Brand Finance Place Brand Forum 2026

Laura is CEO of London & Partners, the growth agency for London. Our mission is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable and inclusive. We drive investment, innovation and entrepreneurship and make London a brilliant destination for visitors and Londoners.

Laura is proud to lead the teams behind flagship brands including Visit London, Let’s Do London, Grow London, London Tech Week, MedCity London, DotLondon and Opportunity London.

Since Laura became CEO, London & Partners has enabled over 50,000 jobs and added £2.5bn to the London economy.

As a civic leader, Laura brings people together to create partnerships for good growth.

Before joining London & Partners, Laura led the global Government & Public Sector Practice at WPP, the FTSE 100 global leader in marketing and communications. She advised governments around the world and trained future global leaders at the Blavatnik School of Government (Oxford) and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public (Singapore).

Laura is passionate about social enterprise, endlessly curious about businesses and growth, always learning on leadership and inclusion, and is, unsurprisingly, a very proud Londoner.

Laura was awarded an OBE for services to the London economy in June 2024.

Conrad Bird CBE is Director of Campaigns & Marketing for the Cabinet Office and was formerly Director of Campaigns & Marketing for the Department for International Trade, and prior to that Director of the GREAT Britain campaign, based at 10 Downing Street. While at No 10, Conrad’s role was extended to include responsibility for delivering major cross-government campaigns, as well as ensuring Government spending on communications was efficient and cost-effective.

Previously Conrad worked at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office as Head of Public Diplomacy and Strategic Campaigns. He was responsible for a wide range of policies and campaigns, including soft power, the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, and campaigns in the Middle East, Libya, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Conrad joined the Government in 2002, initially working with the Central Office of Information on issues that included teenage drugs, consumer rights and international export. He moved to the Cabinet Office to work with the first Permanent Secretary of Government Communication as Director of Strategic Communications. Here he launched ‘Engage’, a new approach to Government Communication, and was responsible for campaigns to counter-terrorism and animal rights extremism.

Before joining the Civil Service Conrad spent 18 years in advertising, working with a number of agencies on national and international business. During this time he also set up an award-winning communication consultancy which he successfully ran for eight years.

Gökhan Yücel earned his bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications from Marmara University and pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Essex, the University of Oxford, and Harvard University. During his D.Phil. studies, he also worked at the regional desks of two renowned consulting firms: Oxford Analytica and Global Water Intelligence.

Between 1996 and 1999, he began his career in journalism as an editor at Sabah Newspaper. From 2003 to 2007, he gained extensive academic experience as a teaching assistant at the University of Oxford. In Türkiye, he went on to teach courses in strategic communications, Military AI, and digital diplomacy at Yıldız Technical University, Bahçeşehir University, and the National Defense University.

Yücel has also held prominent advisory roles in government. From 2009 to 2011 and again from 2018 to 2020, he served as Chief Policy Advisor at the Ministry of National Education. Between 2012 and 2018, he worked at Arter Advertising as a Senior Political Communication Strategist. From 2020 to 2023, he played a pivotal role as the foundinf Department Head of Strategic Communications and Crisis Management at the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye. In addition, he has served as an advisor to the Digital Diplomacy Working Group of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His contributions extend internationally, having worked on projects with organizations such as the OECD, the United Nations, and UNESCO. He was a member of the Artificial Intelligence Commission of UNESCO’s National Committee and continues to serve on the judging academies for the Global Teacher Prize and the TRT Young Communicators Competition.

Currently, Gökhan Yücel is the Head of Communications at the Investment and Finance Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye aka Invest in Türkiye.

Tina Olsson is Chief Strategy Officer at Visit Sweden and a member of the executive management team, responsible for the organization’s long-term strategy, business development, governance, and transformation journey. She leads cross-functional strategic initiatives that strengthen Visit Sweden’s role as a state-owned company and as a key driver of Sweden’s international competitiveness through tourism, with a focus on analysis and knowledge sharing.

With a strong focus on innovation, Tina works at the intersection of strategy and organizational development, supporting evidence-based decision-making and long-term value creation.

