With fragmented information and complex behavior, capturing true brand insights is harder than ever. Surveys often say “health first,” yet real choices show “price and taste first,” leading to misjudgments.

Genki Forest has still launched hits: sugar-free in 2018, electrolyte water in 2021, and “Zizai Water” in 2023—driven by bold ideas, fast trial and error, and sharp spotting of opportunities.

In a world where “data is real, behavior fragmented, and motives hidden,” how can brands rebuild insight logic, separate pseudo-demand from real motivations, and return to human essence to maximize ROI?

Data can show what consumers click or buy, but it does not guarantee trust or cultural resonance. In the emotion-driven food and beverage industry, people seek not just products but also lifestyles and identities.

KitKat, though a British chocolate, built a unique path in Japan by linking its name to Kitto Katsu (“sure to win”), becoming a good-luck charm during exams. With gift boxes, regional editions, seasonal specials, and 400+ flavors, it evolved into both a collectible and a cultural symbol woven into daily rituals.

This raises key questions: How can brands identify and amplify cultural touchpoints? How can cultural meaning be translated into products and content? And how can they avoid missteps while building lasting cultural resonance?

Kraft Heinz North America’s CMO notes that in today’s flood of information, consumers feel emotionally detached. To stand out, brands must act as a “harbor” offering stability and hope. The competition ahead is less about function or price, and more about who can win emotional resonance.

Saturnbird’s coffee capsules are photographed and shared as lifestyle symbols; Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” bottles spark identity recognition through names; Ben & Jerry’s ties consumption to values like peace and sustainability.

So, how can brands use visual language, content, and values to move beyond features, forging emotional bonds that shift users from simply “choosing” to truly “identifying” with the brand?

In today’s world, consumers are emotionally nuanced and highly perceptive, making authenticity a crucial driver of long-term trust. How can brands translate authenticity into creativity and commerce, moving from emotional resonance to rational conversion?

Grey’s two standout campaigns provide clear answers:

 - Corona Cero – For Every Golden Moment: Expanded Olympic “golden moments” into daily life, inspiring authentic relaxation and celebration, and delivering triple-digit growth in 2024.

 - Stella Artois Advertising Series: Captured desires for order, calm, and quality through poetic visuals, winning 9 Cannes Lions and turning emotional resonance into stronger perception, premium, and loyalty.

(Image source: Grey)

Amid traffic anxiety, fragmented channels, and constant product launches, many F&B brands fall into a “hit-driven” trap, losing patience for long-term strategy. CMOs are torn between sales KPIs and brand equity:

- Are rapid launches nurturing the brand or depleting it?

- How to avoid “hot product, forgotten brand”?

- How to measure, manage, and embed brand equity as lasting competitiveness?

Under growth pressure, how can companies build a brand asset operating system, balance launch cadence with core value accumulation, and align organizations with long-termism? What answers will giants like Mengniu, Budweiser, and Coca-Cola provide?

Chick-fil-A, the U.S. fried chicken chain that spends little on advertising, generated $22.7B in 2024 with over 30% of the chicken QSR market and has topped the ACSI satisfaction index for 11 consecutive years. Unlike rivals expanding across categories, it has stayed focused on chicken sandwiches, winning loyalty through “experience equity.” From warm service and thoughtful drive-thru or table interactions, to the signature “My pleasure” and even family-oriented streaming content, every touchpoint conveys care and respect. By fostering emotional belonging through consistent experiences, Chick-fil-A drives repeat choice and advocacy. Could experiential marketing be the foundation of sustained growth—and how can other brands define their own?

The value of membership retail lies not only in curated SKUs and pricing, but in the trust of “I believe you will choose for me.” Yet when high-repeat items quietly disappear, replaced by vague new launches, that trust erodes quickly. Trust is not static stock but a dynamic asset requiring constant management.

This session will bring together brand leaders, retailers, crisis PR, and consumer insight experts to examine “the cost of trust” and the operating logic behind it—from product value delivery to trust asset management, public sentiment response, and communication strategy.

KitKat sparked debate over “whether you should snap before eating,” driving a TikTok engagement rate of 11.16%—four times the industry average. The “Mammoth Meatball” earned 13 billion impressions and $120 million in media value, with 95.7% of consumers saying they would try cultured meat. Malee turned a “lonely canned fruit” into a social media sensation, boosting sales by 20%.

In today’s attention-scarce environment, advertising is no longer just about storytelling—it must create organic buzz that fuels word-of-mouth. So how can brands design ideas that are inherently controversial and discussion-worthy, motivating consumers to spread them voluntarily?

Biscoff has never sought the spotlight in coffee, yet with 93 years of focus on one caramel-cinnamon flavor, it has become the global default in coffee moments.

Positioned as a “supporting role,” it built lead-brand recognition and premium equity—not through constant innovation, but through mastery of a single product. That flavor transcended categories, extending into ice cream, cakes, mooncakes, and spreads, even deepening memory when absent elsewhere. By anchoring itself in high-emotion occasions—cafés, airplanes, festive baking—and leveraging crossovers, Biscoff has bound its brand to a “familiar comfort.”

In a world of fast-fading fads, how does Biscoff turn a single product into global penetration—and how can a “supporting role” accumulate enduring value?

