The honest answer first: “Made in Italy” is one of the strongest stories in the world — and most Italian brands waste it abroad by translating their product copy instead of telling the story. Foreign buyers will pay a premium for the origin, the craft and the people behind a product. You just have to tell them, in their language, in a way that travels.
I’m Mark Chambers, a British–Italian marketing consultant. I’ve told Italian stories to British buyers and built the brand narrative under international launches — from an Italian bicycle maker selling into the UK trade to a new bed brand with “a Yorkshire body and an Italian soul.” Here’s how to make the story land.
The story is the asset — not the feature list
Buyers abroad don’t just buy the thing; they buy where it comes from and who made it. A spec sheet translated into English competes on price. A well-told origin story competes on meaning — and meaning carries a premium. The brand, not the discount, is what travels.
What travels, and what gets lost
Travels: origin, craft, family, place, obsession with detail, the real person behind it. Gets lost: in-jokes, local references, self-praise that sounds confident in Italian and boastful in English, and anything that reads as translated. The emotion survives the border; the exact wording usually doesn’t — which is why you localise rather than translate.
How to tell it so a foreign buyer feels it
- Lead with origin and people, not the product spec.
- Show the craft — process, hands, place — don’t just claim “quality”.
- Rebuild the story for each market’s register (it’s the heart of marketing an Italian brand in the UK).
- Back the emotion with proof a foreign buyer trusts.
Brand and storytelling is a core part of my work — and if you’ve got a genuine Made-in-Italy story that isn’t landing abroad, I’ll tell you honestly why on a call. That’s the Corridor Audit.
Or message me, in English or Italian.