creative Content and Brand Image Department Chiara Barlassina – The Producer International Carlo Sgarzi – Red Joint Film
