IMPRESÆ DA RACCONTARE

The third edition of IMPRESAE DA RACCONTARE entitled “The evolution of advertising in the Unipol Group”, dedicated to print and other advertising material, will be on show from 9 October to 11 January 2020 at the Unipol Offices in Bologna (CUBO) and Milan (Corso di Porta Romana, 19) with a specific double itinerary.
The exhibition curated by the Historical Archive marks the annual event organised by CUBO, the Corporate Museum of the Unipol Group, to enhance the heritage of its archives, sharing the company’s history and making it available to the public.

This year’s project is a reflection on advertising, which, for insurance companies, is particularly interesting given the unique nature of the product offered: a policy that is not a material good, but essentially a contract that promises compensation or the provisions of services in a given situation: damage, a life event or the expiry of an investment period. For an insurance company, “commercials” must use language that evokes the customer’s need for protection, the company’s commitment to the promise made, and the serenity that comes from being insured, all at the same time. Like all languages, advertising also evolves with society and the market context, and it is fascinating to trace its path through time, since in the change of communicative approach you can also perceive the changes in the surrounding world; communication that has gradually sought friendly, sympathetic, humorous, authoritative and sustainable approaches.

The exhibition - set up in two similar yet different locations (in Bologna and Milan) - will feature and analyse a selection of the campaigns produced for Unipol Group Companies present in our archive collection and the ads that appeared on billboards, in leaflets and on television, highlighting the changes in advertising language over the history of the Group and the companies that gradually merged into it. The theme of insurance advertising also converges with the themes of memory, history and the identity of historical insurance companies (Milano Assicurazioni, Fondiaria) that were born in the nineteenth century and remained active throughout the twentieth century, and more recent companies (SAI, Winterthur, Meie), which merged into the Unipol Group over the last twenty years. 

The exhibition also demonstrates how communication stemming from an immediate commercial need does not necessarily exclude corporate communication. The image the company wishes to project, the values it wants to be associated with in the imagination of consumers, its professionalism, its reliability, or its ethics and social responsibility are just as important. The significance of this type of institutional and reputational advertising has grown over time, often contributing to increased awareness about certain issues in civil society, such as environmental protection and road safety.

Wednesday 9 October at 6:00 pm Bologna inauguration (Spazio Arte CUBO)
Wednesday 9 October at 7:00 pm “CHE IMPRESA!” theatre performance on the history of insurance by Michela Marelli (Mediateca CUBO)

Tuesday 15 October at 6:00 pm Milan inauguration (Corso di Porta Romana, 19)

Wednesday 20 November at 3:00 pm Panel discussion “Advertising campaigns with an eye to corporate culture, inclusion and innovation. A comparison of experiences” during the Business Culture Week promoted by Confindustria/Musei d’Impresa, whose theme will be “The proper way. Inclusive and supportive business culture in Italy” – Unipol Group Offices (Corso di Porta Romana, 19) Milan

CUBO is the Unipol Group’s corporate museum, a space for sharing culture. We spread heritage, the history of Unipol and the social role of insurance through the language of culture and art, well aware that culture is the main tool for social development, inclusion and dialogue.