KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 4 The Himalayan Times BrandFest 2025 kicked off on Wednesday with a powerful call to action for Nepal's branding professionals: embrace courage, innovation, and authentic human connection in an era increasingly defined by belonging. The two-day summit at Royal Tulip Kathmandu Gwarko opened with a traditional panas lighting ceremony, bringing together eight international speakers and leading Nepali experts to explore how brands can build genuine relationships in today's human-centered marketplace. Linzi Boyd, founder of One Earth Platform and author of Brand Famous, set the tone with her opening keynote on how brands can shape a better world. Speaking to an engaged audience, Boyd emphasized the shift from the old world to the new. 'There's a massive opportunity for people to embrace that and either live in a negative space, kind of off-purpose, or they can move into this new world and architect a new world and awaken not only themselves but each other,' she said. Boyd expressed surprise at the audience's energy and engagement. 'I've done talks all around the world, and yet this one, the audience was so engaged, they were really connected with what I was talking about,' she noted. 'Sometimes you're in different countries and with different cultures, they can be more shy to ask questions, but here they were very forward, putting their hand up, asking great questions.'

The theme of courage and risk-taking emerged as a central thread throughout the day. Preetesh Sewraj, CEO of The Loeries from South Africa, delivered a presentation on innovation for brand communications, offering eight key points for building strong innovation pipelines. His message to Nepali brands was direct: 'Be brave, take risks. I think right now what happens is a lot of brands are just scared to actually just go out there and experiment with their customers and chat to them in a very human way.' Sewraj described the energy in the room as electric. 'I've seen people who are emotional about some of the content that they watch, like really passionate about it. And then obviously having lots of good laughs as well. This audience really enjoyed it and they really participated in everything that happened.' Kandeban Balendran, founder and CEO of Academics Group and Miami Ad School Sri Lanka and Maldives, challenged attendees with his presentation titled 'Lead. Learn. Or Get Out of the Way.' His core message centered on realizing potential at every level. 'Help people to realize their truest potential so that they will help brands, organizations and the country and also the world to realize its true potential,' he said. Balendran urged participants to ask themselves what role they play in building their dreams, businesses, brands, and country. The day also featured Mohammad Akrum Hossain, Chief Creative Officer of POP5 from Bangladesh, who spoke about how underdog nations build powerful, purpose-driven brands in emerging markets.

A highlight of the afternoon was a presentation by Ritu Pradhan Malla, Co-Head at NIBL Equity Partners, on rebranding Nepal as an investment destination, followed by a panel discussion on tourism branding that explored experiences, storytelling, and the power of place. Panelist Preeti Adhikary emphasized the collective responsibility in nation branding. 'Branding is on all of us, it's not top-down, it has to be bottom-up. The brand of Nepal comes together when all of us are involved in what it is,' she said. Adhikary's key learning from the day centered on maintaining humanity in an increasingly digital world. 'The human factor, I think that's really, really important. It doesn't matter whether it's AI or anything else, I think the human factor is always going to be important.' Among the attendees was Suarpana Shahi, Marketing Manager of Aloft, who has been coming to BrandFest for the past five to six years. When asked what brings her back each year, she cited the opportunity to learn from diverse case studies presented at the summit.

The summit continues today with presentations from Ronita Mukerjee on AI's limitations in imagination, Sheila Berman on data management's impact on brand building, Jupiter Huidrom on creating seamless brand experiences, and Suhayl Limbada, Chief Marketing Officer of KFC Thailand, on growth through culture. The day will conclude with a screening of Cannes Lions Film 2025 winners, followed by cocktails. The event is supported by title sponsor Asian Paints, along with sponsors including Global IME Bank, KL Dugar, Unilever, The Royal Tulip, Yeti Airlines, Subisu Cablenet, and Dabur, among others.