Sitting down with Marco Carniello, World Exhibition Director Jewelry & Style IEG, at VicenzaOro

I all the time like to get insights from VicenzaOro’s frontman, Marco Carniello. One of many issues that stands out is his razor-sharp focus and real curiosity in folks. On Sunday tenth of September, at 9:00 am within the morning, I had the pleasure to interview Marco about VicenzaOro. 

Every time I converse with Marco Carniello, I am struck by his modest, partaking demeanor. However make no mistake, this man possesses a razor-sharp focus and a real appreciation for teamwork. He by no means talks about himself; it is all the time about his workforce. Simply observe how few folks on the high try this. This obvious lack of ego is a welcome element in a world the place folks like to get credit score for what really took a workforce to perform. 

For those who’ve seen Marco Carniello strolling across the commerce truthful, you could not have missed him; this cycling-loving World Director of Style and Jewellery for IEG, the commerce present organizer, appears to know everybody. Marco is a shining instance of a contemporary chief, empathetic and engaged, but with a razor-sharp imaginative and prescient and clear objectives. He by no means talks about himself however all the time about his Golden Crew of colleagues, and he would not hesitate to focus on the roles of others.

On this interview, I sat down with him within the Welcome Lounge. A German colleague is listening in, and an American “basic mannequin” and influencer, Manon Crespi, is getting every part able to shoot an Instagram reel with Marco shortly. Michela Moneta, his proper hand for all issues advertising, retains monitor of time and solutions.

The primary query is extra of an remark. Friday was noticeably much less crowded than in earlier editions on the identical opening day. Marco folds his fingers and smiles. “Effectively noticed! We see a lower in attendance on this version; it is a quieter begin. We had important will increase in earlier editions, even a +20%. Now, we’re seeing a +9% (correction on the finish of the truthful: +6%), which is predicted to say no additional. However that is nice as a result of when you might have a shockwave, even a optimistic one like in current instances, it causes numerous points. The complete provide chain may be affected, and merchandise could not make it to the shops on time.”

“The market is consolidating; it’d really feel completely different from the celebration vibe we had, for instance, in January,” Marco laughs, “but it surely’s rather more sustainable now.”

“We additionally anticipate much less buying; inventories are nonetheless enough in lots of instances,” says Marco Carniello. Nonetheless, patrons, retailers, and wholesalers are nonetheless coming to VicenzaOro. That is important as a result of they arrive to us for inspiration, to see the place the market may be heading within the subsequent 18 months, and what the tendencies are. We satisfaction ourselves on being a platform for interplay within the business. We create a wholesome and optimistic setting. We’re right here for the neighborhood that folks type inside an business.

Marco’s eyes mild up, and he sits up straighter. “Look, we like to think about ourselves a platform of alternatives. That does not simply imply a brand new transaction. We’re a platform for high-quality data and training. We’re additionally the networking platform. That is why we make investments closely in occasions each on the truthful and round it, like the numerous Joyful Hours (with DJs, music, drinks, and snacks outside), particularly within the metropolis of Vicenza, the place there’s a lot to do. The distinctive worth is that we create the fitting circumstances for alternatives in many alternative methods.”

I requested Marco Carniello what three issues he hoped VicenzaOro guests would take away as a sense. He jokingly says he needs to focus primarily on enterprise, hinting on the innate Italian aptitude for expressing feelings. That they’ve grow to be extra impressed, that they’ve made not less than one helpful new contact, and that they’ve found one new provider. The typical purchaser stays right here for 2 days, so we hope our hashtag #discovermore has labored for them. We work arduous to grow to be the showcase for tendencies. Our advertising workforce could be very energetic in strengthening this picture on-line and offline; all the way down to the smallest particulars, he factors to a blue shifting decoration in every single place on the truthful. We wish to be a cool, hip, and vibrant setting. That is why we’re more and more branding ourselves as an organization. We wish to be synonymous with the phrase “tendencies.” He laughs and says, “It have to be our Italian character!”

We wish to be a benchmark for operational excellence. We have now to be totally efficient. Vicenza is a small metropolis; we’re probably not outfitted for giant teams of individuals. There isn’t any airport right here, no 5-star inns. That is why it is as much as us to make sure that the customer’s journey goes as easily as potential after they resolve to come back right here. And that is mirrored on our web site; all the knowledge is geared in the direction of making it as simple as potential for the customer. Marco emphasizes what is usually underestimated: the appreciation for the trouble folks put into attending a commerce truthful. There have to be a way of ROI for the customer, and the VicenzaOro workforce clearly feels that duty.

, I inquired additional in regards to the benchmarking Marco Carniello talked about earlier. How does he really try this? “We primarily take a look at commerce reveals like JCK (USA) and Hong Kong and typically borrow their improvements, and so they typically borrow ours. We really need your expertise,” he nods in the direction of us and the guests within the lounge, “to be not less than as fulfilling as at these festivals, however ideally even higher. We do not see ourselves in competitors with these festivals however extra as ‘co-opetition’ (as in Dubai, the place VO is a part of the truthful). It is necessary to maintain shifting, to innovate as a result of commerce reveals are an older enterprise mannequin.”

That is why we’re continuously testing new codecs like VO’Clock, the place the watch neighborhood has already related on-line nicely prematurely and the place we offer the chance for a bodily gathering. We by no means power the matters that the assorted authorities and specialists carry to the stage. We’re not the authority; we’re a platform.

To have a purpose to exist, a platform like a commerce truthful should present what the visiting jewellery or watch skilled wants. The truthful has seen a requirement for extra pearls and is discussing this with Japan. An excellent combine within the completely different halls is important and a mirrored image of what patrons are searching for, says Marco Carniello. “We actively search suggestions from patrons,” he nods. We host 400 of them and supply numerous loyalty applications to 1000’s of others. Suggestions is massively necessary to Marco and his workforce as a result of every part ensures that the customer at VicenzaOro finds precisely what they want. This impacts the admission of recent exhibitors.

Subsequent 12 months, VicenzaOro celebrates its seventieth anniversary. How it is going to be celebrated might be revealed to the press in a particular second in mid-October. We’re excited and eagerly trying ahead to January 2024!

Subsequent dates of VicenzaOro

19-23 January 2024

6-10 September 2024