Portuguese explore “love” between brands and consumers

The "love" between brands and consumers was the theme of this year’s APAN annual marketing event organised by the Association of Portuguese Advertisers from 31 May to 1 June in Lisbon.

Dubbed “How deep is your love?”, the event was divided into four clusters:

• “How solid is your source?” on the credibility of politicians, media and polls;


• “How long is your trust?” on trust metrics;


• “How good is your point?” on brands with purpose; and


• “How big is your data?” on the challenges associated with big data and data science.

“In an increasingly competitive and constantly changing context, gaining consumer confidence is one of the biggest challenges for brands. People are still open to interact with brands and companies, but they are much more demanding. They want to be respected and want companies to be more transparent. And brands have to know how to take advantage of this opportunity consumers are giving them. Brands are increasingly less an end in themselves and increasingly a vehicle of communication between businesses and citizens. We wanted to discuss the different visions and depth of this "love", said Manuela Botelho, APAN Executive Director.

On gaining consumer confidence, “Mr Goodvertising” Thomas Kolster stressed that brands should stop focusing on products and start focusing on staying relevant to consumers. Rui Almeida, Data Insights Director at Havas Media Group, also mentioned during his presentation on Meaningful Brands that authenticity and consistency are the two essential pillars for brands to gain “consumer love”.



At a roundtable discussion on big data, Luis Mergulhão, CEO at Omnicom Media Group, argued that the most important asset is the value and quality of data, not the amount of data available. Jason Nadal, Head of Development and Entrepreneurship at Microsoft Portugal, added during his keynote speech that "marketing is two things: being personal and being digital."

The event was co-organised with the Portuguese Association of Market Research Companies (APODEMO).

For more information, visit the event page or contact APAN.