This past weekend, the seventh annual Brand Summit, organized by the Brand Club, took place at Bilkent University. An audience of over 200 invited attendees from Bilkent and a number of other universities filled Mithat Çoruh Auditorium to hear talks by a large group of speakers, many of them associated with well-known brands in Turkey.
This year, the event was organized in cooperation with the UNICEF National Committee, with the intent of highlighting the importance of social responsibility and consideration for community welfare. A portion of the earnings from the event were donated to UNICEF’s Preschool Education Project.
On November 15, the first day of the summit, Dean of Students Kamer Rodoplu gave the opening speech. Following this, Bilkent instructor Dr. Elif Özdilek presented her insights regarding the term “brand,” with particular reference to its relevance in the area of social responsibility.
The first group of guest speakers were P&G regional vice president Tankut Turnaoğlu, İzgören Academy founder Ahmet Şerif İzgören, inventor and UNİ founder Ataman Özbay, Daikin CEO Hasan Önder and public theater actor Turgay Tanülkü. All of them spoke about corporate and personal involvement in social responsibility projects.
The day’s final session featured a panel on civil society organizations, moderated by Dr. Özdilek. Panelists were Nilay Çeteci (founder and head of İyilik Melekleri Derneği), Görkem Özer Bağcı (Youth Services Center), Sercan Duygan (coordinator of Best Buddies Turkey) and the coordinator of Rotary Kızılay.
On November 16, Zümre Yıldırım (Anadolu Efes corporate communications manager), Can Deniz Timur (lifestyle coach and writer for Ekonometri Journal), Muhterem İlgüner (Brand Finance Turkey director), Bora Caldu (Microsoft corporate social responsibility expert) and Berrin Beksaç Özduman (M.A.C. Cosmetics brand manager) discussed the importance of social responsibility in 21st-century business life.
To close the summit, DreamsTalk founder Semih Yalman led a creative workshop where event attendees had the opportunity to share their dreams.