The I International Branding Congress took place in the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL/Portugal), in October 2014, with the theme "PATHWAYS TO BRAND (ING): from representation to practice", and brought together an international group of researchers, market professionals, students, teachers and interested in the discussion about the pathways of brands.

This year, the II International Branding Congress has the theme "Connections and Experiences" and it's a cooperation between Univates (RS/Brazil), Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL/Portugal) and the Brands Observatory (RS/Brazil). The event intends to discuss the state of the art, theory and practice needed to implement and track the management of the brands in the contemporary business world.

Connections and positive experiences are essential to build and consolidate brands and, for this reason, this year's event focuses on these two broadly meaningful words.

The second edition of the Congress aims to discuss the progress of the different areas of branding, to promote interaction between academics, researchers and professionals interested in the relevance of brands and communication in the business world and institutions, to expand research networks between academics and professionals who work in different areas involving brands, as well as provide tools that create value and that can be applied in enterprises and in interpersonal relationships.

Contributions will be accepted in many areas, including communication studies, design, semiotics, discourse analysis, organizational studies, management, sociology, anthropology, social psychology, economics, marketing, law, cultural studies, among others. Communications that deal with the following topics will be preferentially treated:

Overview of brands - the evolution of brands in historical perspective

• Brand protection and evaluation
• Building strategies and brand consolidation
• Branding trends
• Ethics and sustainability
• Brands and businesses
• Brands and targets
• Brands and culture
• Brand's Discourse and ideology
• Brand Connections (Transmedia, Storytelling, Social Media, Experiences, other)
• Methodologies for brand research and brand management

Official languages
English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.