About us: Social media marketing

Valeria has made stubbornness and her aptitude for research and innovation the key ingredients to her being an entrepreneur. Her pilars are Statistics, Marketing and Economics, whereas Technology and the Web are her passions. She has 25 years experience at the Bocconi University (from where she graduated and taught Statistics) and over 5 years in Nielsen (at the time when only large mainframes existed) and yet still finds the time to make a family and become a happy wife and mother. The beginning of the 90’s marks the turning point: she establishes Freedata, offering Business Intelligence and Data Mining services; a brand new profession to be invented and learnt from scratch – the first steps are all uphill and strenuous but, then it becomes plain sailing. One of Valeria’s obsessions is London, which she considers a reference benchmark for everything (with the exception to Tiramisu) and in 2005 she makes her dream come true when she opens a Branch there for all European projects. It’s from London that she perceives the dawn of the UGC and Social Web, the true Marketing revolution. Her strong intuition is that Freedata must become part of this new scenario and innovation becomes the key word. She opens Labs to study the new metrics needed to understand this new way of approaching Marketing; an extraordinary, tough and difficult adventure, but the stubbornness pays off and, it has also to be said that luck helps the daring... What else is there to add? The passion for cooking (less so for other household chores), for Modern Art, Oil paintings and the dream to one day study Art and digital photography.

Song that she listens to most on her Ipod: everything U2 has ever played, her passion since forever
Book on her bedside: Alda Merini's poems
Favourite City: don’t think we have to repeat that!
Favourite quote: "Those who are only ahead of their times, will be caught up by their times"

Cristiano was born with a ball tied to both feet but over the years has evolved his passion for Statistics and (better late than never) for technology without ever really changing the colours of his favourite team. Cristiano has been with Freedata for a lifetime now and as well as living through the transformation from a “small town” company to a “European” reality, he was the Director (as well as the halfback) of the transformation from a Market Research Agency to a Multi Service Marketing Company. Throughout the last 10 years he has been responsible for a number of important Business Intelligence, Database Management, CRM, Web Analysis and Social Media Marketing projects without ever really giving up his first love since University: SAS. In the role of Production Manager, over the last five years he has run some of the most important projects for key clients such as Microsoft, Sap, Ferrari, Nokia, Confcommercio, Salmoiraghi & Viganò,…. For six years he lectured in Economic Statistics and Market Research at the Bocconi University in Milan where, thanks to the priceless contribution of the students, he mastered the knowledge of the digital universe, and in particular of Social Networks.

Song that he listens to most on his Ipod: Mio Zio (Carmen Consoli)
Book on his bedside: The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt and The Black Countess by Rebecca Johns
Favourite City: (from May 22nd 2010) Madrid
Favourite quote: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same […] you’ll be a Man, my son!

Nerd from birth, evolved to Geek but only partially. Alex started his professional career as a Consultant and in the field of Finance Technology. His first ten years were spent between the dealing rooms of major European banks and Stock Exchanges (when “shouting” still went on….actually he was present at the last “shouting” session at the Italian Stock Exchange). In his role of Project Manager he witnessed the birth of the technologically advanced dealing rooms of practically all the major Italian Banks. He moved from what can be considered a pioneer Web Company back in the 90’s such as Webegg with their forerunning vision of the technological events that were to change the world, to a leading Multinational in the field of technology, HP. Here he had the opportunity to convert to Marketing, naturally, related to Finance and small and medium sized businesses. He was responsible for Intelligence and Business Strategy Development and once again had the chance to travel and compare notes with companies around the world, in particular English speaking countries, his hidden true love. He joined Freedata Labs in 2006 and has contributed to the growth of the London branch, working side by side with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association and the Direct Marketing Association, attending conferences and taking in ideas and the innovations that have led to Freedata Labs’s Social turning point and has allowed us to become one of the pioneers in the integration of Social Dimension in Marketing and Company Business Development.

