From 7 to 9 May 2025, Católica Porto Business School hosted the 18th edition of the Global Brand Conference, one of the most prestigious international events dedicated to branding research. Under the theme "Brand Purpose", the conference brought together hundreds of researchers and professionals from around the world, reinforcing the School’s position as a global reference in the field.
Organised by SIG (Special Interest Group on Brand, Identity and Corporate Reputation) of the Academy of Marketing, this was the second time the conference was held at Católica Porto Business School. This year's edition was chaired by Joana César Machado, a faculty member at the School and chair of the SIG. “Although interest in brand purpose is growing, empirical research in this area remains limited, and there are still doubts about how the concept is defined and applied”, she noted.
Over three days, the conference explored key topics such as brand purpose, authenticity, social impact, and the challenges and opportunities brought by Artificial Intelligence in brand management. The programme featured contributions from leading brands, including Mateus Rosé – sponsor of the conference – represented by Brand Manager Joana Gonçalves; the pharmaceutical company Ferrer, with Alba Soler (Director of Communication) and Oscar Pérez (Chief Scientific and Business Development Officer); Porto., with Tânia Amaral (Head of Digital Communication and Brand Activation); and Futebol Clube do Porto, represented by Tiago Gouveia (Head of Marketing).
The academic strand was marked by keynote speeches from renowned international scholars such as Carsten Baumgarth (HWR Berlin), Steffen Schmidt (concept m. AI, Switzerland), and Judith Zaichkowsky (Distinguished Professor, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University, Canada).
According to João Pinto, Dean of Católica Porto Business School, “hosting this conference for the second time demonstrates our School’s strong positioning across different fields – including Branding – and reinforces our mission to strengthen the connection between academia and public and private organisations globally, through research and education.”
The conference also awarded the Best Paper Award to co-author Zhuolin Bao, for a study exploring how influencers publicly call out brands and how audiences respond in terms of engagement and sentiment.
The event closed with the symbolic handover to Sarah-Louise Mitchell from Oxford Brookes University, the host of the 19th edition of the Global Brand Conference.
In addition to the academic sessions, the conference offered informal networking opportunities in some of Porto’s most iconic locations, including a sunset gathering at Praia da Luz, a gala dinner at Casa Ferreirinha, and a guided tour of the Serralves Foundation Gardens.
