The napkin “that spends and spreads”.
There’s an object that for decades has lived on the counters of Italian bars.
It’s always there.
It costs little.
It seems necessary.
But it doesn’t dry.
It doesn’t absorb.
It doesn’t solve.
If you have a beard… it smears “like there’s no tomorrow”.
If you wear lipstick… it “spreads the disaster”.
If you’re neither one nor the other… you’re a Simpson!
Yet no one questions it.
Because “it’s always been done this way”. Because it’s always been there.
It completes “a picture”.
“The napkin box stays there, on the counter, out of habit.
Identity doesn’t: either it works, or it exposes you.
And I work to make it work”.
That napkin isn’t just poor-quality paper.
It’s the perfect symbol of so much corporate communication we see around and online…
Many companies today do marketing like this:
- A website “because you have to have one”;
- A redone logo “because the other one was old”;
- Posts published “to be present”;
- Campaigns launched “to make noise” (sooner or later, someone will fall into the net).
Communication that becomes décor, a “stage prop”.
It shows up. It doesn’t steer.
Being there without a why, taking up space and not enhancing it, by guiding the market.
And we must work right in that awkward moment, when the Entrepreneur realizes something is there … but it doesn’t work.
It speaks but doesn’t land.
It invests but doesn’t lead.
Forced presences.
Disconnected actions.
Investments that “don’t come back”.
Conversions that don’t “absorb the problem”.
But extend it.
The result?
Crowded markets (of similar voices).
Interchangeable brands (I’d dare say indistinguishable).
Messages that slip away (while everything flows, relentless).
And then again…
Distrust.
Uncertainty.
Insecurity.
Lack of direction.
Fear.
The point, you understand well, isn’t to communicate more.
The point is to communicate with purpose, with the idea of serving, of proposing and creating change.
So:
Marketing that starts from identity and relationships.
Strategy that comes before aesthetics.
Design that doesn’t decorate, but organizes… and visualizes.
Storytelling that guides choices, not just imagination.
When these work together, something simple and rare happens: people understand who you are, recognize your value and choose without having to be convinced… because you’re no longer shouting but you’re creating order: in your identity, in the message you convey, and in the experience you offer!
The Company finds its function again (sense, purpose, meaning, story).
Collaborators align.
Customers choose faster (because they’re aware).
Price stops being the only argument.
Those who build this order don’t have to chase the market’s or Customers’ attention.
Every element of communication, every message, every strategic choice is consistent and functional: so interest comes on its own, naturally and credibly, without forcing or too much noise (and without a useless waste of energy).
We must bring communication back to its original function: to clarify, to guide, to help choose, to share.
Let’s go back to speaking (and communicating) out of necessity… and not out of habit or to fill a moment of silence!
The table, now, is ready.
It’s up to you to decide what you want to serve.
See you soon,
Alessandro.
