On October 2, 2025, we held our seventh History Marketing Summit, a full-day dedicated to companies who actively work with their own authentic story.
This year with speakers from family brewing group Spendrups, mining giant Boliden, Danish construction toy maker Lego, Italian famlily-owned Pasta Cuomo and Franch bank group BNP Paribas. Professor Jacob Östberg of the Stockholm University spoke about brands that refuse to die. In two panels, playwrights, authors, journalists, and researchers explored how to convey real events. Bonus: business historian Anders Johnson presented his top-ten list for a business culture canon. And just like at HMS16, HMS17, HMS18, HMS19, HMS 21 and HMS 23 we filmed the speakers. Scroll down and watch. Each presentation is 25-30 minutes long (some in Swedish, some in English).
The Afterlife of Brands – Jacob Östberg, professor of marketing, Stockholm University
All companies fight to make their brands well known. Sometimes they even fight against brands that no longer exist! That live on in people's minds. Maybe it's just as well to try to revive them then? Jacob Östberg, professor of marketing, talks about the afterlife of brands: "From phantom brands to frankenbrands."
Mårten Lyth, Spendrups
Spendrups Brewery is a family business in its fourth generation. Communications Manager Mårten Lyth shares how the company actively uses its history to grow the business – especially now that they have just appointed their first CEO not named Spendrup.
Klas Nilsson, Boliden
Boliden's communications manager Klas Nilsson talks about how you can use an anniversary, like when Boliden turned 100 years old, to bring together an international corporation – and how to make sure to include everyone's history in magazine form.
“Based on a true story” – how we dramatize real events in book, theater, and film
When business history is interpreted as drama, what is the approach? With Ruth Kvarnström Jones (author of The Phenomenal Women at Grand Hôtel and The Friends at Nordiska Kompaniet), Niklas Hjulström (among others director of Asea – Here Comes the Future), and Malin Nevander (screenwriter and drama developer SVT – who briefly replaced the sick Alex Haridi, screenwriter of Stenbeck). Moderator: Anders Sjöman
The True Story – depicting real events in books, newspapers, and film.
What trade-offs are made when business history is told documentary-style, for example in biographies and film. With Bengt Jangfeldt (Russia expert and author, including "Immanuel Nobel & Sons"), Jan Almgren (journalist, current with the Stenbeck book "The Empire They Inherited") and Jesper Henke (journalist and documentary filmmaker, including on Amelia Adamo and Petter Stordalen). Moderator: Anders Houltz.
Amelia Cuomo, Pasta Cuomo.
The Cuomo family started making pasta in the 1800s. But in 1939, everything was shut down. Until Amelia Cuomo and her brother revived the family business in 2015 with their secret family recipes – creating a modern success with deep roots. Amelia flew in from Italy to tell the whole story.
Marion Lacoume, BNP Paribas
The French banking giant BNP Paribas has a history spanning over two centuries and is the result of mergers of several banks. That is a lot of history to keep track of – and to use in business. Marion Lacoume, the bank's archive and history manager, came from Paris to tell us more about how this is done.
Anders Johnson: Top Ten in the Business Community's Cultural Canon
In the recently presented cultural canon, as many as twenty of the 100 selected works had a connection to Swedish business history. But what would a completely business-history-focused list look like? Writer Anders Johnson knows – and here presents the top ten in his business canon!
Pictures from the day. (Photo: Stina Stjernkvist.)
