If you’re travelling to Italy this summer, there’s no better way to get to know the local area than by attending an event. Summer is festival season in Italy and there’s lots going on in every region.
 
Here’s a rundown of the best events in Italy over the summer months:

Every year on June 16th, Pisa is lit up by candles to celebrate its patron saint, San Ranieri. This tradition dates back to the 1600s when the urn containing the remains of San Ranieri was placed in the city’s cathedral. Over 70,000 candles float on the river, light up buildings and decorate the river banks. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is also illuminated by oil lamps.

The Palio di Siena is probably the most famous Italian Palio. It even featured in the James Bond film, the Quantum of Solace! The Palio di Siena is a medieval-style horse race between 10 of the 17 districts of the city. It takes place annually in July and August, in Siena’s Piazza del Campo.
 
The 10 jockeys race 3 laps around the edge of the square and huge crowds gather to watch the horses navigate the track’s tight corners. The first to finish wins a giant hand-painted banner, as well as the honour of winning the Palio for their district.

Ferragosto marks the start of the summer holidays in Italy. Although some locals shut their shops and head on holiday, there’s still lots for tourists to do. Many cities have street parties, like the Gran Ballo di Ferragosto in Rome, a popular event that includes dancing, food and live music. As Ferragosto coincides with the religious feast of the Assumption, lots of Italian towns have church services and processions where statues of the Virgin Mary are carried through the town centre.

Running your own event in Italy and want to attract a local audience?
 
As an Italian translator and content writer, I can translate your event information into Italian, make sure it resonates with an Italian audience, grabs attention and persuades the right people to attend.
 
To help make your event an international success, get in touch for a free translation quote today.

If you’re aiming to expand your business into Italy or run an Easter themed marketing campaign, you need to be aware of the local Easter customs and traditions and any potential cultural differences.
 
This will help you decide what to include and avoid in your marketing materials to tailor them to an Italian audience:
 

• Public holidays

 
Let’s start with the practical stuff. Good Friday isn’t a public holiday in Italy, but the Monday after Easter is. Italians refer to Easter Monday as La Pasquetta, meaning ‘Little Easter’.
 

• Religious traditions

 
Traditional Christian rituals such as foot washing and marking the stations of the cross are observed across Italy during Holy Week (the week before Easter).
 
On Easter Sunday, many families attend mass together at church. The Pope leads a ceremony in St Peter’s Square in Rome and delivers an Easter blessing, Urbi et Orbi.
 

• Festivals & celebrations

 
Different cities and regions of Italy celebrate Easter in their own unique ways. Here are two interesting examples:
 
Scoppio del Carro, Florence
The ‘exploding of the cart’ is a huge firework display that takes place in Florence on Easter Sunday. A cart filled with fireworks is pulled into the Piazza del Duomo by decorated oxen. Then, a rocket in the shape of a dove is used to light the contents of the cart!
 
The Festival of Eggs, Tredozio
 
The Palio dell'uovo, a 2-day competition in Tredozio, is all about eggs! Highlights include a medieval parade, a hard-boiled egg eating contest and a race to find 200 boiled eggs in a haystack.
 

• Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi

 
This rhyming Italian phrase translates roughly as ‘Christmas is spent with family, Easter is spent with whoever you want’.
 
Although Easter Sunday is traditionally spent with relatives, Italians often spend Easter Monday outdoors with friends, taking a day trip or having a picnic.
 

• Food

 
A typical Easter Sunday dinner in Italy includes lamb. For dessert, there are special Easter cakes like Colomba Pasquale, a sweet bread in the shape of a dove, and Pastiera Napoletana, a tart made with ricotta cheese, eggs, berries and orange flower water.
 

• Easter symbols

 
Eggs are an important Easter symbol in Italy. They have connotations of new life and re-birth that align with the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Chocolate eggs are very popular and often have gifts inside.
 
Much of the Easter imagery in Italy stems from religion and is similar to the symbolism used in the UK. However, the idea of the Easter Bunny isn’t common in Italy, so it’s best to avoid any references to it in your marketing!

The lack of an Easter Bunny in Italy demonstrates the importance of adapting your marketing materials to suit a local audience. 
 
If you’ve used any Easter-related word-play, such as ‘hop over’, ‘EGGcellent’ and ‘have a cracking Easter’, these phrases would need to be ‘transcreated’ as they have no direct translation into Italian. It’s best to ask an Italian translator, who understands the local culture to find an alternative way of expressing the same message, but in a way that Italian people can relate to.

The Co-op’s Easter campaign where they were ‘on the hunt for good eggs’ is another example of a tagline that would need to be creatively translated to appeal to the Italian market. As would this Easter tagline from Reese’s: ‘We feel sorry for the chocolate bunnies. They’re just so empty inside’.

By being aware of the customs surrounding Easter in Italy, you can tailor your marketing materials and ensure your campaign is successful.

I’ll adapt your marketing campaign from English into Italian and ensure your company stands out in the Italian marketplace.
 
Get in touch for a free quote today.

Has your business or brand considered making a move into the Italian consumer market? If not, you might be missing a prime opportunity, depending on the product you offer and the sector in which you work.
 
Here, we delve into Italy’s consumer market, uncovering the nation’s buying habits, exploring which sectors are growing, despite a shaky period in the country’s economy, and discussing the facts and figures behind Italy’s import market. We also ask who could benefit from current trends in the Italian economy and how you can give your business a head start, should you decide to take the leap and begin trading with or in this beautiful country.
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Italy has a population of over 60,000,000 and can boast the eighth largest economy in the world (99% of which is comprised of small to medium businesses.) Italian consumers make up around 3.6% of the world consumer market and, on average, prefer spending over saving – if you can meet their exacting standards and expectations (which we’ll discuss later.) In the third quarter of 2018, consumer spending in Italy averaged 242,215 million Euros.
 
