Nicolas De Santis

Last updated

Nicolas De Santis
Nicolas De Santis.jpg
De Santis in 2019
Born (1966-03-18) 18 March 1966 (age 57)
Madrid, Spain
CitizenshipItalian
OccupationBusinessman
Known for Opodo and beenz.com
TitleCEO of De Santis, President of Gold Mercury International Award
Spouse Melissa Odabash
Children2
Parent(s) Eduardo De Santis and Maria Cuadra
Website www.nicolasdesantis.com

Nicolas De Santis (born 18 March 1966) is an Italian businessman. He is the founder & CEO of De Santis, a consulting firm. In 2004 he became the president and secretary general of Gold Mercury International Award, a think tank and global governance award organisation founded in 1961 by his father. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Nicolas De Santis is the son of Spanish actress Maria Cuadra and film producer Eduardo De Santis. [3] [4]

Internet Entrepreneur

De Santis was the marketing director and co-founder of European online travel portal Opodo, [5] a position which he left in 2003. [6]

De Santis was recruited by Spencer Stuart from beenz.com in 2001 to become the chief marketing officer of Opodo, the European travel portal originally co-owned with 9 European airlines including British Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Austrian Airlines and Finnair. [7] Opodo was the European version of Orbitz, the American travel website owned by various American airlines. In 2008, Opodo's turnover reached €1.3 billion in gross sales. [8]

His previous internet venture was beenz.com (the first virtual internet currency) where he was chief marketing officer. [9] De Santis invested in and joined Beenz in 1999 as one of the founding team members. [10] De Santis helped to raise $100 million [11] from investors including Carlo de Benedetti and François Pinault. [12] Beenz was sold in 2001 to the US Carlson Marketing Group. [13]

Captain Euro

In the 1990s, De Santis worked for the European Union under President Enrique Baron Crespo [14] where he advised on issues relating to European identity and the launch of the Euro currency.

As part of the launch of the Euro currency he developed and launched Captain Euro, Europe's superhero, designed to analyse the perceptions and emotions of Europeans regarding federalism and European identity, and appeal to the people. [15] It aimed to appeal to the European youth, and espouse the virtues of integration. [16]

Captain Euro strongly divided public opinion, with some finding it to have anti-semitic undertones and ineffective. [17] De Santis defended against claims of anti-semitism, saying that his father was tortured by the Nazis during World War II. [15]

Brand EU Centre

In 2013, De Santis launched the Brand EU Centre, an independent, pro-EU initiative to improve the management of the European Union brand. [18] The Centre has been launched with the support of former European Parliament President Enrique Baron Crespo and American Investor Todd Ruppert. [19]

Background

De Santis started his career at Landor Associates (now WPP Group) where his father was a partner. [3] As a strategy advisor, Nicolas has created strategies and visions for governments, academic institutions, global brands, and technology start-ups, such as: British Airways, Opodo, Morgan Stanley, Iberdrola, Garanti Bank, Coca-Cola, PRISA and the European Union (see Captain Euro), among others. [4]

Board memberships

De Santis was a board member of Nasdaq-listed Lyris Technologies – a digital marketing & CRM analytic solutions company. [20] Based in Silicon Valley, California, Lyris was acquired by Texas-based AUREA Software in 2015. [21]

In January 2013, he joined the board of the Global Virus Network (GVN) where he is a senior advisor. [22] De Santis believes that: "As our planet's population grows exponentially, GVN's role in tackling old and new viruses will become central in preventing, protecting and curing present and future generations." [22]

In 2019, he joined the board of trustees of the World Law Foundation, an international organisation promoting peace and respect for the rule of law, associated with the World Jurist Association. [23] In 2021, he joined the board of directors of Nasdaq-listed Ferroglobe, a producer of silicon metal, silicon-based alloys and manganese-based specialty alloys. [24]

Personal life

He is married to the American swimsuit designer Melissa Odabash, and they have two teenage daughters. [25] [26]

Related Research Articles

Turkish Airlines or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı is the flag carrier of Turkey. As of 2022, it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the world by number of passenger destinations. The airline serves more destinations non-stop from a single airport than any other airline in the world and flies to 126 countries, more than any other airline. With an operational fleet of 24 cargo aircraft, the airline's cargo division Turkish Cargo serves 82 destinations. The airline also operates a low cost subsidiary, AnadoluJet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Berlin</span> Defunct airline of the United States and Germany (1978–2017)

Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG, branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was headquartered in Berlin and had hubs at Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport. It was a member of the Oneworld airline alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accor</span> French multinational hospitality company

Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TUI Group</span> German travel company

TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company; it is the largest such company in the world. TUI is an acronym for Touristik Union International. TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to tourism. It is headquartered in Hanover, Germany.

