As the May 1 opening day of Milan Expo 2015 nears, the event's organizers are kicking off the official communications campaign with TV, radio and web ads in Italy, to be followed by other campaigns, including several on foreign markets. In Italy the first 60-second TV spot will air on Sunday, November 2, to be followed by 30-second formats and the launch, on November 16, of radio ads. The TV campaign, entitled Cibo Vita (Food Life), is a series of split-screen images - sometimes complementary, sometimes contrasting - that tells how food is about more than just nutrition. "Food is pleasure, taste, home, family, art, play, war, peace, love... For food we fight, we work... Food is east, food is west. "Food is meeting, celebrating, enjoying. Food is life. For us and the planet," says the voiceover over of Antonio Albanese, a famous Italian comedian and actor. "I am proud to be part of this," Albanese said, to loud applause, at the campaign presentation event in Milan on Thursday. Pointing to the positive aspects of Expo, Albanese said that the last time there was an Expo in Milan was in 1906. "We can't wait another 100 years for the next one," he said.

Over the coming months it is important to "work well to explain that Expo is (just) not a fair," said Expo Commissioner Giuseppe Sala. Sala repeated his mantra that Expo 2015 must leave a lasting legacy in terms of knowledge and actions regarding nutrition and food-related issues.

The Expo campaign was assigned via a public bid process to the Milan offices of international media agency Havas Worldwide.

Expo is investing some three million euros in the first part of the campaign, including creativity and media buying.

The campaign will be TV-heavy in Italy - where the medium "remains king", Sala said - running on national, local, digital and satellite platforms.

The Expo communications campaign will run in phases, with a concentration in the summer months, Sala said. The first part of the campaign - the one developed by Havas - will focus on the theme of Expo, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.

It is meant as a sort of teaser, a way to "warm up" viewers to issues linked to the theme. A second campaign - which still needs to be assigned - will focus on the "visitor experience," Sala said. "It will show images and renderings of what people will really see at Expo," he added.

Speaking to Ansa, Laura Trovalusci, Havas Worldwide Milan creative director, said that the agency's creatives were inspired by the dual nature of the Expo theme and of the Expo logo.

"The logo is two layers of writing, one on top of the other," Trovalusci said, pointing to how the word Expo is layered above the date 2015 - or vice-versa, depending on your point of view. "We translated this faceted vision into the split-screen format." Overall, the promotional budget - including media activities - is around 50 million euros, Sala said, adding that some 15-20 million euros will be spent on foreign markets.

Speaking of foreign markets, Sala said: "I am certain we have worked well on the international side, with millions of tickets already sold. Travel companies and airlines are working hard...there is a lot of interest internationally." Sala said that works are proceeding at a good clip and that while it "will be a race to the finish," those who visit the Expo site "can see the progress every week".