Cannes Yachting Festival: looking back on the event with Marco Turoni.
Right after the conclusion of a bustling few days spent at the Cannes Yachting Festival, we manage to meet Marco Turoni, Co-founder and Vice-president of Acqua dell’Elba, the man who has always been responsible for the company’s relationships with other great brands from the world of luxury: firms such as the Azimut Benetti Group, Riva, Baglietto, Mangusta, Porsche and Rolls Royce, just to mention a few. It is thanks to him that our perfumes engage in collaborations with brands which are also operating in the realms of dream and aspiration.
After the Versilia Yachting Rendez-Vous, this year Acqua dell’Elba was also present at the Cannes Yachting Festival in the prestigious location of the Luxury Gallery: what sort of attention did the world of luxury yachting give to the essence of the sea?
I would say very high levels of attention, given the position we managed to secure in the Luxury Gallery dedicated to luxury, craftsmanship and the art of living, where we were featured alongside only 33 other carefully selected brands. Moreover, we were present with our products on all of the vessels featured by Azimut, the only shipyard capable of simultaneously showcasing 20 different models in the waters of the Cannes Festival. This year the salon occupied the entire Port Canto and Port Vieux harbours, thus becoming the largest exhibition in the world of newly produced sailing ships, with 638 vessels produced by 542 exhibitors, of which 219 were newly revealed models and 122 were world premiere launches.
What is it that connects Acqua dell’Elba with Italian world market leaders in the sector of yachting and, more in general, with the other luxury brands you chose to collaborate with throughout the years?
Certainly beauty, the passion and care for details we put into the realisation of our products: these are the values which connect our company with the other brands we choose to collaborate with.
There is a privileged relationship between Acqua dell’Elba and Azimut, so much so that you accompanied this brand throughout all of its celebrations for its 50th anniversary. How did this collaboration come about, and how do you see it developing?
Our collaboration with Azimut started in 2015, whilst taking part in the events dedicated to V-Marine shipowners, one of Azimut’s most important dealers whose leader was Vincenzo Soria, someone who then happened to become my friend, as well as a professional relationship, throughout the years. In 2018 we supported Vincenzo and his extremely well-trained staff in the organisation of a three-day event for Azimut shipowners precisely on Isola d’Elba, an occasion which also won a prize at Cannes for the Best Azimut/Benetti World Event of 2018.
This collaboration then developed with Azimut itself (led by its Group Founder and President Paolo Vitelli and his daughter Giovanna, Vice-President), the company who won for the 19th edition the prize for largest shipyard for the production of mega yachts.
For the past two years, we have been present with our products on all of the Azimut vessels exhibited in the best nautical fairs in the world, from Dubai to Miami, as well as in the various lounges.
As far as events are concerned, this year we are Azimut’s partners for the celebrations of their 50th anniversary, a role which has brought us to Cap d’Antibes, Hong Kong and Avigliana, the location for the headquarters of the historical brand.
The most exciting event, however, was the one in New York where we took part in the installation realised in Times Square for the presentation of the new S6 yacht, “moored” in the heart of the Big Apple during the design week, thus embarking our products on pure myth.
Not even Marco can avoid the two final questions we always ask our guests: what does the sea mean for you?
For me, the sea is at once a simple as well as a deep concept: it’s the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and the last one before I go to sleep in the evening. It’s something very concrete and daily for someone who lives on an island.
At the same time, it is the guiding principle which has always driven our entrepreneurial adventure.
Lastly, what is your deepest essence?
Good question...I would say it is similar to our Classica fragrance, the ingredients of which are fresh citrussy notes, moss, rosemary, Mediterannean Maquis and, unmissable, marine algae.