Opodo is a Spanish-owned online travel agency which offers deals in regular and charter flights, low-cost airlines, hotels, car rental, dynamic packages, holiday packages and travel insurance. It is a pan-European enterprise, founded by a consortium of European airlines, including British Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Austrian Airlines and Finnair. The travel technology provider Amadeus owned 99.4% of the company until 2011, when it was taken over by eDreams ODIGEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amadeus IT Group</span> Spanish travel technology company

Amadeus IT Group, S.A. is a major Spanish multinational technology company that provides software solutions for the global travel and tourism industry. It is the world's leading provider of travel technology that focus on developing software for airlines, hotels, travel agencies, and other travel-related businesses to enhance their operations and customer experiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PRISA</span> Spanish mass media corporation

Promotora de Informaciones, S.A. (PRISA) is a Spanish media conglomerate headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest media companies in Spain and all of Latin America, producing a wide variety of educational, cultural and informative content. PRISA owns a portfolio of newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television networks. The majority subsidiaries and brands of the company are El País, Cadena SER, and Santillana.

beenz.com Defunct website

beenz.com was a website that allowed consumers to earn beenz, a type of online currency, for performing activities such as visiting a web site, shopping online, or logging on through an Internet service provider. The beenz e-currency could then be spent with participating online merchants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Cook Group</span> Former global travel group

Thomas Cook Group plc was a global travel group, headquartered in the United Kingdom and listed on the London Stock Exchange from its formation on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG — successor to Thomas Cook & Son — and MyTravel Group until 23 September 2019, when it went into compulsory liquidation. The group operated as a tour operator and airline, and also operated travel agencies in Europe. At the time of the group's collapse, approximately 21,000 worldwide employees were left without jobs and 600,000 customers were left abroad, triggering the UK's largest peacetime repatriation.

TAP Air Portugal is the flag carrier of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and operates on average 2,500 flights a week to 90 destinations in 34 countries worldwide. The company has a fleet of 100 aircraft, all of which are manufactured by Airbus with the exception of 19 aircraft manufactured by Embraer, operating on behalf of the regional airline TAP Express.

International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., trading as International Airlines Group and usually shortened to IAG, is an Anglo-Spanish multinational airline holding company with its registered office in Madrid, Spain, and its corporate headquarters in London, England. It was formed in January 2011 after a merger agreement between British Airways and Iberia, the flag carriers of the United Kingdom and Spain respectively, when British Airways and Iberia became wholly owned subsidiaries of IAG. British Airways shareholders were given 55% of the shares in the new company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Alcántara</span> Mexican entrepreneur and businessman (born 1950)

Roberto Alcántara Rojas is a Mexican entrepreneur and businessman, mainly dedicated to passenger transportation through land and air services. He is the chairman of the board of directors of Grupo IAMSA, one of the main passenger transportation consortiums in Mexico. He also has a 9.3% stake in the media conglomerate Grupo Prisa.

the7stars Media agency in the United Kingdom

the7stars is the UK's largest independent media planning and buying agency. The agency provides a wide range of media and advertising services to clients, including media planning and buying, creative strategy and content creation, partnerships, insight and analytics, and strategic services.

eDreams is an online travel agency based in Barcelona, Spain, that offers deals in regular and charter flights, low-cost airlines, hotels, car rental, dynamic packages, holiday packages and travel insurance.

eDreams ODIGEO is a Spanish online travel company that was formed in 2011 as the successor of eDreams with the merger of online travel agencies eDreams and GO Voyages, and the acquisition of Opodo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold Mercury International Award</span>

The Gold Mercury International Award is presented by Gold Mercury International, an International nongovernmental organization (INGO) and think tank. The original Mercurio D'oro awards were given by an association of Italian journalists to Italian individuals and companies. Later the awards were extended to Europe and then became international. Awards are given to prominent people and organizations for contributions to world peace, good governance and development of global commerce. Award-giving ceremonies were held in cities such as Brussels, Moscow, Karachi and Addis Ababa. The NGO that administers the awards moved to London, England in the late 1990s. It is also involved in brand management, most recently launching an initiative to rebrand Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorraine Twohill</span> Irish marketer, CMO of Google

