To experiment

The verb “to experiment” literally means trying out something or oneself by directly experiencing something that is new or unknown. It implicitly means running some sort of risk. In the case of a consolidated or “mature” brand, such as the one I have been managing and representing for years, experimentation still holds this intrinsic notion of risk, entailing that the long term perspectives of what the brand will be able to achieve are allowed to prevail over short term calculations and plans.
Calculations recommend cautiousness in general and gradual implementation of actions, as well as predicting trends to some extent. Experimentation, instead, means implementing new and unforeseeable actions, time after time, in new fields; it means collaborating. This does not mean taking actions on the spur of an indiscriminate attraction for that which is new: the brands which are enhanced by values such as experimentation and innovation, but also quality, continuous and passionate quality research, will implement experimentation by interpreting quality in a broader and newer way, albeit constantly seeking quality.
For a brand like illy, “experience” actually means seeking experiences; it means readiness to “try out”, but it never loses its other intrinsic meaning, the “historical” one. History is made up of experiences, of consolidated characteristics creating a character; in illy’s case, it is made up of flexibility but also of quality, of love for consumers and the wish to never disappoint them.
“Character” creates bonds, it creates consistency between projects linked to corporate routine and “experimental”, innovative actions, the ones involving also new and seemingly “surprising” actors, those actions which we often define as “belonging to the third horizon”.
To be oneself, one must change continuously.
With people who often have nothing in common with the coffee sector and whose views go well beyond the sphere of the company’s immediate needs, thus providing us with a “different” view of the situation and with project ideas and stimuli of a broader scope.
It means continuously breaking up with the past, actually taking a leap forward, leaving a gap between the brand’s past and future life.