Brand Purpose - Growth for Good

Welcome and Introductions (11:00am - 11:10am)

Roundtable Discussion (11:10am - 11:25am)

Session I. (11:25am - 12:00pm)
Beyond Consumer Outrage: Rebuilding Trust and Realigning Purpose

We’re in a seminal moment. Rage, resistance, reckoning, and rejection are pervasive—driven by fractured trust and unmet promises. Yet, these signals aren’t necessarily a rejection of purpose as a strategic foundation for brands. What if, instead of seeing them as warnings, we viewed them as invitations—opportunities for purpose to evolve beyond misaligned campaigns, performative gestures, and virtue signaling? Backlash can serve as a catalyst for purpose to mature into a more disciplined framework for strengthening trust and coherence. It’s a call to lead with greater intentionality, align actions with values, and step forward more bravely. Anne Bahr Thompson, author of Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship and global brand strategist, will reveal how these symptoms of outrage can guide brands to rebuild trust, realign purpose, and foster meaningful connections in a polarized world.

Presented by…
Anne Bahr Thompson
Brand Strategist and Author of Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship

Session II. (12:00pm - 12:35pm)
Reemergence and Renewal

As the AVP of global brand advertising at Visit California, Erika leads the organization’s global advertising strategy and execution, creation of brand assets deployed in the advertising channels, and oversees the agency of record. Erika joins us to discuss how Visit California will help California, and its tourism industry, emerge from the devastation of the wildfires.

Presented by...
Erika DiProfio
AVP, Global Brand Advertising
Visit California

Closing Remarks (12:35pm - 12:45pm)

About Our Speakers

Erika DiProfio is the AVP of global brand advertising at Visit California and leads the organization’s global advertising strategy and execution, creation of brand assets deployed in the advertising channels, and oversees the agency of record. As a graduate of San Diego State University, she has had the pleasure of working with amazing brands and destinations such as The San Diego Museum of Art, Omni Hotels & Resorts, W Hotel, Slater's 50/50, Souplantation, SeaWorld and Sesame Place California.

Erika is married and has two daughters – with whom she spends time exploring California and attending dance performances. She also enjoys sipping a glass of wine usually outside in her backyard with friends and paired with a delicious charcuterie board prepared by her daughters.