Carlo Fei began his career in marketing with multinational consumer goods companies, working as Product Manager for beverages and petfood at Quaker Chiari & Forti (Quaker Oats now PEPSICO), and subsequently as Group Product Manager for OTC products, Cosmetics and Toiletries at the Ferruzzi Group. He later joined The Walt Disney Company as Sales and Marketing Manager and, one year later, was appointed Division Director of Buena Vista Italy.

Since 1995, he has worked as an international consultant in brand strategy and experiential marketing. His work combines research, strategic advisory and innovative executive education, with a particular focus on Brand Strategy, Brand Extension, Customer Experience Strategy and Retail Innovation. He has advised leading companies across a wide range of industries, including Automotive, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Furniture/Design, Hospitality, Luxury, Made in Italy, Retail, Financial Services and Sports Equipment.

Between 2005 and 2011, he served as Associate Partner and Head of Brand Practice at ICM Advisors, an independent international advisory and research firm specialising in the valuation, management and financing of intangible assets and intellectual property. In this role, he led strategic projects for companies operating in luxury, fashion, automotive, furniture and design, tourism, luxury yachting, food, sport, retail and entertainment.

Between 2010 and 2014, he worked with Firmenich (now DSM-Firmenich, a leading multinational company in the B2B fragrance and flavour industry) initially as a consultant and subsequently as Vice President. In this role, he was responsible for conceiving and developing an innovative project designed to open up a significant new area of business.

He currently provides strategic advisory services in Italy and internationally as Senior Partner and Head of Brand Practice at ICM Advisors and as Managing Partner at Hands-On Partners.

A graduate in Economics with a specialisation in experiential marketing, he is Professor of Practice in Luxury, Fashion Management and Made in Italy at LUISS Business School, and at the Department of Business and Management at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome.

He also teaches Luxury Brand Strategy at the School of Management of Fudan University in Shanghai. He has been a guest lecturer at several universities, including New York University, Bocconi University and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

He is a regular speaker at conferences and workshops on branding, innovation, experiential marketing and customer experience strategy, both for corporations and universities in Italy and internationally.

He was a guest speaker for the International Olympic Committee during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, where he addressed the strategic importance of branding in the sports business. He is also a YPO Official International Speaker.

He has worked in Italy, Switzerland, France and the United States.

Track Record

· Design and implementation of innovative relaunch strategies for luxury fashion brands, centred on their heritage and driven by creativity and innovation.

· Conception, development and execution of the first global study of the customer experience delivered by 14 leading luxury and fashion brands across 268 flagship and city stores in Europe and New York City. The study received extensive coverage in both the Italian and international press.

· Conception, design and execution of a European study, (conducted in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland) examining the consistency between the stated brand values and the customer experience delivered by some of the automotive industry’s leading premium brands, including Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

· Conception, design and implementation of Brand Experience Strategies for leading brands in the luxury, fashion, retail and food sectors.

· Development of an innovative, experience-led food retail concept for a leading department store brand.

· Author, with Jukka M. Laitamaki, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor at New York University, of Luxury Brand Experience Management: Can Hotels Learn from Luxury Retail?, published in 2009 by NYU’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, 883 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, USA.

· Co-author of Why and How to Defend Our Coolness, with Professor Michele Costabile, Full Professor of Marketing at LUISS Guido Carli University, and Professor Marco Mazzù, Professor of Practice in Marketing at LUISS Guido Carli University and LUISS Business School.

Among the leading companies and brands he has worked with are: Alexander McQueen, Alfa Romeo, ArcLinea, Armani Jeans, Astoria Coffee Machines, Balenciaga, Banca Mediolanum, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, COIN, Copat Cucine, CREDEM Euromobiliare Private Banking, Dior, EcoAge, Elmar Cucine, Emilio Pucci, Ermenegildo Zegna, Excelsior Milano, Fay, Fendi, Firmenich, Giorgio Armani, Gruppo COIN, Gruppo Gucci (now Kering), GUCCI, Hogan, I Pincopallino, Lanvin, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Mauro Grifoni, Mazda, Nordica, OVS, Roberto Cavalli, Saint Laurent, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sealup, Sergio Rossi, SINA Hotels, Slow Food, Stefanel, Stella McCartney, Tecnica, The Mall, TOD’S and Valentino.

Among the leading institutions and organisations he has worked with are: the American Chamber of Commerce, Assosport, CNMI (Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Italian Chamber of Fashion), FederlegnoArredo, Intesa Sanpaolo and Trentino S.p.A..

Languages: Italian, French, English and Spanish

Nationality: Italian and French