Brand Dialogue Forum 2020: The Future of GI Brands

Konrad leads Brand Finance’s place branding and soft power practice. He liaises with clients, directs consulting projects, and is responsible for the creation and promotion of the annual Global Soft Power Index, Nation Brands, and City Index studies.

Konrad has extensive experience in advising clients in the fields of place branding and public diplomacy. Before joining Brand Finance, he worked at the Polish Embassy in London where he developed and delivered successful marketing communications campaigns as well as media relations programmes of official engagements by the president, prime minister, government ministers, and the ambassador.

In his role at Brand Finance, Konrad has advised a variety of place branding organisations, including the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Campaign, New Zealand Story, and Cape Town Tourism.

Before moving on to grow the place branding practice, Konrad was the Communications Director of Brand Finance and Managing Director of Brand Finance’s PR agency – Brand Dialogue for 5 years. He has a proven track record in executing integrated communications strategies, having been responsible for publishing nearly 100 industry and country reports on the world’s most valuable brands on an annual basis.

Konrad has qualified with the Professional PR Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). He studied European Studies MA at King’s College London and the Humboldt University in Berlin, and International Relations with Political Science BA at the University of Birmingham.

Massimo Vittori is the Managing Director of oriGIn, in charge of the Organization’s strategic planning and overall management.

Massimo previously worked as a legal advisor at the International Trade Center (ITC) – a technical assistance agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations – where he was in charge of several projects in the field of intellectual property, trade law harmonization, model contacts for SMEs and alternative business dispute resolution mechanisms. Massimo also worked at the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the improvement of developing countries’ investment climate through regulatory reforms.

Following his Bachelor Degree in International Relations, Massimo obtained a Master’s Degree in International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva and an LL.M. in Intellectual Property at the University of Turin. 

Massimo regularly delivers seminars on GIs, trademarks and trade-related issues in several European Universities.

David is the Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance Plc – the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. He has worked in the area of branded business, brand, and intangible asset valuation since 1991. He specialised entirely in the field after becoming the Director of Brand Valuation for Interbrand in 1995. He subsequently left Interbrand in 1996 to launch Brand Finance which is celebrating 25 years in business this year.

David represented the British Standards Institution in the working parties responsible for crafting international industry standards: ISO 10668 on Brand Valuation in 2010 and ISO 20671 on Brand Evaluation in 2019.

David is a passionate writer and has authored many articles on brand valuation, published in numerous marketing and finance newspapers and magazines, such as: Financial Times, Accountancy Age, and Marketing Week. He has also lectured on the topic of brand valuation for Harvard, Chicago, and London Business Schools.

David graduated from Bristol University with an English degree, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in London, and obtained a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). He is a Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and has a practising certificate with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Dr David Lloyd-Thomas joined the Welsh Government’s food team in September 2016 to lead the Food Strategy and Policy Unit.  The Unit’s focus is primarily long term policy development, with a strong focus on evidence evaluation and horizon scanning to inform both policy and Welsh Government support to businesses, with current focus on covid-19 recovery and Brexit. David has worked in several roles in Welsh Government about agriculture, environment, and also education.  Prior to joining the Welsh Government in 2003, David worked in public bodies dealing with education and the natural environment.

Tim Rycroft joined the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) as Corporate Affairs Director in September 2015.   In September 2018 he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer.  Prior to FDF, Tim held senior corporate affairs roles with InterContinental Hotels Group plc (as Director of Communications, Europe); Diageo plc (as Corporate Relations Director, GB and the Corporate Relations Director, Global Duty Free) and Boots Healthcare International (as Head of Corporate Affairs).  For three years Tim was a Special (political) Adviser in government, to the Minister without Portfolio and then to the Secretary of State for Health. Tim has also worked in corporate communications consultancy for Good Relations and Bell Pottinger.

Jess is an independent designer, writer and marketer, with lots of experience in the food industry. She is inspired by the big city of London and the small island of Anglesey, and you’ll usually find her in one or the other. Designing and writing for forward-thinking, conscious brands and people who want to make a positive difference is what she loves to do. She creates engaging editorial, brand identities, newsletters, and plenty more besides. She understands the importance of differentiation and how independently verified certification such as GIs can make a positive impact in a noisy world. Food is such an important part of our society: the way it is produced and sold, the choices we are given and the effect it has on our culture and health. Regular clients include  Anna Jones, the celebrated chef who has changed the face of modern vegetarian cooking and Halen Môn sea salt, Jess's family’s amazing seasoning business, complete with an outdoor cafe in the Good Food Guide.  In 2019, Jess co-authored a book on sea salt (no surprises there). Jess has worked as an editorial researcher on numerous other books, and does lots of copywriting alongside her design.

José Luis Benítez is Spanish Wine Federation’s General Director since 2017. Previously, since 2008 he was Secretary and General Manager of Grupo Rioja (main wineries association in Rioja región). He holds a Degree on Agronomy from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (1989) and a PDG from IESE Business School (2009) among other titles. With a long experience on management in wine and hop industry, he started as Technical Director of the unique Spanish hop dealer in 1989 in which was promoted to Managing Director in 1994. In 1999 he joined to Faustino Wineries Group as Managing Director of Bodegas Marqués de Vitoria and in 2001 he was appointed Managing Director of Bodegas Bretón in La Rioja.

Georgie graduated from the University of Exeter with a BA (Hons) in Latin and Arabic and joined the Brand Dialogue team in 2016. She is responsible for devising, overseeing, and implementing integrated PR and Marketing campaigns for Brand Dialogue clients and companies in the Brand Finance Plc. Group network. She is highly experienced in event and conference management with high profile speakers and sponsors, media relations and targeting, social media and print coverage boost, and digital influencer marketing development. Before joining Brand Dialogue she used to live in Naples where she discovered her love for food, enabling her to become a private chef for some households.