This year, Il Sole 24 Ore celebrates the 160th anniversary of its birth, an extraordinary journey that has spanned the history of our country, recounting with passion and accuracy the events and characters that have shaped it.
The newspaper made its debut on newsstands in Milan on August 1, 1865: thus was born Il Sole, an economics and politics newspaper, the expression of a liberal and innovative bourgeoisie, which 100 years later, on November 9, 1965, merged with another glorious Milanese economic newspaper, 24 Ore, becoming Il Sole 24 Ore, today a leader in economic, financial, regulatory and tax information.
Since then, in fact, the newspaper has become an irreplaceable point of reference for professionals and managers, institutions and businesses, and more generally for all those who want to orient themselves in the facts of the present and understand the transformations of the future.
Il Sole 24 Ore has witnessed profound changes, great challenges and dramatic events through a coverage that is always timely and equidistant: small and large revolutions, evolutions and stories that have intertwined the events of the world and the country with the life of the readers through the pages of the newspaper.
And it is precisely this intertwining that will be at the center of the first important initiative that will mark the beginning of the celebrations for the newspaper: a call to action aimed at readers, to tell these 160 years of shared stories, which will be divided into a two-phase path.
Throughout 2025, the newspaper will then propose other and different activities designed to maximize the anniversary and to best celebrate the relationship with its readers.
In February, therefore, the “Become an Opinion Reader” campaign will start, a tribute to those who have contributed to making this 160-year journey possible: the large community of readers. Il Sole 24 Ore, in all these years and since its birth, has wanted to build its own recognizability and authority based on high values and ethical principles: quality of information, depth of analysis, accuracy, equidistance and transparency have made it a great reference and a heritage for the country.
For this reason today, as 160 years ago, the voice of Il Sole 24 Ore is the one that allows people to understand events, form an opinion, cultivate new ideas. In a few words, to become and establish oneself as an opinion leader; and, from today, to be an “opinion reader”.
For this reason, it will be the readers of Il Sole 24 Ore, each an Opinion Leader in their own field, who will become the protagonists of the institutional campaign “Opinion Reader”, the first entirely participated, with the aim of composing a collective portrait that represents the very essence of the newspaper and of telling the unique bond, made of mutual trust, that readers have with Il Sole 24 Ore.
The initiative will develop in two phases: the first teaser phase, starting from the beginning of February until March 30, characterized by the call to action Become an Opinion Reader and the recruitment phase.
On the dedicated website Ilsole24ore.com/opinionreader, readers will be able to submit their candidacy for participation by sending a photo of themselves and a text contribution of maximum 160 characters to tell their relationship with Il Sole 24 Ore.
A memory, a special moment linked to the relationship with the newspaper or to the role that it has or has had in their professional and personal life or, more generally, in their community. We will be looking for memories of connections and relationships, personal and professional stories of growth, family, culture and tradition. The contributions will be evaluated from different points of view, according to criteria of representativeness of the target and storytelling ability, to highlight the relevance and level of inspiration of the stories sent.
The second step of the “Become an Opinion Reader” campaign will be the phase of revealing the chosen ones on the occasion of the twentieth Festival of Economics of Trento, organized by the 24 ORE Group and the Trentino Institutions from 22 to 25 May.
Precisely on this special occasion, which sees the most important national and international protagonists of the business community, institutions and the academic world gathered in Trento, the great communication campaign celebrating the 160th anniversary of Il Sole 24 Ore, Opinion Reader, will be officially presented, where the protagonists will be the faces and testimonies of 8 readers of the newspaper, selected from all the applications received and then portrayed in a series of shots, who will give face and voice to this unique anniversary, becoming protagonists and an active part of the beating heart of the narration.
Naturally, the path to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Il Sole 24 Ore, in addition to being conceived to put its readers at the center, intends to enhance the Partners who will join the various initiatives dedicated to the anniversary. The companies that choose “Opinion Reader” will in fact be able to be protagonists, together with the readers, of this special narration by telling their bond with Il Sole 24 Ore through a format created by 24 ORE System and planned in a cross-media campaign. All the information and rules for participating in the “Become an Opinion Reader” initiative by sending your contribution are available on the website Ilsole24ore.com/opinionreader.