The manager and communicator who was the voice of the Fiat brand and who told about himself and his world in novels passed away at the age of 84 in Turin
The legacy of Oddone Camerana, who died on 5 September in Turin, two months after his wife Cristina. On one side the conspicuous and very interesting production of Fiat advertisingof which he was director between the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 90s. On the other eleven novels – some also translated abroad – in which man has told profoundly about himself, through work and beyond.
Chronologically we must start from the factory, when Odo – grandson of Aniceta Agnelli and great-grandson of the Senator – enters in 1962 as a young press officer. The era was favorable to say the least: everything in Italy – and in the brains of Italians – revolves around Fiat. Camerana becomes the expert communicator of the industrial product of the century.
Remember his son Benedetto, architect and urban planner: he who changed the brand to the company, inserting the famous blue rhombuses designed by Jean Reiwald. he who tries to give a European identity to the Italian car. he, above all, who brings the voice of Fiat back to the United States.
A personal, caustic voice, capable of overturning vices in virtue, and which earns a certain success. Camerana flies to the Ally and Gargano agency – the most admired on Madison Avenue – almost every month for fifteen years. Some announcements they are still studied today in advertising schools; the professional epic and human history will be found in one of his last novels.
Even in Italy – continues Benedetto Camerana – my father left a strong mark, in the still flat landscape of advertising. Competition ads were small, often in black and white, pedantic or salesman tone. With the launch of the 128 Fiat opens up to large formats, the blue, green and orange monochromes. The result is vivid, innovative, the graphics are spotless. Titles in Italian scratch less, because that’s what the dealers want, and maybe even the board. But the whole is noticeable and sells cars by the millions. The same goes for the encyclopedic services on the monthlies – skillfully negotiated with the publishers – and the inevitable covers. Later will come the launch of the memorable Panda, and that of the Uno in Cape Canaveral, with the characters of Forattini.
To his job as a manager, very close to his Agnelli cousins, but always slightly unmarked, Camerana adds – in the middle of his life – a second soul. that ofman of letters (classical, French, Anglo-Saxon and Russian) and then of writer. In 1985 he made his debut with The enigma of Cavalier Agnelli (Passigli, 1985), the first of a series of views inside – and a little sideways – to the world of which by birth and profession it is a part. A way of observing, composing and narrating that comes from his position as an insider, but at the same time claims an independence of judgment and style.
From the thoughtful and solitary walks of Giovanni Agnelli – who in 1920 was ousted from Fiat, while Bolshevism winds – to the New York adventure we mentioned (Carl’s imitationPassigli 2002), i automotive tales by Oddone Camerana capture us for the plot and the famous characters seen up close. But they also amaze, with their perspective and deep thinking.
Other writings dig into the human soul and surprisingly, given certain premises, by the same author. Among all The night of the Archduke (Rizzoli, 1988), which transposes lhe lived tragedy of a son, a promising musician, who committed suicide at twenty. But also the recent Do not leave me (Lindau, 2017), an all-encompassing reflection of those who experience the switching off of memory due to illness, a heritage that they believed was untouchable.
September 6, 2022 (change September 6, 2022 | 09:34)
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