On April 1, 2025, the NIQ&GfK Insight Summit Italy 2025 took place at the Hotel Crowne Plaza in San Donato Milanese, gathering over 500 professionals from the industry. This event served as a platform to explore emerging trends in the Italian market, delving into consumer sentiment and future prospects in a context that, after years of turbulence, seems to be stabilizing.
Despite this apparent phase of consolidation, which some operators view with concern, a deeper analysis reveals a complex ecosystem of unexpected micro-trends. The current market is characterized by rapidly growing niches, with specific consumer groups and consumption models yet to be discovered, understood, and activated. The summit provided participants with valuable insights and best practices to support companies in their growth journey and adaptation to the challenges of an ever-evolving market.
NIQ & GfK experts analyzed transformations in consumer behavior, the impact of media, and generational dynamics, offering essential strategic tools to navigate the current economic landscape. A particularly significant moment of the Insight Summit included two discussions featuring key players from the Italian business community. The first, moderated by Stefano Cini, Commercial Director FMCG of NIQ&GfK, focused on the dynamics of the large consumption market, featuring Antonio Fazzari, General Manager & COO of Fater, and Andrea Francesco Varisco, Director of Purchasing, Promotions & Marketing of LIDL Italia.
The second discussion centered on trends and prospects in the Tech & Durables sector, with Bruno Marnati, Vice President Samsung Italia, and Francesco Sodano, Marketing Director of Mediaworld, taking the stage, moderated by Roberto Fogliata, Commercial Director T&D & New Vertical of NIQ&GfK.
Enzo Frasio, CEO of NIQ & GfK in Italy, introduced an innovative concept to tackle the current market challenges: "coompetition." He explained, "Imagine an ecosystem where organizations go beyond traditional antagonism to cooperate in some areas while continuing to compete in others: this is the concept of 'coompetition' that we explored today at the NIQ&GfK Insight Summit Italy 2025." According to Frasio, in a complex market context like today's, creating mutually beneficial relationships among industry, distribution, and communication can generate "diffused" value for the entire market and consumers.
Frasio highlighted existing successful initiatives involving NIQ&GfK partners, such as shared logistics and data sharing between industry and retail. He noted that in a context where corporate assets are enriched with intangible elements like trust and strategic relationships, their "Full View in Action" offers a holistic market vision, transforming consumer actions and intentions into valuable insights for building strategic alliances and driving shared growth.
The first session of the day, titled “Recharging consumers: make Next now,” was opened by Daniele Novello, Consumer Behaviour & Insights Manager of NIQ&GfK. He provided a review of 2024, a year that, despite its potential, represented a missed opportunity for significant growth. The analysis of Italian sentiment, monitored for 25 years by the research "Climi sociali e di consumo," reveals a stable picture that, while far from the critical issues experienced in the past two years, failed to achieve significant growth.
Price dynamics have been notably more positive compared to the recent past, but this has not spurred family consumption. Italians have prioritized rebuilding their savings capacity, weakened by the recently concluded high-inflation period. The context is thus potentially favorable for a more decisive recovery of purchases in the coming months. Growth opportunities also lie in reactivating the purchasing intentions of Italians, which appear dormant today.
The challenge is to fully reignite purchasing desires by creating a new dialogue with consumers through a strategic approach that integrates product innovation, communication, and distribution. Following this, Marco Paoletti, Customer Success Leader, Daniela Cardaciotto, Account Director FMCG, Laura Strada, Account Director T&D, and Rossella Perruso, Account Director Media & Entertainment, presented a detailed analysis of key Retail and Consumer trends to watch for in 2025.
According to NIQ&GfK data from 80,000 stores, consumer spending in Italy increased by +1.7% in 2024, with a slightly better performance in large-scale consumption (+1.9%) compared to the Tech & Durables sector (+1.1%). In this seemingly calm market context, companies must interpret a complex landscape characterized by micro-trends and evolving desires. Consumer loyalty is decreasing, while convenience and product availability on the shelf are gaining importance.
NIQ&GfK experts noted that retailers who successfully balanced convenience and value, leveraging promotional levers and investing in branding, have rewarded growth in large consumption. However, today's consumer is demanding and contradictory, seeking a balance between seemingly opposing values: well-being and gratification, sustainability and convenience, digital and physical experience.
For the third presentation, Edmondo Lucchi, Media & Communication Insight Strategist, and Mara Galbiati, Team Lead Integrated Solution, addressed the topic: “Media Evolution: Full Audience & Cross-Generation.” In a rapidly evolving media landscape, where consumers fragment into "bubbles" and brands struggle to find common touchpoints, citizen-consumers feel a lack of reliable partners capable of guiding strategic choices and generating value. The current challenge is to reignite the desire for consumption by intercepting life projects that transcend generations, overcoming stereotypes and false myths.
In this context, "Full Audience" and cross-media approaches become indispensable tools, offering a comprehensive and synoptic view of Italian media consumption. It is crucial to overcome generational myths, recognizing the fluidity of consumption and desires that transcend age. A "Full Audience" approach allows for intercepting various population segments - including over 55s - a group with significant purchasing power and a growing presence in media usage (including digital), but often completely excluded from advertising planning.
Reliable data and in-depth insights are thus essential for building effective narratives, reaching an increasingly complex audience, and creating authentic connections. The final presentation, titled “Full View in Action: end to end success for innovation,” featured Luca Gerosa, Industry Leader, and Christian Centonze, CPS Senior Account Sales. In an increasingly competitive market context, product innovation remains a critical factor for business growth.
Through real case history presentations, the two speakers demonstrated that companies launching products aligned with consumer preferences have double the chances of success. However, the innovative path is anything but simple; a successful launch sells 18 times more than the average of new products, but only 3% of launches succeed. This statistic underscores the need for a strategic and data-driven approach to innovation.
With its Full View approach, NIQ&GfK positions itself as a key partner for companies, offering insights and advanced analysis at every stage of the innovation process. From defining innovation areas to developing products aligned with consumer needs, leveraging Artificial Intelligence, NIQ&GfK guides companies toward targeted activation on specific targets, optimizing communication and sales strategies, and measuring ROI through the analysis of incremental sales and revenue. This approach transcends traditional boundaries, embracing emerging technologies for growth based on solid data and successful partnerships.
NielsenIQ (NIQ) is a leading company in consumer intelligence, providing a deep understanding of consumer purchasing behavior and uncovering new growth pathways. The merger with GfK in 2023 united two industry leaders, creating an entity with unprecedented global coverage. NIQ operates in over 90 countries, covering approximately 85% of the world's population and over $7.2 trillion of global consumer spending. Thanks to a holistic reading of the retail sector and the most comprehensive insights on consumers, obtained through advanced analysis and cutting-edge platforms, NIQ guarantees the most complete vision - The Full View™. GfK has earned the trust of clients worldwide by providing answers to their key questions and supporting their decision-making processes. In 2023, GfK joined NielsenIQ: two industry leaders that together offer unprecedented global coverage. Together, we support the growth of our clients by providing a comprehensive understanding of consumer purchasing behavior and the dynamics that influence market, brand, and media trends. Through a holistic view of retail sales, advanced analytics, and the most comprehensive consumer insights - provided through cutting-edge platforms - NIQ and GfK offer The Full View™.
