Once described as 'an all-purpose metaphor for any doomed enterprise', Titanic is an apt symbol of our times, when doom and gloom loom large. But, as the Belfast signature building bears witness, Titanic is also a symbol of industrial achievement, technological superiority, urban renaissance and civic pride. These Titanic tensions are integral to the continuing success of 'the unsinkable brand', which contains lessons for all marketing managers and entrepreneurs who aspire to greatness.

Professor Stephen Brown, the world-renowned marketing scholar and author, will discuss Belfast's 'ship of dreams' from a branding perspective and derives lessons for business practitioners, marketing managers, aspiring entrepreneurs and other interested parties, not least those in the cultural and creative industries.

The presentation will be particularly pertinent to all stakeholders given the particular difficulties facing world economies currently. Where once there was certainty and opportunity for determined and rapid progress commercially, and where we enjoyed an advanced standard of living, we now find ourselves in a less certain world - in freezing waters with icebergs aplenty - and with an outlook increasingly beset by doubt, insecurity and caution. At disheartening times like these, people need ships of dreams more than ever before and it is incumbent upon marketers to create them.

Singled out as one of the world's top fifty marketing gurus, Stephen Brown, professor of marketing research at the Ulster Business School, has written more than twenty books, including a bestseller on the Harry Potter brand. He has published numerous academic articles in highly regarded management journals - from Harvard Business Review to the Journal of Consumer Research - and is a frequent keynote speaker at leading marketing conferences. The winner of numerous 'best paper' awards, he has taught at Northwestern University, the University of California and the University of Utah, amongst others.

Registration from 18:30, the event starts at 19:00 and finishes at 20:30. This is a CPD category 10 event. If you are non-EU resident, please call the events team to make your booking.