Since the time of Gutenberg,
it hadn't occurred such a radical change in communications.
The real problem is that...
...those who were born in the digital culture,
or that work with the digital,
in our country are often jobless.
Therefore, they do not consume.
The big problem of communication and of our investors
is that of trying to hold a dialogue with single individuals.
Profiling and targeting have thus become essential,
but if I have to communicate with people who are under 30,
and I can do that by using digital tools,
but that person has no purchasing power,
that is not relevant, in business terms.
We have a particular and privileged observatory,
we are a big multinational company,
the WPP is a big communication company, the world's leader,
and the leader in Italy.
We have over 1,000 clients,
it's a very favourable observation point,
which allows us to analyse the tendency of the business
and of consumers.
In the years to come,
the digitalization process must accelerate considerably,
because the delay in European countries is still significant.
We still have about 51% of investments that create contrasts,
whereas the European average is of 26-27%, if I remember well.
We are not a young country, and this explains the digital delay.
We first have to understand...
...how citizens, or consumers, have changed.
Not only do we have a North-South problem,
and a young-elderly problem, and men-women,
but we are also seeing the drastic reduction of the middle class,
who were the mainstream,
or the reference target as consumers.
This can change everything.
I think that the actual problem
is neither a business problem, nor a political problem,
of taxes and laws, but rather a cultural problem,
we need to help young people grow.
If young people are not able to become citizens
and therefore consumers, with the ability to grow,
we will be a country with major problems.
In this moment we are not in the position
of making that necessary change,
because the communication market highly depends on consumers
and on companies, on clients.
Our country is still driven by traditional consumer systems,
as I said before,
our citizens, consumers, are normally older...
than in northern European countries,
therefore it is much more difficult to change,
if you want to change you need new systems.
What surprises me, or what I'm interested in,
is understanding how to communicate with 30 year olds
that today do not use traditional media, like their parents did,
and with social networks, cable TV,
or via the Web,
they get informed, they read, they have an entertainment product,
and they are not systematically intercepted by big brands,
which keep on talking to their audience in 30 seconds,
with over-50, over-60 people.
I believe that maybe it is right to try to understand
how young people can intervene
and participate in the daily life of the country,
they should not just sit around and complain.
The country does not offer great opportunities,
maybe we need more flexibility.
It is very hard for a young person nowadays,
who through the Web, with music, cinema,
can learn about international situations,
having broader geographical and psychological borders
than their parents,
and at the same time they have to deal with local situations,
which are very constricted and narrow.
Perhaps flexibility could help them do things
that suit the territory where they live,
otherwise they must have the ability to move, to travel.
It is useless to keep on training engineers
in an area like southern Italy,
which cannot hire engineers, there are no jobs for engineers.
If I were young, I would ask myself:
if I want to stay here, what types of jobs are available in the area?
To study something that suits the area.
But if I want to do a certain job at all costs, I must realise
that my professional life will be far away from this country.