Focus Discount

Tickets

Become
an exhibitor

Fiera Milano, Rho
08-11.05.2023

Moderator

Giuseppe Stigliano

Global CEO, Spring Studios and Professor of Retail Marketing Innovation

Entrepreneur, manager, keynote speaker and lecturer at several international universities and business schools. In his role as CEO of Wunderman Thompson, he is tasked with leading a team of over 200 talented individuals with expertise spanning business strategy, creativity, technology and data. Prior to his current position, he worked in the global innovation company AKQA as Executive Director Europe and led the WPP team dedicated to the FCA group in EMEA. He previously co-founded two startups and earned a PhD in Economics and Marketing, studying between the US and Europe. Stigliano is co-author with international guru Philip Kotler of the texts: Retail 4.0 - 10 Regole per l'Era Digitale (Mondadori, 2018), already translated into six languages with over 25,000 copies; and Onlife Fashion - 10 regole per un mondo senza regole (Kotler, Pozzoli, Stigliano, Hoepli, 2021). As keynote speaker and moderator, Stigliano is considered an authoritative voice on topics such as digital transformation and business innovation, leadership, retail marketing and fashion marketing.

Speakers

Patrizio Podini

President and General Manager, MD

He was born in Bolzano in 1939 of parents from Lombardy, who were traders in dairy products. In 1958, after his studies, he joined the company, which in the meantime had expanded its wholesale market with a range of fresh produce, food and colonial products. In 1961, after the death of his father, he began to run the company together with his brothers. The new young forces gave great impetus to the wholesale business, as they joined the A&O in Milan just a few years later. The activity became more and more modern and dynamic with the opening of a large and modern warehouse managed with forklifts and electric order pickers and with the addition of an IBM computer with cards. In 1967, together with the wholesale activity, the company managed to open supermarkets and Cash and Carry. Within 20 years, the number of supermarkets and cash shops multiplied and the company reached over 20 points of sale in addition to the wholesale business for a turnover of 280 million lire and over 500 employees. In 1974 he was awarded the title of Cavaliere della Repubblica. In 1984 he was elected Chairman of the A&O Selex Group, which is formed by more than 30 members throughout Italy. In 1987 he founded in Naples a company called Mida 3, which developed the supermarket sales channel in the provinces of Naples, Caserta, Campobasso and Isernia and, after selling the company in Bolzano, Cavalier Podini would open the first Hypermarket with adjoining gallery in Teverola (CE). In 1994 he invested in the establishment of the company Lillo srl, associated with the brand MD discount, for the opening of a chain of Food Discount Stores, thus launching an ambitious and innovative challenge for the territory. From 1995 to 2008 the company Lillo spa MD Discount operated in the entire area of Central and Southern Italy with more than 220 stores and 1,200 employees. In January 2009 a new logistic pole in Enna was be inaugurated to supply all the stores that were opened and were going to be opened in Sicily and part of Calabria. 15 years after its foundation, MD discount had 180 direct stores and 70 affiliates with a turnover of over 500 million euros and 1,400 employees. MD's growth was constant and at the end of 2013 it carried out one of the most important economic-financial operations of the last decade in the Italian food retail sector: Lillo spa, with the brand MD discount, acquired LD market from the Lombardini Holding group of Bergamo. With this acquisition, the aggregate of the two companies generated a turnover of over 2 billion euros, with a network of 720 stores, served by 6 distribution centres and with over 4,200 employees, becoming, in fact, the second Italian player in the discount format in terms of number of stores and turnover. The growth in the years 2014-2019 was around +10%, entering 2019 with a total of 780 stores among direct selling points and affiliates with a turnover of 2,750 million euros, for a total of 8,000 employees and 9 distribution centres throughout Italy including the islands. In spite of the pandemic and economic crisis, 2020 opened with a store development programme that covered the entire country with the opening of 37 stores, a growth rate of 15% and a turnover of 2,875 billion euros, reaching a total of 800 stores. MD spa confirms its growth and distinguishes itself as a market leader, attentive to the values of quality, sustainability and social responsibility. A very important aspect is its closeness to municipalities, institutions and hospitals, for which it made important donations both in foodstuffs and economic contributions. A company, strengthened by the present and attentive guidance of its founder, that after 27 years of activity is still projected towards growth and sustainability, a fixed and important point for many Italian families that everyday are choosing to shop in MD stores and for the many employees who constantly demonstrate a great sense of belonging to this large family.

Massimiliano Silvestri

President, LIDL Italia

Massimiliano Silvestri, 44 years old, born in Bari where he also graduated in Business and Economics, joined the Lidl Group in 2002. After an experience in the HQ in Germany, he entered Lidl Italy in 2003 where he held the position of Chief Sales Officer until beginning of 2017, when he started leading Lidl in Portugal. During his long activity in the sales field, he strongly contributed to the growth of the Lidl brand throughout the sales network in Italy and promoted the evolution of Lidl Italy from discount store to supermarket. Since March 2019 Silvestri is CEO of Lidl in Italy. Listening ability, open dialogue and teamwork are the key points of his leadership style.