Redefining Linguistic Heritage

Founded in 1221, Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is the oldest apothecary in the world, still active in the very same spaces of its origins. A genuine unicorn, a heritage without comparison. In 2020, a new board took over: a significant repositioning was underway and international expansion was rapidly escalating. The communication? Cacophonous. The language? Uncharted. The challenge was a delicate paradox: how to attract a digitally-savvy, global audience without losing the aura of an 800-year-old legacy? We had to transform a centuries-old heritage into a contemporary conversation.

FRAMING THE CHALLENGE.
The brief we received was about a Tone of Voice issue. To us, the problem ran much deeper: a nomenclature accumulated over centuries with no system to govern it, while inconsistency was spreading across many assets of the brand. The work required was architectural more than creative: classifying and systematizing eight centuries of visual and verbal layers.

SETTING THE DIRECTION.
The repositioning began before REMIDA even existed, led by Lisa Pelagatti as lead strategist alongside Landor Milan. A deep benchmarking, in-depth interviews and a carefully crafted brand idea were developed under her guidance. When REMIDA was founded in 2021, the client soon came onboard: that foundation was expanded with a full Linguistic Direction® makeover. A living system of expressive rules was set in place to govern the product catalogue and its naming, alongside the overall verbal identity. From that system, REMIDA held the pen across every touchpoint, in every format, for every audience over five years. Since the beginning, the extent of this partnership multiplied: five different languages were to diffuse and preserve the unique appeal of this brand to the cultural sensibility of different markets.

DOING THE WORK.
In 2021, the groundwork was laid with the Linguistic Direction® foundation. By 2022, a substantial body of creative copywriting was ready to hold the weight of something historic. Among others, the launch of L'Iris Eau de Parfum, the brand's first original Parfum in 800 years, and the "Laboratorium of Wonders" 360° campaign brought the oldest apothecary into contemporary conversation, with originals curated by REMIDA. 2023 was marked by the new “I Giardini Medicei” product line, for which REMIDA took care of product positioning, original creative copy and language transcreations. In 2024, a comprehensive overhaul of the overall website and product catalogue saw the recreation of 450+ product descriptions, alongside all the brand’s editorial copy. By 2025, the language activity had expanded from Italian, English and French to German and Spanish too, for which we recreated the totality of the client’s linguistic universe.

IMPACT.
From 2021 to 2025, Santa Maria Novella’s revenues grew from €24.5M to €74.4M. REMIDA produced over 360 original newsletters, 550 social posts and captions, 35 press releases, and 4,500 product descriptions, building a language system now woven into the core of the brand's identity across European and overseas markets.