The contest was created with the aim of enhancing the skills and insights of the company’s employees, transforming internal communications into a strategic asset for engagement and talent scouting.
Internal communication is no longer a simple notification tool, but a strategic asset capable of strengthening corporate identity and encouraging active employee engagement. This awareness is the foundation of the new project developed by Sofidel, a world leader in the production of tissue paper for hygienic and domestic use, based in Porcari (Lucca), together with Mentarossa Comunicazione, a Pisa-based creative agency and a partner of the group for over six years. This solid collaboration has enabled the development of an employer engagement and internal talent scouting program that encompasses all the countries in which the company operates.
The initiative’s goal was to enhance the enormous wealth of ideas, skills, and insights that employees develop in the field every day. This gave rise to the Sofidel Innovation Awards 2025, a contest designed to transform proactivity into concrete innovation. The design had an international and inclusive scope from the outset: participation was open to the entire company workforce, regardless of role or location, and supported by multichannel communication capable of reaching every plant, with coordinated physical and digital materials.
At the heart of the initiative is a unique platform, developed by Mentarossa, where contributions were collected and the entire application and evaluation process took place. Participants were invited to submit ideas in various areas of innovation, from sustainability to new product research, with a clear recognition system and a final opportunity to showcase and share the most deserving projects.
Linda Bonfanti, Corporate Training Manager at Sofidel SpA, summarizes the initiative’s value with these words: “The Sofidel Innovation Awards were born from the desire to give space to everyone’s ideas, recognizing the value of every contribution and promoting active participation. Mentarossa has given us the tools to enhance this internal wealth, transforming involvement into a strategic business driver.”
The Mentarossa approach: retail creativity for internal communications
The result stems from a shift in perspective that Mentarossa has decisively embraced: treating internal communications with the same care, creative energy, and strategic vision as a retail campaign. Not just a simple administrative call, therefore, but a narrative, visual, and digital project designed to stimulate participation.
The platform was designed around simple and intuitive user journeys, reducing friction, while the content clearly expressed not only what was requested, but also why and how each proposal could become part of Sofidel’s strategic path.
As Martina Pescioli, founder of Mentarossa, explains, “The secret to engagement is to stop considering employees a ‘second-class’ audience. We applied our best creative and digital methodologies to design a true internal campaign. The contest was the means: the real achievement was having transformed internal communication into a two-way and measurable dialogue platform.”
The results confirmed expectations and, in many cases, exceeded them. In just a few weeks, the agency reports, the contest generated surprisingly lively participation, with over 600 proposals from around the world. These numbers speak to much more than a project success: they demonstrate that when internal communication becomes a strategic and well-constructed asset, it becomes a powerful tool for talent scouting and strengthening a sense of belonging.
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