Song that he listens to most on his Ipod: Violet Hill by Coldplay
Book on his bedside: “La Nausée” by Jean Paul Sartre (next to Peanuts)
Favourite City: London
Favourite quote: "A man's level of Freedom is measured by the intensity of his dreams"

Alessandro has spent the best years of his professional life working on the application of technology to Marketing. A dirty job (that somebody has to do) that he began working for Pioneer, where in the role of Audio/Video PM in the mid 90’s he managed to create an embryonic form of CRM (?!?) The dirty job continued in Royal Insurance (today known as Direct Line) where, in the position of Marketing Manager of the Start Up, he was one of the key people responsible for creating direct insurance on the Italian market. It was the first company of the Royal Insurance Group to create a sales channel for online contracts. His adventures between one byte and another, ROI and Reach, continued in Grey Interactive, where from 2001, in the role of Strategic Planning Director, he developed the digital strategies for key Brands (including Magic Inter Milan F.C.). He then moved to the strategic Consultancy Company, Ambrosetti, high fliers and where people of the likes of Nicholas Negroponte, Jeremy Rifkin and their gang would sit at the tables when Digital Marketing Strategies were discussed….. Alessandro joined Freedata in 2010 and selling a SMM for him is, above all, selling high quality consultancy, which implies the presence of a senior staff member on each project at all time and the constant tendency to look for innovative means to develop conversation between the Brand and its clients.

Song that he listens to most on his IPod: Eh Già by Vasco Rossi
Book on his bedside: "Sunset Park" by Paul Auster
Favourite City: Shanghai
Favourite quote: "The liberty to contradict oneself is man’s first act of freedom”

Anna has always been in the world of communication because she believes in the force of relationships. Curious, flexible, tenacious, able to make complicated things simple, she started her career in the 80’s in a company which, at the time, was leader in public and private green areas (Franchi spa) which explains her habit to call plants with their scientific names: Jasminus Polyanthum (instead of Jasmine) or Picea Abies (….Christmas Tree). She then moved to a Communication Agency specialized in B2B (Zelaschi SRL) as head of Business Development and Sales, with particular pertinence to the Media and events. The beginning to 2000 marked the start of a new love, new communication technologies in a Milan based company (Your Voice spa), leader in services and solutions for Automated Multichannel Communication. She joined Freedata in 2009 with the mission to promote Business Intelligence Services and Data Mining, and from 2010 she is responsible for the sale, in exclusive for Italy, of Alterian SM2, one of the major Web Monitoring Platforms in the world.

Song that she listens to most on her Ipod: Viva la Vida by Coldplay
Book on her bedside: "The Art of Being Happy" A. Schopenhauer
Favourite City: Portofino
Favourite quote: "One must know how to say what he thinks and think what he says: our words must reflect the way one lives”.

Daniele is serious and studied maths until he could; when the time came around for him to start working he landed up dealing with Applied Statistics and Models, and from then on his path (professional) was marked. He started out in Nielsen where he specialized in Market Test, he then changed his angel working for a couple of years in Eurisko on Consumer Research Data, and consolidated his experience with Data Scanner and Modelling in IRI, where he worked for more than twelve years in the Analytic department. During his time there he managed and implemented numerous projects, also abroad, guaranteeing the added value of this long-term experience, and specializing in Consumer Goods and in classic Marketing Mix Models. In 2009 he decided to leave the world of "multinational companies" and he joined RESET, a small Statistical Consultancy firm founded by Vittorio Bossi: a change of pace that allowed him to further develop his capacity to understand clients’ needs and answer in a timely and accurate manner. His experience at RESET allowed Daniele to refine his knowledge of the world of Media (from measuring results and ROI standpoint). He has only recently joined Freedata, with high expectations for a Company that moves (fast) in an innovative sector such as Social Intelligence. Up until now, no complaints...

Song that he listens to most on his Ipod:The well-tempered Harpsichord played by Gould
Book on his bedside: "Underworld" by DeLillo
Favourite City: Florence (by the way did I mention that Florence is my hometown?)
Favourite quote: “I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world”

Raffaella, on the web known as rapierpa, is tough and inquistive. She graduates in Economic and Social sciences at the Bocconi University in Milan. After a couple of years spent in Brianza,just outside Milan, following in her father’s footsteps she realizes that she’s not cut out to follow in somebody else's footsteps. So, immediately after the first Internet bubble burst she enrolled in a Master on Digital Marketing at the Università Cattolica and from that moment on Raffaella and Digital will never part. There are other loves and friends: Direct Marketing, and CRM for example that she encounters at the Fiera Milano Intermational. And then she meets up with Freedata Labs where she starts working in 2009. Social Media was approaching puberty and the transition from Digital Marketing to Social Media Marketing was the most exciting adventure (professional) that Raffaella could hope for. Since then lots of bridges have been crossed, and she has put experience under her belt , the occasional flirt with Web Monitoring and now her new role as Social Media Team Manager.

Song that she listens to most on her Ipod: Ora by Lorenzo Jovanotti play
Book on her bedside: Wired
Favourite City: Barcelona
Favourite quote: “He who perseveres shall prevail”