Once again, Azimut Benetti has been listed in the Global Order Book, the international order portfolio ranking, as the top manufacturer of super yachts in the world, for the 23rd consecutive year. In second place: another great name in Italian shipbuilding, Sanlorenzo.

A professional in communication like Mario Gornati ties together the recent histories of these two symbols of Italian craftsmanship. After15 years working in the La Spezia-based shipyard, where he contributed to the creation, promotion and position of the brand worldwide, Gornati has become, for little over a year, the new chief marketing officer for Azimut Benetti Group, working in the strategic communication for the 4 top brands in the Group: Azimut, Benetti, Lusben and Yachtique.

The success of a boating brand comes from the combination of multiple factors, like entrepreneurial vision, design, innovation and quality, but among these, marketing and communication play a fundamental role.

Daily Nautica spoke about this with Mario Gornati in an in-depth interview, where the professional spoke about the strategic approach used in repositioning the Azimut and Benetti brands, through to the most used communication tools in the boating world, without forgetting the importance of environmental sustainability.

Mr Gornati, it has been a little over a year since your official entrance in the AB Group. Would you like to share your experience with us?

The first thing I did from when Giovanna Vitelli (vice president of the Azimut Benetti Group) appointed me as head of marketing for the group, was to strategically reposition the brands and consolidate their positions through an analysis of what each individual brand represents, trying to create a vision and strategic representation for the next 5 years. At this moment we have completed the repositioning for both Azimut and Benetti and are about to start on Lusben and Yachtique.

Has the strategic approach for Azimut and Benetti been the same or different?

Azimut and Benetti are part of the same group but have completely different positions and identities. For Azimut, we identified the most important aspects that in the last 50 years have turned it into one of the most important brands in the world with the most innovative products. Our analysis started with the history of the brand, which has always held a pioneering approach, introducing to the market all these technical, style and technological solutions that we now see used in most vessels.

Azimut was the shipyard that, for example, first “dared” to add windows to the hulls. Before this revolution, nobody had thought they could transform this part of the vessel into something new, which then led to redesigning the interior layouts below deck. Azimut had the courage to take this step, but this is just one of many examples. This characterises the entrepreneurial vision of Ms Vitelli and on the other hand it also explains the success of the extraordinary results that continue to make this company stand out in the industry.

Starting with this history, we repositioned the Azimut brand within an area where it was already an influence, coining the phrase “dare to amaze”, which is now the concept that guides our brand choices, allowing us to communicate rational benefits in a surprising and memorable manner. “Dare to amaze” truly sums up Azimut’s history: “Dare” is Ms Vitelli’s entrepreneurial vision and the results are all of these vessels that are leading innovation in the nautical field. Based on this, we designed the strategic narrative, Azimut’s “brand vision”.

And the approach with Benetti?

Differently, the strategic work we did with Benetti identified that it’s positioning was ‘The House of Yachting”: inasmuch as the Benetti shipyard is a reference point for yachting and its heritage and for its pioneering vision which has allowed them to complete complex projects to advanced standards in both design and construction. Benetti is therefore “The House of Yachting”, a special place, where the common goal is to reach new standards in perfection, to go beyond any of the owner’s dreams.

We studied the brand’s history and saw that Benetti has always been the first shipyard for large vessels that has had to deal with the demands of the most exacting clients: the first hammam on board, the first lift, and even a wood burning stove. The there is also Benetti’s “glam”; the company has worked for the Ranieri family in Monaco, David Bowie, and many other exponents in the international jet set: one of its most iconic yachts, the 86m Nabila, was used as a movie set for a number of scenes in 007 Never say Never. Very few people know that Queen even dedicated one of their songs to the Nabila. With all this, and the 150 years the company is celebrating this year, Benetti truly can be identified as “the house of yachting”.

Over the last few years tools for marketing and communication have increased. Are some more effective than others in promoting your brands?

Even in boating, marketing follows the general rules. We have no specific differences. Ideal marketing is a marketing mix of multiple tools perfectly aligned and coordinated. In boating the best added value is that of experiencing the product, especially for mid and large-sized boats, which is what then sees the majority of the marketing budget allocated to boat shows.

If I sent you a helicopter today and invited you to come to Livorno to Benetti or to Viareggio and Avigliana to Azimut, I could not guarantee that i would have, in this exact moment, a boat that you would be interested in, that is completely finished, ready, staged and perfectly decorated like when we exhibit at a boat show. A boat show allows an enthusiast to come to a single place, which is usually also very beautiful, alongside friends and family, to see all the latest the market has to offer displayed all together and presented in the best manner possible.

How much does the emotional connection and experience count in yachting?

Buying a boat is an exclusively emotional process. It isn’t rational. So the main component in all tools needs to emotionally connect with the audience.

You have always had an innovative entrepreneurial approach, introducing pioneering solutions to different sectors, from technology to design: what do you have planned for the future? Will you also step into the metaverse?

It is as important to talk about the metaverse now, as it was to talk about social media 10 years ago. These are all methods of communication that are evolving, developing and sometimes regressing. We are constantly monitoring it. We have already investigated this new opportunity so we are ready with our brands to oversee or to participate.

The metaverse is interesting as a new target of reference. It is a container of specific targets with whom we will have to dialogue sooner or later. In the United States, this is made up of young people who have achieved economic success and are looking at buying a vessel. But beware, the metaverse is only relevant for those who spend a relevant amount of time within the metaverse. I am not going to work in the metaverse to reach targets that can be reached, for example, through social media or other tools.

What role does social media play today?

Social media is an important tool in the marketing mix which helps share our messages on positioning and  products, but it is also closely tied to all the other tools. You cannot think of social media tools as an end to themselves.

For marketing and communication are “testimonials” also important?

Transversely, yes. We aren’t a shipyard, so cannot really use testimonials as a marketing strategy like, for example, a jewellery maker. We focus on a very niche part of the public. For us, testimonials become “transversal”, a brand advocate (someone who speaks highly of the brand) for certain specific targets, like, for example Michele De Lucchi, our design partner for Azimut’s architectural identity.

What role does sustainability play in your communication strategy?

A number of different sustainability strategies are adopted in the boating industry. There are those who put off the problem and don’t talk about it because they believe it is impossible to be sustainable in boating. The AB Group, thanks to its pioneering approach, does not ignore the problem. There is a road that must be taken. We began in 2006 introducing the first diesel-electric engine in a Benetti vessel called the Ambrosia. There was already a need back then to discuss a topic that was just emerging.

Now it has become fundamental, in Azimut, for example, we have begun introducing “low emission yachts”. Every new model that we introduce to the market substitutes a model which we are certain will lead to a reduction of at least 20 % in CO2 emissions and even up to 30% in some cases. We are therefore making our fleet increasingly sustainable, working on three main aspects: studying higher performing hulls so as to make the engine work less to move the boat forward, an extensive use of carbon fibre, which costs more than fibreglass but lightens the boat’s weight considerably which then translates into less energy consumption, and the study of innovative propulsion systems that are developed together with engine manufacturers, pushing and challenging them so they develop increasingly sustainable solutions. We have to be concrete but also work hard, it is a path we are taking very seriously.