Interview with Giovanni Frino, owner of ticinoWEB
Tell us about your personal/professional experience that led you to become the company’s marketing manager.
My career in marketing began to take shape in 1995, when I started working in Florence as a marketing assistant for a small local company. After gaining experience and professional growth, including a significant role in Denmark as marketing director for a well-known European publishing house, in 2017 I decided to found my own company in Switzerland: ticinoWEB (ticinoweb.com). ticinoWEB to date is a small company with big ambitions, with a qualified team, more than 400 clients throughout Switzerland and an unequivocal dedication works every day to bring about an improvement in the world by promoting goods and services in which it personally believes.
The decision to start my own company was influenced by the desire to apply my ideas in a context that could truly benefit from my international experience and non-traditional view of marketing.
What are the winning marketing strategies for your business?
One of the most effective marketing strategies for my company is “putting your face on it.” We strongly believe in transparency and authenticity; we use photos and materials that reflect the day-to-day reality of our company. This approach helps build a bond of trust with our consumers by showing who we are and what we stand for. Our philosophy is based on being genuine and transparent with customers, which allows us to build lasting and trusting relationships. As a Training Company, we invest heavily in training our team to ensure that all members are aligned with our values and goals. We believe that a well-trained and motivated team is essential to providing excellent service to our clients. This focus on training and internal growth is reflected in the quality of our work and the satisfaction of our clients. In summary, the combination of transparency, authenticity, digital marketing, strategic partnerships, and ongoing training allows us to maintain a leadership position in our industry and build strong, lasting relationships with our clients. Most importantly, we believe in what we do, believe in our clients, and invest in their success for the purpose of bringing about improvement in society.
How important is it to have a plan?
The plan is everything. But it is not just about having a marketing plan, it is also about having a social plan at the same time. Our community and those around the world are increasingly affected by ills of various kinds, we as a marketing agency play a key role in society. We are the ones planning and implementing marketing campaigns that will influence consumer choice, so we have to ask ourselves whether the product or service we want to put in the hands of consumers is one that will benefit the community or will it lead to further suffering and problems? That said, planning is vital in every aspect of business, especially in marketing. A well-structured plan not only guides our daily activities, but also helps us stay focused on long-term goals. In a world where change is the only constant, having a clear plan allows us to navigate with confidence and adapt effectively to new challenges. Our marketing plan allows us to anticipate and respond proactively to market needs.
What are the plans and challenges for facing the future?
Marketing’s greatest challenge is to change its role from a sales tool to place any product in the hands of consumers to a social tool to improve the world. Marketing agencies must assume a social role and responsibility aimed at fostering societal progress toward well-being for the whole community. This is through marketing goods and services that provide real benefit. For example, promoting and selling foods that lead to obesity and diabetes is a social ill. Promoting and selling products that are full of preservatives or pesticides slows humanity’s progress and increases health care costs. Marketing agencies today have incredible tools at their disposal to influence the population of the goodness of their products, so one must ask whether it is good or bad to take on a mandate to sell and disseminate a new product.
Marketing for you is…
It is a social responsibility. It is not selling products, it is a responsibility to promote and incorporate into society products and services that can bring forward the development and welfare of society. Marketing is not a tool to increase corporate profits, it is a tool to improve the world.
