Interview with Paolo Tedeschi - Corporate Communication & Marketing Senior Manager of Canon Italy

Forbes Italia magazine included him in the list of the 100 most successful Italian marketing directors. A range of excellence, women and men who have been able to create value for the companies they represent, in a particularly delicate moment for the world economy.

We talk about it with Paolo Tedeschi, who has been leading the Corporate Communication & Marketing division of Canon Italy since 2016, in a telephone exchange that ranges from ethics in communication to the Japanese philosophy of Kyosei.

What is the added value that led you to this result?

The pandemic has brought out the concrete value of all aspects related to communication - not only commercial or marketing - and work organization. Canon Italia has opened a discussion on the awareness and consequences of our actions, knowing that they are conditioned by the communication and information we use or generate. Even though they are not exact sciences, communication and information are subject to constant reflection and ethical evaluation. Communication is essential, but only to the extent that it proves to be coherent and thoughtful. Starting from the internal one, which I have always particularly cared about. In a delicate moment like the one we are experiencing, we need to focus our attention and our efforts on concrete and measurable actions, which are able to create real value and benefits for all.

In short, the man is once again the protagonist.

That's right. Although Canon, in reality, has always focused on the value of the person rather than the professional, adopting an inclusive model made of consistent communication and strong relationships. In short, we really believe in it, we don't do it just to do it: the key to our success is all here. In this regard, I would like to share a thought, absolutely personal but in which I believe a lot: society is communication and if communication becomes the spokesperson for a negative evolution, society certainly cannot follow a positive development. So enough with B2B or B2C: it's time to move towards a human-centered model, a H2H model. In turn perfectible, of course, but definitely more effective and appropriate, especially at a time like this.

How does your model actually work?

We listen constantly. To deal with the health emergency, on 21 February we set up a permanent crisis committee, thanks to which we analyze the individual articulations of the Covid-19 phenomenon and the related repercussions. First of all in the relationship with our colleagues, women and men to whom, from the first day, we wanted to guarantee safety in the workplace. But also in the relationship with customers and partners, who face the many aspects of the pandemic on a daily basis, including psychological ones and those linked to interpersonal relationships, which should not be underestimated. Then there are the issues related to sales, but even in this case we listen to the people in the field, who choose and use our products: only in this way is it possible for us to understand how what our company offers can concretely help.

Let's take an example: Canon provides innovative technology and services to a large number of companies, hospitals, private and public administrations, small and medium-sized businesses, which have never stopped and could never have stopped their work. During the pandemic we have done nothing but put into practice the indications contained in the guidelines of our approach to after-sales service and support. Thus, within minutes of the establishment of the red zones, we were able to provide assistance to companies that would otherwise have been forced to stop and we have never stopped studying alternative logistics solutions to support the work of our partners. Real, concrete and tangible solutions, constantly informing them.

The initiative created in collaboration with the Italian Digital Revolution Association (Aidr) during the pandemic also fits in this direction.

Exactly. Thanks to the sensitivity of the president of Aidr, Mauro Nicastri, we made ourselves available to the country system, from North to South. While everyone was talking about heroes and angels, but above all, about how indispensable their work was, we decided to offer our support, providing field hospitals, ATS and those who operated on the front line with our printers: an essential tool for document management in unconventional areas hard hit by the pandemic. Aidr - of which I have the honor of being an honorary member - acted as collector, collecting the requests and requests from all over Italy. It was a really meaningful experience because, once again, we were able to offer a concrete solution.

The use of digital has upset communication, imposing a profoundly different model than in the past. How does Canon Italia face the challenge?

As I said, communication is not an exact science, but it is necessary to recognize its most important component: information. Communication, like medicine (mentioned not by chance, since we are in the midst of the second pandemic wave), requires skills in which the intertwining between theory and practice requires a relevant surveillance to build the meaning of our life. With the advent of the algorithm (in the digital environment, precisely), all this poses a further problem, but it would take hours of interview to exemplify it.

In practice, we have fully adopted our Kyosei philosophy, which reads as follows: “Living and working together for the common good”. Regarding the concrete ability to listen, giving value to the people who rely on us (for years now we have no longer called them "consumers"), even on social networks and on the web we have offered clear and transparent communication of what we are doing : storydoing, not storytelling. During the pandemic we asked ourselves what people could really need and thus the Canon Academy On Air was born, a series of free meetings for all photography enthusiasts. Real online seminars useful for improving photographic techniques, held by highly experienced Canon Italia ambassadors and coaches.

What message would you give to entrepreneurs?

First of all, I want to express my solidarity, because this pandemic has upset lives and certainties. And then I would like to reiterate that the network can be an opportunity for everyone: here, need and offer really meet. Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Italy, strong in the ingenuity that has always characterized our country. Most of the time they are real excellences, capable, even in the most difficult situations, of finding a way to get back to being competitive: people who know how to get rid of frills to focus on concrete problems. On behalf of Canon Italy, I can assure you that we will continue to listen and pay attention to their needs, providing global assistance in response to every need and continuing to communicate and inform consistently.

Speaking of excellence, I would like to close with an anecdote from a few days ago: a photographer launched a petition on change.org after his partner lost the use of the right side of her body following a stroke, asking companies camera manufacturers to create a left-handed system. Canon Italy, once again, did not stand by and quickly found a solution among its partners. In synergy with a company in Cervia, Easydive, is about to give life to a universal technological extension that, connected to the camera, allows it to be used with the left hand. The engineering of the prototype involves thirty days of work, so it will be a beautiful Christmas gift. This is what happens when technology is put at the service of a passion: it is transformed into a product capable of concretely contributing to improving the professional life of the individual and, in projection, of a wider community.

Concrete relationships and actions: this is the way to do business in the time of Covid-19

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