Building Brands, Moving the Nation: BrandCon PH 2025 Highlights
The premier branding and marketing conference offered insights on building strong, globally resonant brands while celebrating Filipino culture.
Gathering by over 400 attendees including the country’s most influential figures in marketing, brand building, and advertising, the inaugural BrandConPH 2025 was a landmark event that presented thought-provoking conversations, bold ideas, and benchmarks for innovation.
Organized by The Business Manual, the event was held at Marquis Events Place, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig on September 19. With the theme “Building Brands That Move The Nation Forward,” the premier branding and marketing conference welcomed industry professionals and students to offer and garner different insights on how to build strong, globally resonant brands that celebrate Filipino culture.
A Warm, Inspiring Welcome
Archie Carrasco, CEO and Chairman of AGC Power Holdings Corporation, delivered a deeply inspiring speech to welcome the participants.
“In a market that moves faster than ever, brands are no longer just products or services; they are powerful storytellers, shapers of identity, and drivers of our economy. They influence how we see ourselves as Filipinos, and how the world sees us,” Carrasco said.
Challenging the audience, he posed the following questions: “What story will your brand tell to move our nation forward? What legacy will you leave—not just in market share, but in the culture we build for generations to come?
The Power of Storytelling: A Creative and a Marketer’s Take
During the fireside chat “The Power of Insightful Storytelling,” GIGIL Founding Partner Badong Abesamis and PICKUP Coffee Global Managing Director Francis Flores explored the insights and strategies behind some of the country’s most iconic and well-loved campaigns, such as the “Kwentong Jollibee”series and TNT’s series of videos promoting sim registration. Abesamis and Flores collaborated on the TNT campaign.
Apples Aberin, One Mega Group Vice President for Lifestyle Brands, moderated the discussion.
As one of the founders of a multi-awarded, internationally acclaimed creative agency, Abesamis distilled the storytelling philosophy of GIGIL in two sentences, saying, “We cannot produce ads the way we did 15 years ago, when TV reigned supreme. We live in a social media culture. Our materials have to be entertaining for them to not only beat our competitors’ ads or films, but also to find a place at the table of KOLs (key opinion leaders).”
Flores’ storytelling philosophy is packed in fewer yet equally compelling words.
“Powerful truths well-told. Powerful truths—that’s where strategic thinking comes in. Well-told is the magic.”
He also reminded the audience about the role of marketing leaders.
“As marketeers, our work is never the work of one. Our role is actually mostly to make sure that we get the strategy correct and guide the creative team with the proper brief and the proper guidelines for the brand,” Flores said.
Culture as a Tool for Shaping Brand Identity
The panel discussion “LOCAL TO GLOBAL: The Role of Culture in Global Marketing” gathered leading voices in brand strategy and marketing to dissect the role of culture in building successful and globally resonant brands. RJ Ledesma, The Business Manual’s Editor-at-Large, led the conversation.
Baken Founder and CEO Rachel Carrasco, GCash Chief Marketing Officer Neil Trinidad, and Unilever Head of Marketing for the Philippines and Marketing Transformation Lead for Greater Asia Dennis Perez lent different perspectives to the panel.
Carrasco spoke from the point of view of a founder whose business was inspired by Filipino cultural nuances, but wanted to create a brand meant for global consumption. Perez shared insights on making internationally renowned brands approachable to Filipinos. Trinidad, on the other hand, relayed his views on anchoring to Filipino culture in bringing the Philippines’ leading fintech platform to international markets.
Baken, Carrasco’s premium line of all-bacon snacks and confections, was born from a deep-seated love for bacon. Shaped by her Filipino upbringing, the brand takes inspiration from a culture where pork is both a staple and a symbol of indulgence. This cultural heritage, combined with Carrasco’s ambition to elevate a beloved ingredient, became the springboard for a unique and market-ready product line.
Carrasco sees culture as both belongingness and distinction. Despite her early decision to go global with Baken, she chose to ground the brand in its Filipino roots, giving it a strong sense of belongingness.
“However, our character as an indulgent brand is a universal language. And that, in itself, allows us to drive scalability for our brand,” she said.
When asked the same question on the role of culture in shaping brand identity, Perez responded by also defining culture.
“Culture is about how we live in our day-to-day communities,” he said. “It’s a combination of beliefs, a combination of values, a combination of ideals.”
