Take Away

Global Effort TheWorld Brand CongressAdvisory Board—comprised of seven Indian and 38 internationalmem- bers—creates the conference’s educa- tion program.Mem- bership on the adviso- ry council is “purely by invite,” Secretariat Dave Porter said. “We undertake a lot of safety measures (on ethical grounds)while inviting.”How do the members—spread across the world— work witheachother? According to Porter, they communicate via e-mail. In addition, he makes “it a point to be in touchwith themat least twice every month,” he said. “Updates and devel- opments are concised and sent across to

eachmember.” continued on page 42

BRAND POWER: Part of theWorld Brand Congress program is an annual awards ceremo- ny that recognizes brand excellence across numerous categories, forms of media, and industries.

International Meetings: Asia Rising By Michelle Russell

A Brand-NewWorld

A conference held last month in Mumbai brought together speakers and attendees from around the world to ‘experience the power of brand-building and rapid-fire ideas on marketing to reach out to the consumer.’

Theheadline—“HowIndia’sgrowthwilloutpace China’s”—on The Economist magazine’s Oct. 2 covermeshed nicely with White House economic official Lawrence H. Summers’ visit to Mumbai that samemonth. Ina speechhe gave tolocal busi- ness executives, The New York Times reported, Summers praisedIndia’s “people-centric”approach to economic development. He characterized the Indian economy as being driven by growth in con- sumption, rather than exports.

to hear top executives from global brands such as PepsiCo, Cisco, and Fuji Xerox, and influential marketing organizations, includingTimes Global Broadcasting Co., Leo Burnett, and Thomson Reuters, “answer today’s critical business chal- lenges.” The program included “A DayWith Martin

Lindstrom,”whomadeTimemagazine’s list ofthe “World’s 100 Most Influential People” and is the author ofthe best-selling book Buyology: Truth

It happened to be the perfect lead-in for a conference focused on consumers and their con- sumption that took place inMumbaia month lat- er:World Brand Congress 2010. HeldNov. 22–24 at theTaj Lands End, the meeting bills itselfas “the single largest rendezvous of best brains behind some of the world’s most successful and sought- after brands.” At the time of this writing, more than 500 ofthe world’s “branding and marketing elite”were expected togather at theTaj LandsEnd

and Lies AboutWhyWe Buy. Given its roster of international speakers and its self-description onWorld Brand Congress’ website as “a meeting place for leaders from every sector and continent,” you might assume that the people organizing the meeting showed foresight in branch- ing out to India. But the opposite is actually true. This was a conference that started in India nearly two decades ago, and has since cultivated a global audience. The event—originally called the

ON_THE_WEB: To learn more about World Brand Congress, visit www.worldbrandcongress.com. ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL OAKLEY pcmaconvene December 2010 41