While it’s true that the country currently faces some negative trade factors (slow economic recovery, political instability and high unemployment, for example) there are also plenty of positive elements that should prove encouraging to foreign brands exploring potential new markets.
 
Italy’s current population has a life expectancy of 80 for men, and 84 (for women.) By 2030, the median age of an Italian citizen will be fifty. This ageing population has taken advantage of favourable economic conditions and are predominantly wealthy, with excellent spending power. Over the coming decades, Italy will experience a high demand for specialist goods and services, targeted at the retirement market. Now is the time for forward-thinking companies to design, produce and bring these products to the market – the available opportunities are many and varied.
 
A sharp rise in the number of single-person households is also a contributing factor to economic growth, as individuals with secure employment and without children are enjoying a high level of disposable income. Then there’s a surprising phenomenon, which has seen an increase in spending by young people, pessimistic about their prospects. Still living at home with parents, this generation has adopted the outlook that saving for an uncertain future is futile, and that the housing market will remain both inhospitable and inaccessible for years to come. This has led to a ‘live for the moment’ mentality, which sees this generation spending the cash they do have on novelty or luxury items, seeking to emulate a lifestyle that they don’t believe is viable in the long-term.
 
If you can tap into these markets and meet the desire for novelty and luxury goods, there could be a place for your brand within the Italian market. 

After necessities like food, household utilities and travel costs are taken care of, the average Italian citizen is likely to spend their disposable income in one of three key areas (listed in descending order of average spend):
 

• Eating out and hotel stays
• Clothing and footwear
• Recreation and culture

 
Spending on health is low on the average Italian’s list of priorities, but so too is spending on consumption of alcohol and tobacco (which makes sense.)
 
These categories highlight the Italian desire to enjoy life; seeking enriching experiences and luxury goods. Does your product fit with this general picture?
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Understanding Italian consumer behaviour, and the desires at play behind buying decisions, will give your brand the edge in the country’s richly varied marketplace.
 
We all appreciate quality products, but most Italians demand them. The average Italians also expect a high level of customer service, as standard, and will choose a company that excels in this field over one that sells the same product for a cheaper price or offers regular money-saving promotions.
 
Like many modern consumers, Italians are beginning to think more carefully about the provenance of their products and to seek out locally made goods. Issues of cost still dominate, however, so products sourced from overseas are very much in the running – if the quality is right and the overall sales experience good.
 
According to market analysis conducted by Santander in 2018, growing sectors in the Italian consumer market include:
 

• Food and drink
• Tourism
• Luxury goods and fashion
• Pharmaceuticals
• Industrial equipment
• Healthcare
• Textiles
• Shoemaking
• Transport.

 
If your product or service fits within one of these booming areas, now might be the time to carve out a niche within the Italian consumer market. Developing a streamlined sales process and above average customer service experience is essential, as is providing a quality product and having the ability to describe what makes it unique.

In 2017, Italy imported US $452.2 billion worth of goods from around the globe. This figure represents 2.8% of all global exports that year. A little over two thirds of these imported items were purchased from other European countries (compared to just over 20% from Asian trade partners and just over 4% from the USA.)
 
This figure translates as an impressive $7,300 in yearly product demand from each Italian citizen – that’s a huge potential market to tap into!
 
Among the top imports to Italy are minerals and nonferrous metals, along with transport and energy products and chemicals. The country has a distinct lack of minerals and metals, which are needed in order to manufacture goods. Italy also imports products like oil from overseas energy providers, as there is also a lack of natural resources (like oil deposits.)
 
The following list, compiled by www.worldstopexports.com, shows the top ten import categories in 2018, with a percentage of total imports in brackets by each item.
 
1.     Mineral fuels including oil: US$54.2 billion (12%)
2.     Vehicles: $48.5 billion (10.7%)
3.     Machinery including computers: $44.3 billion (9.8%)
4.     Electrical machinery, equipment: $34.6 billion (7.6%)
5.     Pharmaceuticals: $23.2 billion (5.1%)
6.     Plastics, plastic articles: $20.5 billion (4.5%)
7.     Iron, steel: $19 billion (4.2%)
8.     Organic chemicals: $14.3 billion (3.2%)
9.     Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $12.3 billion (2.7%)
10.  Gems, precious metals: $10.2 billion (2.2%)
 
This top ten represent 62.2% of the overall value of Italy’s product purchases from other countries this year.
 
Currently, Italy conducts the highest value trade deals with other European countries (including the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland) along with the USA and, increasingly, China.
 
Italy’s relatively affluent domestic market, access to the European Common Market, closeness to emerging economies in North Africa and the Middle East along with an abundance of centres of excellence in scientific and IT research make Italy a highly attractive prospect to many investors. 

As a French and English into Italian translator, I play an integral role in helping companies make a transition into the Italian consumer market.

Given the Italian demand for excellent customer service, it’s all-important to provide clear communication throughout your sales process and marketing materials. The ability to speak your client’s language is vital in order to adequately describe your product or service, boost sales, increase productivity and promote your brand. I can help you identify the areas where translation will be required.

As a native Italian with more than 10 years of experience in the field, I will ensure that your marketing translations read well and are suitable for your target market. I can ensure that your copy stands out in the Italian marketplace, giving your brand the best chance of success.
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If you’re looking to translate product presentations, press releases, brochures, websites, blogs, digital marketing, PPC and social media content from French or English into Italian, my experience and knowledge will help your company stand out from the pack.
 
Get in touch for an informal chat or to request a bespoke quote.