Rivellino (Feltrinelli): Digital Is a Way of Thinking, but Editorial Experience Counts

FELTRINELLI IS AN INTEGRATED AND MANY FACETED ORGANIZATION, SAYS THE CEO AND BOCCONI ALUM, ONE THAT ALWAYS PUTS THE CUSTOMER FIRST

 
The sea, a sailing boat, a good book. The perfect combination for an intellectual introspective experience, where you can redefine the balance with your life and times. That trilogy interweaves many aspects of the life of Roberto Rivellino, CEO of Feltrinelli and Bocconi Alumnus, Class of 1997. The sea is the one in front of Naples, his hometown, sailing is his passion, and books are the many published by the house he has managed since 2011. But perusing Rivellino's personal library, one title has the privilege of being his favorite: Fuoco su Napoli [Fire on Naples] by Ruggero Cappuccio. "To be read in the paper version, even though I am very digital person: digital is a way of thinking, it's a piece of the whole that becomes complete in the physical experience."
 
➜ Feltrinelli is a vertically integrated company that includes an editorial pole, a television channel, a retail network, an e-commerce platform.. How do these worlds interact?
At the heart of our chain lies not the single title, the single bookstore, the single business unit, but the customer. In recent years, we have worked to integrate our supply seeking inspiration in the historical values and innovations that the Feltrinelli brand has brought to the Italian publishing market over the last sixty years. At the heart of our project has always been the contemporary reader, a curious and careful person, the citizen consumer who wants to grow along with us. With the LaEffe television channel, for example. TV offers the Feltrinelli experience beyond the normal scope of books.
 
➜ With regard to content retailing, Feltrinelli offers both the bookstore experience and the and e-commerce experience on its platform. How do you integrate offline and online in your supply?
Our bookstores are multifunctional environments where you can have a cultural experience, make a social encounter, drink and eat something, and exchange ideas: they are meeting spaces replete with gourmet cafeterias, and a rich and varied programming of events that sees writers, journalists and musicians as live protagonists. The digital platform represents an alternative where discussion is animated by an online community that is self-generating, by sharing opinion on authors and book reviews. E-commerce also enables us to be present all over the Peninsula, also in places where we don't have our bookstores.
 
➜ And the Feltinelli app?
It is a valuable tool to keep the brick & mortar bookstore alive and buzzing. The app, for example, keeps you informed about bookshop events, new releases, and offers.
 
➜ How do you deal with the competition from Amazon?
Amazon is a huge challenge that we are trying to cope with, by leveraging the uniqueness of the experience in our bookstores. Amazon does not have physical stores, while Feltrinelli does; Amazon cannot offer places of real sociability, Feltrinelli can. Extending the Feltrinelli brand also to the food & restaurant industry is something that cannot be digitized and that is bringing people back to bookstores.
 
➜ Are e-books a transient phenomenon or an established reality?
When I arrived at Feltrinelli, there was the general conviction that within a short time e-books would have gained 20-30% of the market,  but this turned out not to be the case: today they account for a 5% market share, higher in non-fiction with respect to fiction. The e-book is a paperless experience: it will probably never replace the book, but complement it.
 
➜ You are among the founders of Edigita, an e-book distribution platform..
Yes, this is a tool for small publishers who otherwise would not be able to publish e-books: it is a demonstration of how digital is a growth opportunity for everyone, which fosters pluralism as a value for the country.
 
➜ The book market is somewhat ailing, how can it be revitalized?
People have less and less time to read, also because of the universal, incessant use of smartphones. It is therefore necessary to carry out activities that promote reading, especially among children and young adults. In addition, digital technologies can be used to bring books closer to people: audio books are an important example, as they allow you to experience the book where it would otherwise be impossible, while driving, for example. Innovations run so fast that you have to be ready to pick up technological challenges by focusing on quality and visibility. We are in a difficult market, but we have no hostility toward what's new, which we have often intercepted and brought to Italy first. This is the attractiveness of the publisher's craft: knowing what to choose in order to anticipate the tastes of the readership.
 

by Allegra Gallizia
Translated by Alex Foti