“That’s very important for brands to understand. You need to understand what is basically the human truth that is quite universal–that’s the insight; but you also need to understand how it’s expressed from a day-to-day perspective: the vernacular, the language, and everything. Because that’s where the rubber hits the road. And if your brand can find that good intersection, then for sure, your campaign will travel on its own.”
Trinidad spoke from his experience handling GCash, a proudly Filipino brand that is now recognized as a $5 billion unicorn, the first in the Philippines to achieve such a status.
“It really started because it’s a brand that understands the people that we’re serving.”
Money remains a taboo topic in the Philippines, according to Trinidad, as Filipinos still hesitate to talk about it. But he and his team at GCash realized that for Filipinos, the values are the same: belongingness, the desire to progress in life and to get ahead, and bayanihan–among others.
“And then we realized that the only way we can position GCash is to go back to the heart of Filipino values. How can a brand like GCash help Filipinos get ahead in life? How can a brand like GCash make sending money easy and frictionless? How can a brand like GCash help the small business owner grow their business?”
Building the brand, Trinidad and his team went back to the values of their target consumers, while putting in “a lot of heart.”
“We wanted them to be able to put–sort of–the progress in their own hands. And how a brand can enable them to be an instrument as they progress more in life. So, culture goes back to values and the people that we serve, to help empower them.”
‘Best Idea Wins’ Marketing Pitch Competition
To join the first-ever marketing pitch competition organized by The Business Manual, interested college students were required to submit two-minute video pitches answering the question, “How can you integrate AI into an effective marketing campaign?”
From a pool of 43 entries, ten finalists representing universities and colleges across the country were invited to pitch live at BrandCon PH 2025. Each student representative was given two minutes to pitch an innovative and AI-driven marketing idea in front of a panel of judges composed of Miko David, President of Consumer Data Analytics Firm David & Golyat; Merlee Jayme, Chairmom, CCO and Founder of Jayme HQ and The Misfits Camp; Leah Ayeng, Director for Youth and Academe of the Philippine Marketing Association and CEO of Prestige Quality Paper Products; Dennis Perez of Unilever; and AGC Power Holdings’ Archie Carrasco.
The finalists are as follows:
Market Cruisers – Lyceum of the Philippines University – Cavite
GenZ Marketers – Cavite State University
Clutch! – University of the Philippines – Manila
Compawnions – Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela
JMApers – Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa
SynergiX – Mindanao State University – Main Campus
Team Crystal – De La Salle University
Team Pulse – Silliman University
JMAGALING – Saint Louis College of San Fernando, La Union
Team A & A – Ateneo de Manila University
GenZ Marketers of Cavite State University brought home the trophy for 2nd Runner-Up and Php200,000 worth of media values from The Business Manual. Clutch!, a team of marketing students from the University of the Philippines – Manila, bagged 1st Runner Up and Php300,000 in media values. Team Pulse, representing Silliman University in Dumaguete, was hailed as the ‘Best Idea Wins’ Champion and won Php500,000 in media values.
Lia Nicole Angelika Bungabong of Team Pulse presented her team’s idea for an AI-powered ecosystem that would make online ads “human, purposeful, and unforgettable” by utilizing users’ sentiments. On top of leading her team to victory at the ‘Best Idea Wins’ competition, Bungabong was also recently awarded as Batch Salutatorian of the 33rd Agora Youth Awards.
BrandCon PH 2025 demonstrated how brand building and strategic marketing can go beyond driving business success—they can spark innovation, strengthen inclusivity, celebrate culture, and accelerate national progress. By bringing together the country’s brightest minds in marketing and brand building, this year’s event set in motion ideas and collaborations that will continue to shape industries and inspire the next generation of marketers.
BrandCon PH 2025 is presented by The Business Manual, in partnership with the Philippine Marketing Association and the Philippine Junior Marketing Association, with support from the Philippine Young Entrepreneur Association and Philippine Retail Association.
The Business Manual thanks its sponsors: Ploom, Nordic Spirit, Baken, and GCash; student partner organizations University of the Philippines AdCore, Far Eastern University Institute of Accounts, Business, and Finance Student Council, San Beda Junior Marketing Association, Adamson Junior Marketing Association, National University Junior Marketing Association, Far Eastern University Junior Marketing Association, Far Eastern University-Diliman Junior Marketing Association, and Ateneo Junior Marketing Association; media partners Edge TV Philippines, Village Pipol, and Red Cloud Interactive; beverage partner PICKUP Coffee, and hotel partner Hotel 101.
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