Gioele Novoa
BSc Student at Bocconi University · Digital Strategy & Business Development
About
I'm a second-year undergraduate student at Bocconi University, Milan, studying Business Administration and Management. Alongside my studies, I manage the digital strategy and performance marketing for El Caracol — my family's restaurant and hotel in Lunigiana, Tuscany. I'm interested in management consulting, entrepreneurship and building things with technology.
Projects
Website — Building a Digital Presence from Zero
Rebuilt El Caracol's digital presence from scratch. Now generating ~10,000 sessions/month.
~10,000
monthly sessions
Context
El Caracol is a family-owned restaurant and hotel founded in 1977 in Mulazzo, Lunigiana. Despite strong word-of-mouth and national TV coverage, the business had no effective digital presence. The existing website was built on a free platform with a non-branded domain and poor UX.
Problem
No owned digital channel meant total dependency on third-party platforms. The business was invisible to anyone searching online for restaurants or accommodation in the Lunigiana area.
Approach
Rebuilt from scratch — branded domain, mobile-first layout, clear CTAs on every page, local SEO structure targeting relevant queries, dedicated landing pages for Meta Ads campaigns.
Results
- —~10,000 monthly sessions
- —8,826 unique visitors
- —179 CTA clicks (contact / book now)
- —646 organic sessions and growing
- —7 months from zero to 10k/month (launched Aug 2025)
What I would do differently
Wix imposes hard constraints on performance and customization. I would have evaluated a custom-built solution earlier — which is what I am now building.
Hotel Campaign — Filling an Underutilised Asset
Repositioned the hotel as a weekend destination for urban travellers. 210,000+ people reached on a €699 budget.
210,762
people reached
Context
The hotel runs at full capacity in July-August but sees very low occupancy off-season, with some weeks having zero guests. The asset existed — the problem was awareness and positioning.
Problem
The hotel was invisible to the audience most likely to book: urban residents within 1.5-2 hours willing to pay for a countryside weekend escape.
Approach
Repositioned as a weekend destination targeting 30-55 year olds in Parma, Florence and across Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. Offer: 3-night package at €150 total (€50/night). Pricing logic: €50 creates stronger perceived value than the standard €75 rate and anchors guests to a minimum 3-night stay, increasing revenue per booking and probability of restaurant spend. The restaurant upside was factored into the business case but kept out of the ROAS calculation to stay conservative.
Results
- —210,762 people reached
- —18,659 landing page views
- —€0.037 cost per landing page view
- —611,195 impressions
- —€699 total ad spend
- —Campaign still active after 70+ days, still generating bookings
- —Estimated ROAS: 10–15x (to be confirmed)
What I would do differently
Budget managed intuitively rather than through A/B testing. Would have run parallel ad sets to identify the best-performing creative before scaling spend.
Paella Campaign — Unlocking Latent Demand
Identified a latent demand opportunity and ran a hyper-local campaign delivering 17.9x ROAS on an €85 budget.
17.9x
ROAS
Context
Every Christmas Eve, El Caracol offers a paella takeaway. Historically, orders averaged 20-30 portions — the product existed and customers liked it, but almost nobody knew it was available at scale.
Problem
Classic latent demand: a strong product with a willing local audience that had no awareness of the offer.
Approach
Hyper-local campaign targeting people within 20-25 minutes drive — the maximum realistic distance for a food takeaway on Christmas Eve. Timed to catch people still planning their dinner in the days before Christmas Eve. Visually appealing creative focused on the festive occasion and convenience of a ready-made paella.
Results
- —17.9x ROAS
- —+375% vs. historical average (20–30 portions)
- —€0.89 cost per portion sold
- —95 portions sold
- —€1,520 revenue generated
- —19,885 people reached
- —€84.95 total ad spend
- —€0 incremental operational cost (family-run, no additional staff needed)
What I would do differently
Campaign launched too close to Christmas Eve, leaving limited time to optimize on early data. Starting 2-3 weeks earlier would allow creative testing before the critical final days.
Currently Building
El Caracol Website v3
Rebuilding El Caracol's website from Wix to Next.js — full design control, faster load times, online booking system with custom admin panel, and elimination of platform fees. Frontend substantially complete.
This website
Personal portfolio built with Next.js and Tailwind CSS. Designed to grow over time — Notes and Reading sections coming.
Now
Second year at Bocconi University, Milan. Building El Caracol's new website in Next.js — frontend done, working on the backend. Reading Sapiens by Harari. Looking for a summer internship in management consulting or strategy. Exchange semester at McGill University (Montreal) starting August 2026.
Last updated: April 2026
Contact
Feel free to reach out.