18. Brand Global Summit- IN BRANDS WE TRUST
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that gives a product, service or concept an identity and distinguishes it from others on the market. Branding is the art of becoming knowable, likable and trustable.
The European Brand Institute (EBI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have held the 18th Brand Global Summit at the Vienna International Centre and online. The Summit explored the topic of “IN BRANDS WE TRUST”, highlighting success stories and experiences of branding as an effective solution to support enterprises and regions, to achieve higher productivity, to diversity and to attract investments. This yearly gathering also gave an insightful perspective on the global challenges for brands and international businesses, brand investments, innovations and brands, brands for resilience and growth as well as an outlook on the future challenges.
The Summit brought together leading branding experts and high-level representatives from governments, the private sector, academia, and international organizations. They exchanged experiences on applying brand management as a multidimensional-impact tool for improving business performance and resilience in an increasingly digitalization-driven world economy, while accelerating industrial upgrading and sustainable development at the regional, national and international levels.
Gerd Müller, Director General UNIDO, was welcoming the summit participants with a video message: “The past years have been marked by the pandemic and all its consequences. We have seen the incredible shift from conventional growth and crisis medication ideas towards more innovative approaches. Today we can review our progress in this direction and map out a way forward to a more sustainable future. As initial transformation continues, brands are intellectual property, becoming more important for generating value edition and competitiveness. This is all the more important for post-pandemic recovery, pioneering the jobs and skills of the future. On the pass to sustainable recovery we need to continue developing a wider and efficient democratized use of brands and IP. Together UNIDO and EBI have pioneered branding as a tool for sustainable intrusive industrial development. Our holistic approach brings many benefits like our development of branding for competitiveness and sustainable growth. Service module and the organization of brand global Summit. This initiative helps either application of branding and IP protection and maximise their impact.”
Brands and intellectual property dominate the global economy. Yet these, are the least understood assets. But the importance of intellectual property rights in particular has become increasingly clear in recent years and in the age of digitization for society, economy and for businesses. Brands provide orientation, convey values, create experiences and contribute to our well-being. They are essential for innovation, new jobs, and increased efficiency and are leading to sustained competitiveness. Sustainable Brands create trust and build long term relationships and are therefore more resilient in times of crisis. This is why the motto of this year's Brand Global Summit is: "In Brands We Trust,” stated Gerhard Hrebicek, President of the European Brand Institute, in his opening remarks. He also said, that “a brand is not just a logo, a brand creates trust and mainly experiences.”
“More and more consumers are searching for authenticity and are willing to pay higher prices for typical food products that are deeply rooted in their territories or origin. For small and medium producers, this new trend signifies a major opportunity, (…)” stated Fabio Russo, Senior Industrial Development Officer of UNIDO’s Pampat project on GI and agri-toruism in Tunisia.
Moderator at the BRAND GLOBAL SUMMIT 2022 was Sonja Kato, communikato & coachings, who guided the panellists though thematic sessions and ensured the smooth running of the discussion.
Alfred Koblinger, CEO IQONIC Consulting GmbH gave insight into sustainable brands at the pulse of innovation. In his keynote “Sustainability pays off” he gave a best practice example of the well-known Austrian brand “Schärdinger”. He discussed how a company explains an investment to their shareholders or clients reasonably, in order to put trust in the brand. Motivating consumers to act sustainably and buy the new reusable glass bottle for milk, was the main goal when repositioning the brand of Schärdinger into a sustainable direction. When setting up a communication campaign, they set up a new way of communicating. To name a few aspects: shifting from companies to the customer’s perspective, from brand staging to brand experience (moments of enjoyment), from products to people and their stories, from story-telling to story-selling. Mr. Koblinger described according to his example, that radical repositioning at Schärdinger was focused on mindfulness and gaining consumer’s trust. Mr. Koblinger concluded his speech with a quote from the founder of Ikea Ingvar Kamprad who said at the age of 82: “There is still a lot to do. Wonderful future”.
Director Corporate Affairs and ESG Sustainability at Brau Union Österreich, Mrs. Gabriela Maria Straka stated “Being responsible to further shaping and leading the agile ESG transformation agenda, my innovation and communications focus is key to foster collaboration across functions. A passionate leadership and strong people focus enables establishing a winning mentality throughout the organization to drive the ESG sustainability agenda.” Mrs. Straka’s key message in regards to the brand of Brau Union/Heineken Group was brewing a better world. Sustainability is an important factor for the company and brand of Heineken/Brau Union. Green initiatives in regards to beer are being taken to ensure satisfaction for consumers and investors.
Discussing DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND BRAND INVESTEMENT, moderator Sonja Kato opened the panel by explaining how Digitalization and Innovation need Brands. Edgar Baum, Chief Executive Officer AVASTA, Canada, Nohelia Sanchez, Representative EBI & WBAF Latin America, Sarvinoz Junaydova, UNIDO project in Tajikistan (e-commerce and branding) and Farshida Zafar, Director, Erasmus X & Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship discussed how brands can be built and grown based on where the best customers are, not just where the company is based.
In the panel “Brands and Financing”, keynote speaker Prof. Stephan Unger, Department of Finance at St. Anselm University in Boston, gave a speech on “Brands as Collateral for Financing”. Senior Director Investment Products Division, Securities and Future Commission in Hongkong, Trevor Lee, Herbert Kovar, Managing Partner Deloitte Tax, Bettina Rieger, Managing Partner Essentio and Lia Rosida, UN Joint Program “Assist” in Indonesia gave an overview on global financial market trends and discussed NFTs as instruments for financing brand investments. Stephan Unger noted that business resiliency is going through branding and securing power supply as social value, for example quality of service. He also mentioned that three steps are relevant for a successful brand. First creating a Brand, followed by maintaining a brand and growing the brand.
The panel BRANDS AND UNIDO PROJECTS, moderated by Farrukh Alimdjanov, Industrial Development Officer at UNIDO, showcased multiple success stories and shared experiences on the use of brands as an effective solution to create jobs, improve the quality of products and services, and achieve higher productivity, support economic diversification and to attract investment.
In the evening, at the invitation of Mayor Michael Ludwig, the Vienna Brand Gala Reception took place in the Festivity Hall of the Vienna City Hall. Together with Gerhard Hrebicek, President of the European Brand Institute, Omar Al-Rawi, member of the Vienna City Parliament, UNIDO Managing Director Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento and Ramiro Aquiles Recinos Trejo (Ambassador El Salvador) welcomed the international guests.
The international guests experienced a special cultural atmosphere with Sax’n Soul Duo Ingo Beer and fabulous singer Sabrina Kreutzberger. International flair once again permeated the Festivity Hall during the traditional tastings of regional specialties such as wine, rum, coffee and cigars by the representatives of the Corps Diplomatique of Latin American and Caribbean countries, Weingut Gebeshuber and Staud’s.
Spotted among the guests: H.E. Julia Villatoro (Ambassador El Salvador); H.E. Andor Nagy (Ambassador Hungary), Renate Altenhofer (Managing Partner European Brand Institute), Herbert Kovar, Partner Deloitte Tax, Desislava Stoyanova (Head of Economic and Commercial Section Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria), Gabriela Maria Straka (Director Corporate Affairs & ESG Sustainability Brau Union), Aysegül Baykal, Deputy Director Schoellerbank, Monica Rintersbacher, Managing Director Leitbetriebe Austria, Gerald Ganzger, Partner Lansky, Ganzger, Göth, Frankl & Partner, the Ambassadors of, Chile, Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Venezuela, El Salvador, as well as Representatives from UNIDO such as Marco Kamiya, Farrukh Alimdjanov, and many more.a