Category Archives: franchising

Associazione: associarsi e associato

Cito da Wikipedia: L’associazione è un ente costituito da un insieme di persone fisiche o giuridiche (gli associati) legate dal perseguimento di uno scopo comune.

Faccio parte di due Associazioni e condivido la semplice ma esaustiva definizione che Wikipedia mette ad introduzione di un’interessante pagina esplicativa. Link

Perché associarsi? Sembrerebbe una facile risposta: “Perché condivido lo scopo per cui l’associazione è nata e vive e quindi mi associo per apportare il mio contributo”. Facile a dirsi, meno a farsi, soprattutto in Italia e specialmente con gli italiani che davanti al fine comune, mettono prima gli interessi personali. Neanche fosse l’azienda di proprietà, anzi, ribadiamo il concetto: un’associazione non è da scambiarsi con la propria azienda e tanto meno associandosi, si ottengono lavori, favori o cose sul generis. L’associazione va vissuta e supportata.

Ed è qui che l’italiano, a mio avviso, da il peggio di se. Pochi miei colleghi, a differenza di quelli stranieri, vivono l’associazionismo come valore aggiunto alla propria attività. Infatti, come detto, molti “usano” l’associazione per scopi puramente personali, talvolta al limite della decenza, spesso al limite del ridicolo.

Cosa significa essere associato? Per me significa, partecipazione, condivisione e supporto per il raggiungimento dello scopo comune.

Spero, in questo tempo di necessari cambiamenti, che anche situazioni apparentemente più semplici come le associazioni di persone, si possano depurare dai soliti facili costumi di opportunismo e scarsa etica. Soprattutto laddove, persone più esperte almeno secondo la carta d’identità, si fregiano di cose non loro.

Mi auguro di poter facilitare questo cambiamento, con l’auspicio di trovare sempre più persone in linea con il mio pensiero e con necessità di comportamenti etici, responsabili e trasparenti.

L’associazione non è di nessuno in particolare, se non degli associati (tutti) che vi fanno parte!

 

Do you Eataly?

Many people have called me to ask me a review about Eataly. Many times I said that I would rather not comment, because I have the utmost respect for Farinetti’s vision and his hard work.

However, if I met him personally, a couple of things I would argue willingly.

Eataly is to visit, to live and to understand. For you some pictures of my visit to Rome site. Enjoy.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Next: Norman Cescut’s speech at the Expo Livorno

What are the opportunities offered to new entrepreneurs willing to enter the Retail business? What is Franchising and how to create a Franchising project? What are the tools that can help new entrepreneurs willing to become part of a Franchising network? What is the role of a Franchising consultant?

These are just a  few of the many questions that will find a professional answer during a seminar that will take place at the upcoming Expo Livorno – Livorno (Italy), March 17th-18th (you can find the whole program here)

As a member of FCSI  and professional consultant working in the Food Retail and Franchising business for more than a decade, I have been asked to participate at this seminar as a speaker.

On Sunday March 18th, from 11 to 12.30 am, I will get into full details about the consultant role and about how to build a successful and qualified Franchising project.

I am very excited to have been granted this opportunity,  and it will be a great pleasure to  meet you personally at this event. Do not hesitate to contact me norman|at|desita|dot|it to set up a meeting during that day.

Norman Cescut’s Tweets: August 2011

In case you missed my tweets, here’s a summary of the most important ones.                  You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates. Enjoy!

You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates!

Is this the future of retail shops?

franchising, Fresh Worldwide Press, marketing, retail, shopping experience, , , , , , , , , ,

At the last National Retail Federation Convention, Intel showed an interactive, 7-foot-6-inch Intel® Intelligent Digital Signage Concept with an LCD display and holographic glass called adiVerse to demonstrate how technology can enhance the retail customer experience with a multi-touch, multi-user interface.

Intel partnered with Adidas to show off what the wall might look like, and the results are pretty sweet. Designed by U.K. shop Start Creative, the wall renders products in 3-D, and allows a shopper to spin and zoom in on the shoes, and call up specs from a touch-screen display. Particularly hot models, like the company’s F50 soccer shoe, have accompanying video and relevant information (like the fact that F50-clad feet scored 44 goals in last year’s World Cup).

Supplemented by a supply of actual shoes that can serve as fit models, the display wall allows retailers to deliver massive inventory in a relatively small space. “We’ve leveled the playing field for small retailers,” says Chris Aubrey, VP, Global Retail Marketing for Germany-based Adidas. “They can now act like a big flagship store in a town like New York.” Not to mention the fact that the installation turns flat walls into prime selling space.

Concept demonstrates how digital signage technology can provide retailers with a competitive advantage, and how it can impact customer loyalty by providing targeted, interactive content to consumers. (Source:Fastcompany)

Two social media tools for retailers: local buzzing with enterprise control.

franchising, Fresh Worldwide Press, marketing, retail fashion, retail food, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We often talk about social media, buzz marketing and online reputation. Big corporations can find it quite difficult to control and “direct” all the related online communication, especially when this is done at local level – agents, retailers, franchises. But now there are platforms that can help corporations achieve great results with just a couple of clicks.

Yesterday I stumbled upon an interesting Tweet by Mashable, regarding a new startup, Hearsay, whose product – Hearsay Social- is a social media management platform, that gives companies with a national presence and local agents or franchises the ability to manage all of their social media in one place. Hearsay calls organizations that fit this mold “corporate/local.” Hersay Social is a web-based software that a corporation and its local branches can use to coordinate their social media efforts. The dashboard gives local agents or franchises the ability to manage their own local Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. It also also gives corporations the ability to monitor local engagement. Not only can they access detailed analytics for all of their agents, they can also catch when they step out of line. Hearsay clients list includes State Farms whose case study is availaible online.  Here’s an interesting video about the product features.

Another software that can help companies achieve the same result: Expion. Expion provides Social Media Management Software that enables large Enterprises to publish and aggregate social media conversations that can scale to hundreds of local based Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and YouTube channels, etc. This software allows maximum employee social reach within a company’s defined social guardrails, allows for employees across all your locations or departments to deliver coordinated and consistent brand appropriate messaging. At the same time Expion’s unified database aggregates and tracks all employee and customer social interactions. This centralized intelligence will profile customers, identify advocates and critics, track behaviors and create best employee practices, while measuring effectiveness of messaging for continued optimization. Expion is already used by Coldwell Banker Advantage, Applebees’s Restaurants and Mark’s among the many

The Hospitality News Magazine Middle East introduces DESITA and ECOFFEE projects

DESITA, ECOFFEE, equipment, franchising, middle east countries, My Journal, press, retail food, , , , , ,

Hospitality news magazine interviewThanks to DESITA‘s activity in the Middle East countries, I was invited to participate to a special issue of Hospitality News Magazine dedicated to the Retail coffee business. It did not come as a suprise when I found that the ECOFFEE project gained great attention – sustainability is becoming a big hit in those countries, especially when related to the Retail Food sectore. You can read the whole interview here. Enjoy!

Retail Sustainability in the Middle East Countries: the new frontier

ECOFFEE, franchising, Fresh Worldwide Press, middle east countries, press, retail food, sustainability, , , , , , , ,

MEF, the Middle East Food magazine has bMEF article about the launch of ECOFFEEeen helping advance the Middle East & North African Food, Beverage, Ingredients and Packaging sectors since 1985 by acting as an information link / bridge between the highly advanced industrial countries and those in the developing world. The Retail Food market in that area is very sensitive to new products, new ideas and concepts and this is the reason why when I presented ECOFFEE I gained so much attention, as you can read here.