Nils Persson is Chief Marketing Officer and a member of Visit Sweden’s executive management team, leading the organization’s brand and marketing initiatives. By leveraging digital platforms and modern communication strategies, he and his team have positioned Sweden as a premier travel destination, earning repeated recognition at international forums and prestigious awards such as Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio Awards, Eurobest, Effie Awards and many more.  He has a broad background from several industries including Banking, Energy, Telecom and Media, focusing on change management, brand building and business development. Nils is also member of the Sweden Brand Council, and he was named Internationalist of the year 2025 for the bold and category changing marketing that Visit Sweden has done during the last five years.

Meira Pappi leads the Country Brand Team at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, where she works as Chief Senior Specialist. She has spent close to a decade in the foreign service working on Finland’s international image and strategic communications.

Her academic background is in sociology, with a Master’s in Cultural Politics and Policy. Before joining the MFA, she worked in music and events, specializing in international marketing, media relations and press programmes.

Her main professional interests include happiness, reputational security and the role of culture in international perception. She is particularly interested in the use of research and data in analysing reputation and public perception.

Alongside her work, she writes the Substack On Brand: Suomi Finland, focusing on country branding, identity and how places are understood internationally.

Anna Godlewska, a career diplomat, cultural manager, and project leader with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of diplomacy, arts, and creativity. She specializes in public and cultural diplomacy within the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her professional background includes bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, international cultural relations, and development cooperation. She has held leadership roles in cultural diplomacy across Europe and currently serves in a senior position within Poland’s public and cultural diplomacy sector.

Damian Jaskowski is a Chinese gaming market expert working as Expert PR Manager for East Asia at 11 bit studios and Chinese Market Coordinator at the Indie Games Poland Foundation. Damian began his research of the Chinese gaming market in 2016, when he joined the Polish Institute in Beijing. Acting as the Institute’s Creative Industry Expert, Damian was responsible for many successful public diplomacy projects strengthening the image of Poland as a creative and innovative country among China's younger generation. His "Game developer's guide to the Chinese market" became one of the most discussed topics among China's gaming community in 2025.

Pawel Miechowski has been working in videogames since the 90s at the Metropolis Software team as a tester, animator, later designer and writer and eventually PR manager (favourite games: The Prince And The Coward, Gorky 17), then at CD Projekt Group, and then from the company\'s start at 11 bit studios as a writer, PR manager, and eventually brand expert (favourite games: Anomaly Warzone Earth, This War of Mine, Frostpunk). Co-founder of the Kultura Interaktywna foundation, organizer of the Student Games Festival and other initiatives expanding the fields of education in and around videogames.

With over 8 years of experience in television and media as a presenter and news anchor, Scarlett has built a strong foundation in storytelling, brand communication, and audience engagement.

As one of POP MART’s earliest strategic partners, Scarlett played a pioneering role in introducing POP MART to Europe for the first time and helping establish its early market presence. In 2023, her company was acquired by POP MART. Following the acquisition, Scarlett took on the role of General Manager for the UK, leading market expansion, retail growth, and local operations during a critical stage of rapid development.

Today, Scarlett oversees Brand & Marketing across Europe, driving regional brand strategy, cultural partnerships, consumer engagement, and market growth initiatives across multiple European markets.

Chris Clark is an independent consultant, adviser and Non-Executive Director. He is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director & SID of Aviva’s General Insurance Business where he Chairs that Boards Conduct Committee. Following Aviva’s acquisition of Direct Line Chris was made Non-Executive Director and Chair of DLG’s Conduct Committee. He was also recently Chairman of Aviva’s digital specialist legal entity UKD. Until September 2024 he was a Non-Exec Director of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and completed his full 6 year term and is now retained as Chair of their Consultant Appointment Panels.

He is a passionate advocate for the building and architecting of powerful customer centric brand-based marketing platforms. He consults and advises a variety of organisations across Fin Tech, Banking, Technology, Charitable Sector, Private Equity and Marketing Services. In addition to these projects, he also ‘God Fathers’ several business start-ups in Tech, Marketing and Media.

In his corporate career Chris was CMO for HSBC and spent 16 years in a number of leadership roles in the HSBC Group. For the final 7 years he was overall CMO and a member of the HSBC Group Management Board.

