The agency purports to spin out anywhere from 50 to 100 spots per year and employs a staff of upwards of 600, which is enormous by Italian standards. It has offices in Turin, the agency's birthplace, Rome and Milan, which is the hub. Armando Testa has also branched out to plant a network of offspring in Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Belgium and the UK. There were even plans to join forces with ex-Abbot Mead Vickers BBDO creatives Walter Campbell, Dave Dye and Sean Doyle to create CDD Testa in the UK, though the strategy was ultimately scrapped as a result of Sept. 11.

However, Armando Testa prides itself not on size, but rather a constantly creative philosophy. "In Italy, where there is lots of advertising, especially commercials, people are bombarded by advertising messages. We strongly believe that if we make people smile or give them an emotion, they will accept you better and they will remember the brand better," says chief creative director Maurizio Sala, stating that humor and warmth are the tools used by the agency to get closer to its audience. "When we cannot use humor, we make it entertaining using special effects."

Despite the commonly held belief that Italian advertising is all eye-candy and no substance, Sala says that the creative coming out of the agency is heavily based in dialog. "Italian comedy is often linked to words and double meaning," he says, citing Italian theater's illustrious history in 19th century Europe as an influence. "Some phrases from our commercials became famous in Italy. This is because Italian people are used to life passing through words."

This is aptly illustrated in a series of spots for Telecom Italia Mobile, directed by Luca Lucini of Filmmaster. Structured as an on-going story, the Telecom campaign followed a group of four women as they traveled around Italy by boat. The adventure existed in both fiction and reality, as the women were really sent around the country. Surprisingly, people began showing up at each port to greet the actors-turned-celebrities.

"At once it was real and it was commercial entertainment," says Sala of the cultural currency the spots gained. "It was a curious mix between the two. We try to make never-ending stories whenever possible," he continues. "The personalities, the heroes in the commercials become a part of the family, so people are confident with them; they live with them and remember them."

Though Armando Testa's spots are often dialog-driven, recent work takes a visual storytelling bent. In two spots for baked good brand Barilla Alimentare, visually rich interpretations of classic fairy tales tell of Barilla's goodness. In "Cenerentola," directed by Marcus Nispel through BRW, a hard-worked seamstress is transformed into a Cinderella, and a mother is trasformed into a Snow White figure who doles out Saccottino snacks by her dreaming son in "Biancaneve," directed by Brian Levant of Movie Magic. Another standout project for the agency was a worldwide campaign for Pirelli, directed by Thed Lenssen through BRW, wherein around 2500 tires are physically hurled down a canyon and fly over a cliff.

The feel, quality and the relevance of the comedy in a commercial is something that Sala says the agency takes seriously. That is why the agency avoids the multinational agency approach of trying to translate messages across several cultures. "We try to act locally to make a connection, while trying to respect the local mentality and values," he says of the way the agency works with its European offices. "If you want to work with humor, it's very hard to make it international."

WEBFILES:
Armando Testa> http://www.armandotesta.it