The Ferragni Balocco Case
A Communication Strategy
Today, December 21, 2023, you can’t talk about communication in Italy without mentioning the sensational Ferragni Balocco case involving Chiara Ferragni’s panettone.
I’m not one to say who’s right or wrong, and I believe that even in court it will be a battle of legal technicalities because the nuances are many and subtle.
What I want to do, however, is talk about the Ferragni Balocco case from the perspective of communication strategy.
The Story of Panettone Gate: The Ferragni Balocco Case Begins Over Two Years Ago
Before analyzing the communication strategy of this now state-level case, it’s essential to go through the key points of this story that everyone is talking about.
In 2022, Balocco, one of Italy’s most important baked goods companies with an annual turnover of around 200 million euros, donates 50k euros for the purchase of medical equipment for the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin. Balocco contacts Fenice srl, the agency managing Chiara Ferragni’s brand, for a communication project. The company asks the famous influencer to brand their Christmas panettone with her logo and to become the ambassador of the Christmas campaign, emphasizing this charity aspect. After negotiations, the two companies agree and launch the campaign. In 2024, the antitrust investigates the campaign and the actual donation, fining Chiara Ferragni’s companies and Balocco over 1 million euros. Recent news shows that some emails between the two companies reveal that it was Fenice srl who wrote the campaign copy, including the misleading phrase “proceeds will be donated to Regina Margherita Hospital.”
The influencer’s communication leveraged the idea that by buying the branded panettone, consumers would help “sick kids in the hospital.”
The Emotional Pressure of the Ferragni Balocco Case
Here’s the first key point of the communication. Since 2007, it has been illegal to include incorrect information in an advertising message; it’s called fraudulent advertising, mentioned in Article 27 of Legislative Decree August 2, 2007, No. 146 – Commercial Practices.
This is Italian law and, in theory, it’s indisputable.
We all know that Italian jurisdiction is famous for its loopholes, but the crucial point of the Ferragni Balocco case lies in these few lines.
I don’t have the legal expertise to continue this discussion, and what I want to do here is analyze the communication strategy of the Ferragni Balocco case that’s heating up everyone’s Christmas.
Ferragni and Balocco, by mutual agreement (because even if there are divergent emails, the signed contract where Balocco accepts the communication strategy is binding), start an advertising campaign on all media promoting a pandoro, branded Chiara Ferragni, at more than double the price. The price increase is “justified” by the phrase “you will help the sick kids at Regina Margherita Hospital.”
Here’s where the great communication genius of the Ferragni brand lies: leveraging sick kids, especially at Christmas, is a winning strategy.
Even though time has shown the mistake, the fact remains that sales of the Balocco Chiara Ferragni panettone tripled compared to the previous year.
I want to emphasize again that I’m not here to give a moral judgment, but only to analyze the communication strategy that, a year ago, seemed absolutely winning.
One Year Later: The Evolution of the Ferragni Balocco Communication Strategy
Why does Chiara apologize and Balocco does not?
The choices to manage the colossal “gaff”, if you can call it that, are actually much more similar than you might think.
Balocco remained silent, hiding behind the fact that the charitable gesture was made, albeit a small one compared to Chiara’s charity work and the company’s actual earnings.
Chiara also chose the silent route, but as the queen of communication, before disappearing again, she shared an apology video which, unsurprisingly, reached the highest engagement in her profile’s digital history.
Much has been said about this video, not just the comments, but from a communication perspective: it’s a perfect ten.
Chiara used all her communication tools to create an impactful video:
- Made up, but without her usual glitter
- Elegant, but in gray
- Hair tied in a low ponytail, a hairstyle that speaks volumes
- And then there are the tears. Many think they’re fake, but I firmly believe she’s not having a good time; after all, she built her life around an image that is now shaking.
The video is perfect, almost as if she was given a checklist and Chiara executed it flawlessly. At the top of the list was the number of times she says “1 million.”
Many point fingers here, but the facts remain: Balocco could have done the same gesture (considering their annual revenues are five times those of Chiara).
The "Loss" of Loyal Followers
But in pure marketing terms, what’s happening?
Chiara loses followers, while Balocco gains them, or so many social media managers claim. But the numbers should be looked at as a whole.
Let me explain.
In communication, you can’t take a sample of one week but must project the growth and loss trend in a much broader picture.
The three images above represent the official Notjustanalytics report of Chiara Ferragni’s profile, showing that Chiara’s main issue isn’t losing followers, which is a very small part of her community, but something else.
The problem is that those individual “unfollowers” were part of her loyal community that she disappointed. Winning them back won’t be easy, if she even wants to.
Did Chiara slip up? Yes
And Balocco? They did too.
But there’s a fundamental difference: while the candy company’s profits concentrate in this period, Chiara can count on 365 days to bounce back.
Chiara Ferragni's Official Apologies and Balocco's Non-Action Reaction
A week ago, the case hit all the newspapers: Chiara Ferragni fined! So screamed the headlines of every newspaper, media outlet, post, and so on.
Everyone is talking about it because she is Chiara Ferragni, who has always made charity a part of her life and… her communication strategy.
When you become a personal brand, when you’re no longer the owner of a company but become the company itself, it’s essential to balance haters and lovers: you need to align your image with “battles” that increase public approval.
It’s the same strategy politicians use.
This also happens in the world of communication, because even politics is communication: you can’t escape it!
Chiara Ferragni has always done charity in various ways:
- With her image
- Promoting charitable products
- Donating proceeds from some sales to charity
- And most importantly, donating part of her wealth.
Many criticize her, and she has always tried, through charity, to lighten the image of a blonde, beautiful, rich, and successful woman, which in Italy seems to be synonymous with a crime.
Maybe her charity works aim to increase approval, but, I’ll take a risk, this strategy does more good than harm.
However, there remains a “tiny detail”: claiming that the proceeds of a product will go to charity and not doing it (because Balocco didn’t donate the proceeds of those sales, but others) is a crime.
You can’t do that.
Chiara made a mistake… but
Balocco made a mistake too.
What Will Happen in the Communication Strategies of Chiara Ferragni and Balocco?
As I write this article, everyone is talking about it, but no one can predict the future, even though it seems everything is already written.
Chiara will definitely go to court, as will Balocco, but in parallel, while the panettone company will have to wait a year to redeem itself, Chiara will keep updating her followers about her charitable works, and by doing good, she will regain approval.
Taking sides is too easy; facts and mistakes remain, but there are also two well-crafted strategies to get out of the “crisis”… strategies that use silence and time as their main weapons.
Waiting for the storm to rise for Easter eggs, I expect to see Chiara Ferragni on the front lines defending her image… even though my human and womanly side would just like to shake her hand and strongly advise her to leave Italy and enjoy her success elsewhere…
… maybe she doesn’t need it so much. You know why?
Only a few days have passed since sharing her video and it seems that the gray cardigan will be the new winter outfit 2023/2024.
I also expect an exponential increase in the cheapest “low ponytail” hairstyle.
If you want to read more about the world of collaborations and discover many other advertising mistakes, I refer you to the article Guide to Instagram Collaborations.