While at HSBC he helped develop the iconic air-bridge advertising programme, was one of the architects of ‘the world’s local bank’ brand positioning, managed the bank’s portfolio of sports sponsorships, re-shaped marketing into a truly global function and lead an organisation of over 1000 Marketing professionals.

As part of his portfolio of responsibilities at HSBC he led the Group’s digital efforts, was Head of Customer Experience, ran the Global Sustainability Function, oversaw marketing for First Direct and M&S Bank and sat on several key management boards and committees.

Prior to HSBC Chris worked in advertising with the bulk of his career at Saatchi and Saatchi looking after the brands of major clients such as Mars, Toyota, P&G and Mirror Group Newspapers amongst others.

When at leisure he can be found running, playing chess, fishing, painting and drawing and gardening.

He is married to Clare, an accomplished novelist, and they have two grown-up children and live in Wiltshire.

David is the Chairman 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).

Paula is a senior leader operating at executive and board levels in the intersection between strategy, branding, and sustainable development with experience in Europe, South America, and Asia. She worked with leading organisations such as the British Council, Samsung, Renault and Arcadis, helping to understand and grow the value of their brands. She also worked on strategic and multi-stakeholder engagement programs for non-profits such as the Gates Foundation, Forum for the Future and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

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.

Malcolm Allan has spent his career at the cutting edge of place branding and economic development. After graduating from the Glasgow School of Art and Reading University with a focus on town planning and regional development economics, he began his journey as a Senior Planning Officer for the Central London Planning Conference. His career then progressed as he took on roles as Principal Consultant on major projects in Northern Ireland and various boroughs in London, and served as CEO of the Sussex Training and Enterprise Council.

Later, as the CEO of Kent Training and Enterprise Council, he implemented the ‘Global Partnership’ of cities in eight countries, fostering trade and cultural relations. In 2002, he founded "Place Brands," the world’s first agency dedicated to developing brand strategies for cities, regions, and countries. Through Place Brands, Malcolm had the opportunity to advise organizations and governments worldwide, including ING Bank and the governments of Botswana and Israel. His work took him to places like Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Singapore, and St. Petersburg.

In 2012, he launched "Placematters Ltd," focusing on major projects in Cork City Region, City of Perth, Glasgow Airport, City of Waterford, and other brand renewal strategies across Europe and the UK.

In 2018, Malcolm joined Bloom Consulting as President, contributing to developing nation brand strategies in Australia, Paraguay, Jamaica, and Costa Rica. His passion for place branding led him to collaborate with Dr. Giannina Warren and Middlesex University to develop the Masters Degree in Place Branding. This program, along with The Place Brand Academy offering CPD-accredited skills training in place brand development and marketing, represents the first of its kind globally.

Over the span of his 40-year career, Malcolm has made significant contributions to strategy, leadership, economic development, and training programs in the evolving place branding space.

Now, in the later stages of his career, he is dedicated to educating and informing professionals about the intersection of climate change mitigation and city branding. He frequently writes and presents on topics such as sustainability, risk management, anti-fragility, and urban resilience. His goal is to inspire and educate those aiming to make a positive difference in the cultural, social, economic, and reputational aspects of places both locally and globally.

Penny Bagnall-Smith boasts an impressive career spanning over 30 years in the field of Brand Communications, showcasing her deep expertise and commitment to the industry.

Penny’s professional path provided her with the opportunity to work with some of the most renowned advertising groups globally, including Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, GGT, and TBWA. Throughout her career in London’s UK dynamic advertising and digital media industry, she took on the responsibility of developing comprehensive training programs tailored for various agencies. Additionally, she played a pivotal role in working with both the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership (WACL) on numerous training initiatives, further solidifying her reputation as a leader in brand communications training.

Alongside Peter Jones, her business partner at TBWA, they introduced a groundbreaking integrated approach to managing large clients, addressing the complex business requirements and diverse target audiences, which they then applied to the emerging field of place branding in their consulting work with several UK towns and cities.

Her extensive experience in corporate training is complemented by her profound understanding of the strategic importance of a robust brand strategy, whether it pertains to products or places. This unique blend of skills and insights made her the perfect partner to bring her wealth of knowledge and expertise to The Place Brand Academy, where she continues to influence and shape the future place branding education.