CASE STUDY (MICS): communicating a Partnership bringing together universities and research centers

THE CLIENT.

MICS-Made in Italy Circular and Sustainable is the largest PNRR-funded extended partnership dedicated to Italian manufacturing, with a budget of more than 126 million euros, including 114 million from PNRR funds and more than 12 million in co-financing from the 13 private partners.

This amount has made MICS a key player in the implementation of Mission 4 “Education and Research” of the PNRR and represents the highest allocation ever in Italy for research projects in the circular and sustainable economy. The goal is to create a shared, self-sustaining, self-regenerating, reliable, safe and sustainable public-private research environment from design to production. The 40% of public funds is earmarked for the Mezzogiorno, an area now at the center of significant technological and industrial development.

MICS brings together universities, research centers and more than 100 companies with the aim of redesigning Italian manufacturing supply chains according to the principles of circularity, sustainability and technological innovation. It is not an institution or a company, but a national ecosystem working on innovative materials, sustainable packaging, digital twin and, more generally, circular economy applied to strategic Made in Italy manufacturing supply chains.

An extremely articulated structure, distributed in 8 thematic areas called Spoke, with dozens of research projects, thousands of researchers and an industrial network involving key sectors operating crosswise on the three big “A's” of Made in Italy: Clothing, Furniture and Automation-Mechanics.

THE GOALS.

In 2024 MICS approached Disclosers with the need to tell the story of the partnership's concrete value for the country system, highlighting its impact on the territory, on Made in Italy supply chains and on the ability of applied research to generate real industrial innovation.

The objectives were:

• Give national visibility to the partnership and its strategic role within the NRP in supporting the competitiveness of Made in Italy;
  
• Turning highly technical research projects into understandable and relevant stories for generalist, business and specialized media;
  
• Enhance the contribution of universities, research centers, partner companies and, in particular, the role of young Italian researchers involved in the projects;
  
• Highlight the territorial impact of the program, with a focus on the South of Italy, the recipient of a significant share of the funding, and the enhancement of manufacturing supply chains and production districts in Southern Italy;
  
• Preside over events, project developments and publications as key moments of visibility;
  
• position MICS as an authoritative reference on the topics of circular manufacturing, innovative materials and new production processes.

THE STRATEGIC SCHEME

MICS is not a brand to be promoted. It is a system to be made readable and interpretable.

For this we have worked on three main directions.

Strategic translation of research into news

Each project or research result was transformed into a “news hook” capable of speaking the language of the media. Topics such as factories of the future, digital packaging, new materials for sustainable furniture, the Human Digital Twin, and the circularity of supply chains became stories understandable to the public.

This approach made it possible to shift the narrative from the technical-scientific to the economic and industrial level, making clear the concrete impact of the projects on the future of Made in Italy.

Continuous direction between Spoke, universities and companies: the importance of team collaboration

A pivotal element of the activity was the synergy between Disclosers and the MICS team, which enabled them to foster a constant connection with scientific referents, universities and companies to intercept milestones, results and prototypes by turning them into news. An ongoing dialogue that enabled the translation of research timelines and languages into media-friendly content.

This direction has prevented projects from being confined to the academic perimeter, ensuring continuity and coherence to the MICS narrative.

Event-driven communication

We built the visibility strategy around concrete moments capable of turning the partnership's activity into news. The National Roadshow “Innovation on the Way. Let's build, stage by stage, the Made in Italy of tomorrow” became a real territorial narrative thread: each stage allowed MICS to be told through the production districts, universities, companies and researchers involved locally, making the project's impact on the territory tangible.

Alongside the Roadshow, public events, institutional meetings, calls such as “MICS Futuro Made in Italy,” scientific publications and project developments were transformed into editorial opportunities, capable of activating the interest of business, national and local media.

This logic made it possible to avoid abstract communication of the partnership, anchoring the narrative to concrete facts, places, people and results. Each event became an accelerator of visibility and authority, offering journalists a clear entry point for understanding the industrial and territorial value of MICS.

We brought journalists inside MICS, not talking about the partnership in an abstract way, but having researchers, companies and universities who develop them directly tell about the projects.

RESULTS.

High visibility on Tier 1 headers

Mentions in top-tier newspapers have positioned MICS as an issue of national economic and industrial importance, reaching a qualified audience of stakeholders and decision-makers.

Event communication template

Roadshows, events, project milestones and institutional moments have generated significant coverage, providing concrete and narratively effective anchors for the media.

Centrality of the territory and researchers

The communication enhanced the contribution of researchers, universities and businesses, showing the real impact of the partnership on Made in Italy supply chains and the country system.

Detail of Tier 1 publications

PR and media relations work, which has generated more than 330 press releases in the past year, has produced results on multiple levels.

National

Coverage in authoritative business, generalist and tech media such as ANSA, Il Sole 24 Ore, Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Milano Finanza, Rai, Teleborsa, StartupItalia.

Of sector

Activation and consolidation of relationships with vertical media on the topics of manufacturing, sustainability, innovative materials, packaging and innovation applied to production chains.

Territorial

Enhancement of universities, production districts and companies involved in the different Italian territories, with special attention to the South of Italy and its manufacturing supply chains.

The positioning obtained

Today MICS is perceived as:

• national reference on circular and sustainable manufacturing;
• authoritative interlocutor for businesses, universities and institutions;
• concrete example of how the NRP can generate real industrial innovation.
  

The communication helped transform a technical partnership into a recognized player in the public debate on industry, sustainability and the future of Made in Italy.