{"id":108143,"date":"2026-05-22T14:51:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/?p=108143"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:51:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:51:36","slug":"the-many-ways-to-tell-the-story-of-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/insights\/the-many-ways-to-tell-the-story-of-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"The many ways to tell the story of companies"},"content":{"rendered":"

An unconventional analysis of the promotion of corporate archives<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

History, but also corporate rhetoric. A thoughtful account of the past that continues and evolves in the present, but which must be approached with great care. There are now numerous significant analyses and studies on this subject. This reflects the many different ways in which a company\u2019s story can be told and interpreted.<\/p>\n

\u2018Di poeti, ingegneri, santi (e) imprenditori. Storia retorica del tecno-umanesimo industriale e l’utile eredit\u00e0 del patrimonio d’impresa\u2019 (Of poets, engineers, saints (and) entrepreneurs. A rhetorical history of industrial techno-humanism and the valuable legacy of corporate heritage) \u2013 a recently published essay by Simone Dotto, a researcher at the University of Udine where he teaches History of Media and Media Archaeology \u2013 tackles the subject with a distinctive and undoubtedly original approach.<\/p>\n

As Dotto himself explains, his research focuses on \u2018the way in which heritage institutions contribute to the public narrative of Italian industrial history\u2019. The case study examined in the research is that of the Olivetti archive and the exhibition policies of the exhibition\u00a0 \u2018A History of Innovation\u2019 (2019). The study begins with an overview of Adriano Olivetti\u2019s approach to industry, before moving on to a detailed analysis of the exhibition \u2018A History of Innovation\u2019. This is examined from multiple perspectives and viewed as ‘the construction of every narrative of the past as an interweaving of the politics of remembrance and oblivion’.<\/p>\n

In his conclusions, Simone Dotto explains,\u00a0 \u2018Selecting machines, architectural sites, advertising posters or any other element deemed relevant to a company\u2019s history in order to showcase their aesthetic qualities and artistic merit removes them from their intended context and incorporates them into the cultural heritage in the name of their \u201cbeauty\u201d, whilst overlooking their social significance. However, if proponents of heritage marketing are right that history can be transformed into a strategic resource for ‘telling stories’, then it is equally true that history itself is made up of the stories that have been told. It is not only dates, names, and technological advances that shape the history of innovation, but also cultural representations and discourses.\u2019<\/p>\n

It is important to be aware of the conclusions of Simone Dotto’s research, even if you may not agree with them. His research is well worth reading carefully.<\/p>

Di poeti, ingegneri, santi (e) imprenditori. Storia retorica del tecno-umanesimo industriale e l’utile eredit\u00e0 del patrimonio d’impresa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Simone Dotto<\/p>\n

CLIONET – PER UN SENSO DEL TEMPO E DEI LUOGHI, number 10, year 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An unconventional analysis of the promotion of corporate archives \u00a0 History, but also corporate rhetoric. A thoughtful account of the past that continues and evolves in the present, but which must be approached with great care. There are now numerous significant analyses and studies on this subject. This reflects the many different ways in which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corporate-culture","category-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe many ways to tell the story of companies - Fondazione Pirelli<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/insights\/the-many-ways-to-tell-the-story-of-companies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The many ways to tell the story of companies - Fondazione Pirelli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An unconventional analysis of the promotion of corporate archives \u00a0 History, but also corporate rhetoric. 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