With traffic plateauing and decision paths lengthening, brands often see exposure without conversion. Success lies not in visibility but in presence within the right scenario: usage defines value, consumption builds memory, and transaction triggers action. In Chongqing–Chengdu Lawson stores, Bushuaila turned outlets “brand blue” to echo Lawson, linking post-heat hydration, immersive cooling, and shelf placement to drive instant conversion. How can brands design such scenario loops so every encounter feels natural, precise, and seamlessly part of daily life?

Europe’s largest frozen food company Nomad Foods (Birds Eye, Findus, Iglo) drove 2023 growth mainly through price increases. But as inflation eased and pricing power waned, consumers shifted rapidly to private labels.

In 2024, Nomad Foods launched an “all-out offensive,” refocusing on marketing and innovation to reignite growth: ad and promo spend rose nearly 30%, targeted at “must-win” categories; revenue management emphasized demand creation over discounting; legacy assets like Birds Eye were revitalized and extended into snacking occasions; bold in-store activations and cross-category Master Brand campaigns amplified resonance. This demand-driven strategy not only optimized the portfolio but also expanded margins.

The question is: how can Nomad Foods sustain growth under pricing pressure and intensifying competition—through precise marketing and innovation?

In the era of short video and social media, content is the main battlefield for brand growth. Yet many still follow the old “produce, post, wait” logic, resulting in short-lived, low-efficiency work. An effective system should be productized—modular, multi-platform, and reusable. 

Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke created a global template; McDonald’s built modular “Hash Brown at Breakfast” assets; Saturnbird unified its story under “Sustainable Coffee Living”; Eastroc activated modules like “hard work” and “late-night hustle.” Each turned content into repeatable growth assets—extending lifecycle, broadening reach, maximizing ROI. 

In a culture chasing virality, how can brands build a sustainable content system that transforms one idea into a long-term, reusable asset?

As young consumers embrace “light tipsiness,” huangjiu’s share has dropped below 2%, still tied to “health culture.” Kuaijishan broke the ceiling with its sparkling huangjiu One Day, One Buzz, positioned as a “Chinese beer” for low-alcohol, trendy tastes. During 618, it topped Douyin and sold 100x more than all rivals combined, boosting market cap from RMB 5B to 12B. As the face of a new drinking mindset, how can insights, innovation, scenarios, and organizational alignment fuel a youth-oriented growth flywheel?

Since 2019, the line between advertising and retail has blurred, with retailers shifting from “selling products” to “selling ads.” Retail media has become the world’s fastest-growing ad channel. GroupM projects it will surpass USD 125 billion in 2024, accounting for over 20% of global ad spend, and maintain double-digit growth over the next five years. Retail media is also evolving from onsite performance ads to full-funnel, omnichannel strategies. Yet as budgets disperse across teams, how can brands balance monetization with user experience, and measure ROI to enable cross-team alignment? This session will feature Walmart, Hershey’s, JD.com, and FamilyMart sharing trends and practical cases.

McKinsey notes a common challenge for global CEOs: abundant data, little monetization. Despite heavy investment in data warehouses and analytics, one-third of executives believe value remains untapped. The food and beverage sector is even more constrained—over 90% of its data is unstructured social content, with fragmented touchpoints and broken journeys limiting actionable insight. True transformation lies in breaking silos, improving usability, and enabling data-driven growth. McKinsey projects that within five years, 22% of brand managers’ daily tasks could be automated, boosting marketing strategy efficiency by 10% and monitoring efficiency by 40%.

This session will explore: How can brands advance data structuring, unlock value across collection, integration, and execution, and eliminate “data islands” to pave the way for AI adoption?

AI in F&B has moved from trials to scale. Leaders show gains in R&D, supply and personalization, yet many—esp. SMEs—still struggle to execute. Too often AI is seen as automation; its power rests on quality, updated data. In marketing, precise data enables personalization and immersion.

 ○ Where do humans beat machines—and where does AI add value?

 ○ How can AI close the loop from insight to execution?

 ○ Beyond R&D, supply, marketing, packaging—what else can AI improve?

 ○ How can empathy be embedded to deepen care?

 ○ In AI-driven creativity, how can brands balance efficiency and authenticity?

In 2024, Heineken boosted its global data and AI capabilities through new tools and stronger data literacy, driving efficiency and transformation. By 2025, its first global GenAI Lab launched, accelerating the company’s AI strategy.

As Ronald, Heineken’s Chief Digital & Technology Officer, noted, consumer goods companies are all balancing intuition, experience, and data. Yet with 200B+ new data points generated in the past decade, traditional decision-making cannot keep pace. The real value of AI lies in turning massive data into actionable business insight.

Beyond deployment, Heineken emphasizes data usability and responsible governance, aiming for AI tools to be fully embedded in operations and widely adopted.

Key questions: How is Heineken turning AI into a long-term strategic engine? And what lessons can other consumer brands draw from its journey?

(Image source: Heineken)

As consumer journeys lengthen and decisions grow more complex, brand growth is no longer about isolated wins but about orchestrated chains. From consumer insight, content creation, and smart media buying to conversion and retention, AI is permeating every stage—shifting growth from intuition to data-driven precision.

This session will explore AI’s practical applications across five core nodes—insight, content, targeting, conversion, and repurchase—and discuss how brands can evolve from human + AI collaboration to AI-led with human oversight, building an efficient and controllable engine for future growth.