HWR Berlin at the 18th Global Brand Conference in Porto
The world’s most important conference offers exciting insights into current research in brand management and the opportunity to exchange ideas with well-known participants at an international level.
The 18th Global Brand Conference, themed “Brand Purpose”, took place from May 7–9, 2025, in Porto. With five out of nearly 90 contributions spread across 23 sessions, as well as one of the five keynote speeches, HWR Berlin was particularly well represented this year. This strong presence highlighted the research strength of Department 1 in the field of brand management. All contributions from HWR Berlin shared a clear focus on brand management, each combined with distinct disciplinary perspectives.
Professor Carsten Baumgarth presented two papers addressing the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in brand management. In collaboration with co-author Dr. Jonathan Mall (NeuroFlash), one paper examined the impact of few-shot prompting on brand consistency and expert preferences. The second paper explored how AI-generated art on products affects consumer perceptions of brands—especially in relation to the transparency of its creation. Alexandra Kirkby, together with co-authors Professor Carsten Baumgarth and Professor Jörg Henseler (University of Twente), presented qualitative research findings on the drivers and barriers experienced by brand professionals when engaging with generative AI in their work contexts. Anja Lambrecht, along with the same co-authors, shared initial findings from a study on how advertising agencies communicate the use of new technologies as part of their self-presentation. Another contribution by Professor Dirk-Mario Boltz investigated strategic potential in de-experience and experiential marketing—focusing on so-called "luxury moments" as effective tools in brand management.
A particular highlight was the keynote by Professor Carsten Baumgarth and Dr. Steffen Schmidt (concept m. AI), entitled “Augmented Brand Intelligence by AI for practice AND science”. Drawing on a wide range of practical examples, the speakers compellingly demonstrated the depth to which AI tools are already integrated into brand practice and academic research—and how they can significantly enhance the quality of both.
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