Lorraine Twohill is an Irish marketer who is the CMO of Google.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Scowsill</span> President and CEO of World Travel and Tourism Council

David P. Scowsill is a British businessman, and serial non-executive director and chairman, known for his contributions to the travel and tourism industries. He is the former President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uwern Jong</span> British entrepreneur

Uwern Jong is a British Asian entrepreneur, journalist, editor and inclusive-tourism advocate. Jong co-founded OutThere magazine in 2010. Jong is also founder of Southeast Asia’s first LGBTQ+ travel symposium for the Tourism Authority of Thailand and through OutThere, developed Thailand's “Go Thai Be Free” LGBTQ travel campaign and website, as part as the government’s strategy to attract more diverse tourists to the country. Jong is credited as an Editor who has been a "material player in the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights.” He is an inclusive tourism advocate, promoting a more diverse media landscape and better recruitment and representation in the travel industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITA Airways</span> Flag carrier of Italy

Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A., dba ITA Airways, is the flag carrier of Italy. It is owned by the Government of Italy via the Ministry of Economy and Finance and was founded in 2020 as bankrupt Alitalia's successor. The airline flies to over 70 scheduled domestic, European, and intercontinental destinations. ITA Airways is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. Its main hub is Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport near Rome and focus city is Linate Airport near Milan.

References

  1. ↑ "Firms need a corporate vision | Shares Magazine". www.sharesmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Noriega, Javier L. (1 December 2010). "Entrevista | "La marca PRISA comunica globalización y pluralismo"". Cinco Días (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  3. 1 2 "PROFILE: Travel companion - Nicolas De Santis, Marketing director, Opodo". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 Muñoz, Ramón (12 December 2010). ""La nueva marca de PRISA transmite emoción"". El País (in Spanish). ISSN   1134-6582 . Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "Euro airlines plan online travel site". 26 June 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  6. ↑ "Top Opodo marketer exits for brand shop". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Interview : Nicolás de Santis (Opodo)". www.journaldunet.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Opodo 2008 Results Announcement". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  9. ↑ Becht, Hans Kettwig und Stefan. "Wir sind die Zentralbank des Internets". Telepolis (in German). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Marketing Week | marketing news, opinion, trends and jobs". Marketing Week. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Chips are down for currency has-beenz". Finextra Research. 17 August 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  12. ↑ Richardson, Tim. "Ellison spills over beenz". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  13. ↑ Dean Tomasula, Direct Marketing News, 5 October 2011. "Carlson Marketing Group to Buy Beenz.com". http://www.dmnews.com/carlson-marketing-group-to-buy-beenzcom/article/74874/. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "archive.ph". archive.ph. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Captain Euro Will Teach Children About the Euro, but Foes Abound". WSJ. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  16. ↑ "Die, Europhobe scum". the Guardian. 6 April 1999. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  17. ↑ "A Superhero's Soft Power Falls Flat (and Wastes an Opportunity)". HuffPost. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  18. ↑ Tidey, Alice. "The EU's main problem? Its brand!". CNBC. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  19. ↑ Oppenheimer, Walter (16 June 2014). ""Europa tiene adversarios que prefieren que la UE se desmantele"". El País (in Spanish). ISSN   1134-6582 . Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  20. ↑ "Lyris Inc - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  21. ↑ Inc, Lyris (4 May 2015). "Aurea Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Lyris". GlobeNewswire News Room (in French). Retrieved 2 December 2022.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  22. 1 2 "Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to Chair Global Virus Network (GVN) Board of Directors | Reuters". Reuters . 16 February 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  23. ↑ World Law Foundation. "Board of Trustees".
  24. ↑ News Release, 14 May 2021. https://investor.ferroglobe.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ferroglobe-announces-new-appointments-and-changes-board Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  25. ↑ Lisa Armstrong (12 August 2015). "How Melissa Odabash became swimwear's cult cutter". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Brayford, Claire (26 March 2017). "The tale of Melissa Odabash & Alaia & Avalon de Santis". thegracetales.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.