The promotion of territories represents an extremely topical phenomenon. In an increasingly intense and organized manner, Cities and Regions are promoting their own excellence, values, and identity.

This is a trend in which Design is of central importance, both in the form of Process Design, for the creation of dissemination campaigns, and in the form of Communication Design, for the definition of the value universe to be transmitted.

In Italy, home of a thousand bell towers, the phenomenon is taking profoundly different forms from territory to territory.

An interesting case concerns the Veneto region and in particular the foothills of the Treviso area, which stretches from the slopes of Grappa to Asolo, passing through the Prosecco Superiore DOCG Hills, arriving in Conegliano.

Leveraging on the notoriety of Prosecco, the most exported Italian wine in the world, a network contract in the area created a unified image and coordination for a network of extremely heterogeneous companies, ranging from wineries to hotels, dairies to car and bicycle rental agencies.

Another clever initiative is the one that has been implemented in the Marche region, where beekeeping, with 71,497 hives and 3,386 beekeepers, represents an activity of strong economic importance and high identity significance.

Here the four beekeeping consortia in the area, the Consortium of the Province of Pesaro and Urbino, the Consortium of the Province of Ancona, the Consortium of the Province of Macerata, and the Consortium, have created a collective brand in order to enhance the activities of the companies and the values of the entire region: "Honey of Marche."

In these notes we want to turn on a particular focus on the communication campaign, intended for the U.S., which sees Design as the ambassador of the City of Milan.

New York, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, as well as other important U.S. cities, are the scene of the "Yes Milano" campaign, which declines for the U.S. market the "Milano Home of Design" concept, inaugurated during Milan Design Week 2023.

The initiative stems from Milan & Partners' collaboration with VISA, one of the world leaders in digital payments.

Milano & Partners is the official agency of the City of Milan, created by the Municipality of Milan and the Chamber of Commerce of Milan Monza Brianza Lodi to catalyze the city's energies, to strengthen its positioning as a sustainable destination for tourism and foreign investment, and to attract top international talent and innovative start-ups to the area.

The project involves the use of the "Yes Milano" brand in communication campaigns and special initiatives, in partnership with the city's institutional stakeholders, companies and business organizations.

The city is told, mainly to an audience of young people and digital natives, through a series of guides that range through different neighborhoods, where to live experiences made unique by the design elements that shape and characterize the Milanese lifestyle.

"We are thrilled to kick off our collaboration with Milan & Partners with an initiative that brings the United States closer to Milan, a city that is doing a great deal to increase the use of digital payments and thus make the experiences of tourists and citizens increasingly simple and secure. We are convinced that this partnership will help to promote not only tourism in the Lombard capital but also the activities of the induced activities related to it, companies and SMEs, also in light of the appointment with the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics," said Stefano M. Stoppani, Visa Country Manager.

Said Martina Riva, Councillor for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policies of the City of Milan: "With this campaign we mark another important milestone in the promotion of our city as an international hub. Reaching the American market, using the key of design, will help us consolidate Milanese style and increase its attractiveness especially among those who are looking for innovative and sustainable tourism, as well as destinations capable of promoting creativity and the expression of young talent, as Milan knows how to do."

Milan & Partners' campaign for the U.S. can be considered emblematic of the level of importance and awareness achieved by Italian Design in the field of territorial promotion.

Usually, Design, in this kind of initiatives, operates on two dimensions: it defines the characteristic features of the project, thanks to Communication Design, and it outlines its modes of advancement, thanks to Process Design.

We could say, using a railway metaphor, that Design prepares the cars on which a campaign is to make its journey, to be filled on a case-by-case basis with the most appropriate content, and makes the track along which the convoy will follow its route.

In the present case we are faced with an affair in which Design is even developed on a three-dimensional scale.

In fact, Design, to remain in the same metaphor, in this case - in addition to preparing the carriages and outlining the train's route - also constitutes the precious raw material that is the object of the transport.