Prof. Dr. Holger J. Schmidt is a Full Professor of General Management and Marketing at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Before his academic career, he worked for consultants, advertising agencies and a global service provider. Holger is the author of numerous books and academic publications and a respected member of the international brand management community. He was Visiting Professor at CPUT in Cape Town and guest lecturer at several other institutions.

Nicholas Ind is Associate Professor at Kristiania University College, Oslo and a partner in Equilibrium Consulting. Previously he ran Icon Medialab’s brand consultancy arm in Sweden. Before he joined Icon, Nicholas had his own branding consultancy in the UK, was a Director of a design group and was an Account Director in an advertising agency. He has published articles in Journal of Product and Brand Management, Journal of Brand Management and California Management Review. He is a Visiting Professor at ESADE, Barcelona and Edinburgh Napier University.