10 Mar Interview with Marco Moreo: The Man behind the Brand
Creative Words and MarcoMoreo – an Italian footwear brand now highly respected internationally – have been working together for several years.
The two organizations have established a solid partnership based on the provision of linguistic services that go beyond simple translation to maintain the company’s personality and tone of voice even in the target language. This has allowed the brand to continue communicating directly with its foreign community directly and with an authentic voice. We had a chat with Marco Moreo himself, literally the man behind the brand!
1) Marco, thank you for being with us. To begin with, how would you describe your company and your brand to someone who isn’t yet wearing a pair of MarcoMoreo shoes?
«I’ll start with the brand. Our shoes are literally Made in Italy (the whole chain is Italian, from creation to production) and reflect quintessential Italian taste, quality and creativity. Over the years, we have developed some distinctive features that have created a brand identity, including our stretch fabric, the classic shapes updated with the latest colors and materials, our platform sole: a classic of the collections produced in recent years, always popular and now our signature feature.
As for the company, it is staffed by some very loyal people, women and men who have worked with me for years and who see MarcoMoreo almost as a family (that’s what they tell me anyway, which I find touching).»
2) And who is Marco Moreo, where does the man behind the brand come from?
«My father got me into it: he was a footwear rep and he used to take me on his rounds as a child. I knew his customers, and his colleagues, so I was already an insider. It was the best way to get to know the industry where I would later make my mark. When I turned twenty, I created the brand that bears my name, presenting my first collection to the same audience that was already my world: my father’s clients and colleagues were my biggest fans.
But if the product had been no good, I certainly wouldn’t be here to answer your questions. I was very nervous but I knew that this was the right way forward: to create collections independently, to choose my style, my language, to let my creativity (and that of my employees) run riot. So that’s what I did, gradually gaining more experience about production as well as creativity.»
3) One of the aims of Creative Words is to help its customers (and partners) internationalize their brand effectively. MarcoMoreo has by itself, and for several years, built up a strong and profitable international business. Tell us about it.
«The real breakthrough came in the 1990s, which marked a period of great development, when sales doubled. My business opened up to the UK and Ireland. In Ireland, we currently sell through 60 shops that display our footwear as industry leaders. After the UK and Ireland, between 1992 and 1999, we decided to spread our wings further to cover Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Sweden.»
4) And in 2000?
«That’s when delocalization began in earnest. But we were adamant that production should remain in Italy – I have always believed it is essential for my shoes to be made in Italy. Over time, this consistent approach has made us even more credible abroad: our products really are Made in Italy, it isn’t just a slogan: it’s synonymous with quality and product care.
These were the big store years. MarcoMoreo was sold by Fitzpatricks Shoes and Brown Thomas in Dublin, Harrods and the Russell & Bromley chain in the UK, as well as Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché in Paris, and further afield in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Dubai, Moscow… I have also made footwear for British brands Church’s and Kurt Geiger.»
5) We know about your deep connection with Ireland. Can you tell us some more about that?
«Ireland immediately took to the MarcoMoreo style and we have been market leaders in our segment for the last 15 years. Our customers are loyal and I have developed a strong relationship with our agent, a true friendship in fact. Ireland has become almost a second home to me. I love its beauty, it’s hidden corners.
I love its air, its silence, and its landscapes. Ireland is the primary essence of beauty for me. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to visit and play on the country’s most beautiful golf courses: here, where the holes and greens stretch further than the eye can see, nature shows us just how enchanting it can be, even at this latitude.»
6) How useful has Creative Words been for MarcoMoreo, and why did you choose us among all others?
«In the web and digital era, written product (and obviously brand) communication is playing a big part. The company is Italian, so we write in Italian. But the market is increasingly international, so we needed a translation service that was up to scratch. We were looking for a partner who could offer more than just a translation service and provide a more comprehensive kind of linguistic support.
You might think, for example, that there is nothing creative about a product description or that there are no particular stylistic precautions to take when translating content of this nature. For us, however, describing a style in our online store is an important opportunity to establish a dialog with the person on the other side of the screen – not an abstract entity but a real woman doing her shopping – or who has at least chosen to “enter” our store. It is therefore essential to maintain our tone of voice in English as well. »
7) In fact it’s clear how you’re careful to use empathetic, original and evocative language. In our translations we try to find the most suitable expressions and terms to recreate the same mood and the same feelings even in another language. This is known as Transcreation…
«Yes, it could be defined as a creative translation. An approach that has also been used in translations for our special newsletters, from the more commercial ones to the series entitled “A walk with Marco”.»
8) The virtual travel diary you wrote during the lockdown last spring…
«Yes, exactly. “A Walk with Marco” took our customers by the hand and led them on a virtual trip around the wonders of Italy.
As we were all forced to stay at home, why not travel with our imagination? The project is ongoing, with new issues coming out at variable intervals: we were originally sending out two newsletters a week, then in the summer we decreased that to two a month and continued to travel up and down our beautiful country, even during the winter lockdown, with new issues on 2 Sundays per month.
Again, the translation needed to retain the somewhat lighthearted, cheerful but very descriptive and engaging tone of these escapist trips. And so it was: our international readers love them and often reply to the newsletter – which is not something that happens very often in digital marketing.»
9) Do you send out any other kinds of newsletters?
«In this strange and difficult year, we have felt an even stronger need to connect with our “community”, to establish real contact, despite the “distances”. For example, we recently replaced the customary Friday email (containing weekly news about new styles in stock) into a backstage story about how and why the names of our styles are created.»
It was a success, we received lots of comments about the names people liked, and also many suggestions. And if the tone of voice of the translation hadn’t been right, we wouldn’t have achieved this level of involvement.»
10) And we’re thrilled with it!
«If I may add one last thing, I would like to congratulate you on your flexibility. It is very important to adapt to the hectic pace of digital communication. And your ability to stick to the customer’s timetable is definitely an excellent skill.»
11) Thank you, Marco, for your appreciation and for spending time with us: it’s been a real pleasure.
«The pleasure is all mine!»
