Differenti Positivi

A commitment to the future of the environment is the value of the brand.

Mantova Ambiente is a public multi-utility company. Part-privately owned, it employs over 300 staff. When it comes to waste collection and looking after the environment it’s difficult to think of a more ethical Italian company. It offers waste management and recycling services and manages community green spaces in approximately 50 towns in Northern Italy.

Our challenge was to create an image for Mantova Ambiente that was in line with its values. It was also part of our remit to analyse the production flow of its publications, reorganize its communication channels with the public, and provide citizens with up-to-date information about its services.

We believe that providing accurate information on waste collection, raising environmental awareness in schools, and promoting corporate transparency concerning waste treatment, are a fundamental part of the services Mantova Ambiente offers the public rather than optional extras.

In order to create a link between Mantova Ambiente’s values, services and brand we focused on three core questions: “How can we help the public recycle more?” “How can we raise people’s awareness of the social and environmental impact of their actions?” “How can we connect this awareness with the values of the Mantova Ambiente brand?”.

We answered these questions using a range of communication devices targeted at Mantova Ambiente’s stakeholders (public departments and agencies, and private companies), the citizens who use of its services, and the schoolchildren who represent the next generation.

Tagline ‘Differenti Positivi’, Icon and Brand Guidelines

We created a visual identity manual for Mantova Ambiente, which enabled them to manage their brand. The brand logo was re-designed and we devised the tagline ‘Differenti Positivi’ (Positive Difference/Positive Recycling). We also created a user-friendly system of symbols and colour codes which enabled the public to identify various types of waste and the correct way of disposing or recycling of them.

7 Values and 12 Fantastici Brevetti

​The 12 Fantastici Brevetti (Fantastic Inventions) are the core of the project. They embody the services, values and aspirations of Mantova Ambiente, and convey them to the public in an amusing, upbeat way. Featuring regularly during our two-year communication campaign, the Fantastic Inventions have also been an integral part of the MAME (Mantova Ambiente Educazione/Mantua Environmental Education) project.

Website and Content Management System

The website mantovaambiente.it contains everything the public needs to know relating to Mantova Ambiente. There are sections devoted to services for citizens, MAME, the Fantastic Inventions, and the company’s values. The home page is regularly updated with news, and contains information on how to recycle or dispose of various types of waste.

The digital and print content is created and managed with BEdita CMS. The recycling and waste collection calendars, the items of news, articles, image banks and alerts are all created, edited and managed from one shared digital platform.

Calendars for kerbside collection

Calendars for kerbside recycling and waste collection are Mantova Ambiente’s main communication tool. We worked together with Mantova Ambiente on the latest edition (2017) using a module on BEdita CMS. A substantial revamp of the content, language, and graphic design was undertaken, and the production process was improved.

MAME Mantova Ambiente Educazione

Ambinoi is a bespoke publication created for Mantova Ambiente. We oversee its content and layout, and carry out the editorial work. This free 48-page magazine focuses on environmental issues and features the best Italian children’s authors. It is distributed in schools and aimed at children between the ages of 8 and 15. Ambinoi is also available in digital format from BiblioTea, the Tea Group’s digital newsstand, built on our digital publishing platform Interactive eBook.

Diventa Inventore (Become an Inventor) is the school competition created by Mantova Ambiente. Chialab organizes the competition and selects the prizes – 100 books on science and the environment for each of the four winning classes. We also coordinate workshops for children from those winning classes, which take place in spring on “Earth Day”.