Citizens are different from consumers, aren’t they? They don’t buy anything. They have different needs, opinions and values. Understanding this difference is key for institutions and for those who support them, as we do.
Pomilio Blumm made a choice decades ago to deal exclusively with communication for public institutions. Many experts back in the day told us at Pomilio Blumm that it was too difficult a challenge. How many companies work exclusively in public communication? Not so many, which is exactly what makes Pomilio Blumm’s know-how quite unique.
A fast-growing enterprise, confirmed by Financial Times and Forbes
Today Pomilio Blumm is the second most ‘successful’ firm in European public communications, according to C4P index. It is a leading communication agency, as stated by the Financial Times in its FT 1000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies list, for the second time in a row. The Forbes Social Awards recognized our team’s efforts as the narrative designers for the G20 summit and the “Made in Italy” campaign worldwide, some of the most influential institutional communication projects of 2022.
Our claim to fame is also backed up by figures. With 125 active contracts, we are the sixth largest company in terms of revenue in 2021, considering the ‘enlarged’ advertising sector at the European level (including the U.K.) with an absolute growth rate of 161 percent and a compound annual growth rate of 37.7 percent.
On top of that, our highly responsive educational model, which already led us to create a profiled multidisciplinary network offering high-level training in communication, has found new momentum in the upcoming debut of the Summer School in elective partnership with Maastricht University. The course will be held in August 2023, at the strategic premises of the Maastricht University’s campus in Brussels, and will involve Kai Jonas, president of the European Association of Social Psychology and professor at Maastricht University, and high-level experts.
A startup with heritage
These are only the latest milestones in our 60-year enterprise, well established and mature yet with the dynamism of a startup. And they make for the perfect answer for those who deemed our mission — communication for public entities — a too-hard-to-win challenge. Just think that according to the above-mentioned ranking by Financial Times, Pomilio Blumm is the sixth largest company in terms of revenue, but if we consider the ‘enlarged’ advertising sector at the European level (including the U.K.) it is first in the market worldwide, according to FT 1000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies list.
Our pioneering spirit
How did we manage to get so far? When we started on this path, the path itself had to be created. The first need was to experiment with new theories and models, go beyond product-based marketing and be totally focused on the communication of values. In this pioneering spirit, we eventually created a unique suite of tangible and intangible assets tailored to the strategic and operational needs of institutions. Our ‘toolbox’ comprises 73 devices, developed in-house and fully customizable. Thanks to this highly adaptable set we can effectively talk to citizens in the EU27 countries, and beyond, confidently navigating diverse communication environments made of different languages, cultures and sensitive issues.
The strategic loneliness of being unique
Today more than ever, the EU, and the related areas of influence, are facing domestic and international issues which call for truly creative imagination and innovative strategies. Simply reacting to the present problems is not enough: this is why we ‘design’ future narratives. Call it adaptability or preparing for the future, but dealing with the present requires a long-term plan coupled with a convincing public information strategy.
Call it adaptability or preparing for the future, but dealing with the present requires a long-term plan coupled with a convincing public information strategy.
Most companies in the communication sector focus on the producer-to-consumer strategy. As a result, they interpret and manage the EU’s crucial tasks with inappropriate commercial methods and strictly corporate vertical specialization schemes. Public entities, however, from DGs to agencies and delegations, require a proactive, integrated, consultancy-based partnership focusing solely on institution-to-citizen needs.
Made in Europe
Pomilio Blumm is unique not only for its approach, but also for its multidisciplinary and cross-cultural organizational model. Globally oriented, but proudly ‘Made in Europe’, we operate from our EU offices in Pescara, Rome, Bologna, Milano, Alicante, Brussels, Geneva, Vienna and others, as well as in the Western Balkans and the MENA region. Over 250 of our professionals are highly skilled to deliver fully integrated communication services. It results in a real, certified all in-house production chain, which assures not only high quality but also confidentiality, which is a priority today.
Tackling disinformation to build trust
We navigate the waters where narratives are like currents crisscrossing and affecting each other. Communicators feed on data generated by humans just like algorithms or bots, creating a hybrid information environment where virtual and real, democratic and autocratic, true and fake constantly interact. Working exclusively for institutions, we are well aware of what’s at stake: public communication is a vital tool for building trust, promoting transparency, and ensuring fair and inclusive policies. Today, all of them are targets for fake narratives, misconceptions and mistrust.
For this reason, we founded Decoding, a startup where a global network of experts aided by artificial intelligence strives to detect, monitor and analyze the fluxes of misinformation and disinformation aimed at public entities. It also aims to work out counteracting strategies.
public communication is a vital tool for building trust, promoting transparency, and ensuring fair and inclusive policies.
Art is our research and development hub
Involving art is another asset that makes us unique. In our view, art is not only a linguistic lab, but also a sort of crystal ball to foretell where society is heading, long before science can do so. Throughout the years, Pomilio Blumm has invited artistic masters, such as Salgado, Kosuth and Pistoletto, to work on many groundbreaking projects like the Pomilio Blumm Prize, an art award celebrated by a documentary series on Sky Arte.
Ideas found in art, which we consider the ultimate renewable resource, flow to our academic projects and labs, coordinated by the Communicative Intelligence Accelerator, our internal research and development unit. It comprises the most authoritative gurus in sociology, anthropology, semiotics and social psychology.
when major social and political issues are at stake, building innovative and impactful communication strategies requires the ability to design compelling, values-based narratives.
The crucial question
What really makes communication for institutions stand out among other equally challenging endeavors? For us, it is all about narrative: when major social and political issues are at stake, building innovative and impactful communication strategies requires the ability to design compelling, values-based narratives, along with effective ways to deliver them.
This is why we have adopted a new claim — we design narratives — paired with our signature logo, created by the legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser (the author of the iconic “I ♥︎ New York” logo).
We believe that well-designed storytelling is the best way to simplify complexity: to harmonize different, highly sensitive issues in a unique, comprehensive frame. It is like setting a round table at which institutions and citizens can get together and understand each other.
