The 2026 Screenforce Festival, themed “Big Screens & Summer Dreams,” was kicked off by Frank Dopheide and Ines Imdahl with a special keynote on the topic of brand messaging through advertising. Read Ines Imdahl’s own words here:

A festival—of love and magical moments. The Screenforce Festival celebrates advertising for brands—and it still leaves me with a huge grin on my face. But above all, it instills one thing: confidence. Confidence that the media can make a difference—for people, and thereby inspire people to make a difference themselves.

Yes, that’s why advertising is important—especially in traditional media like TV. Sound strange? It only seems that way at first glance.

Because right now, brands are stopping their advertising because the crisis demands cost-cutting. This only exacerbates the crisis—because people worry more when companies withdraw from the public eye (and yes, that includes advertising). Because one thing is clear:

Brands can’t not advertise.

Silence is also a message, and people read a lot into it. For example: “If even they’re giving up, how am I, a mere mortal, supposed to make it?” The result: even less confidence.

Brands can’t not advertise; they can only decide whether to determine the message they send themselves, or leave it to chance or interpretation.

Oh, and “What’s Love Got to Do with It”—that’s the title of Frank Dopheide’s and my keynote. Frank says, quite clearly, that without the brand makers’ love for the brand, there’s no way we’ll end up with vibrant brands. All we’ll have are Excel sheets and KPIs.

Brand love is a must. But does that mean all brands have to become “love brands” for people? Goodness, no. How exhausting would it be if we had to love every single brand? Most brands are neither loved nor hated. It’s perfectly enough for brands to provide people with genuine emotional value. They can offer solutions to the challenges of our everyday lives and also help us deal with all those other feelings—like anger, shame, guilt, stress, fear, frustration, aggression, grief… Feelings that aren’t immediately positive aren’t just “secondhand emotions.” And through what they offer, brands can help people deal with these emotions and restore their sense of confidence.

For me, at any rate, the power of brands still carries me today—it was the biggest stage I’ve ever had the privilege of speaking on, in front of nearly 2,000 people and right in front of TV celebrities from RTL, Pro Sieben, Sat 1, and others.

Thank you for the magic, the confidence, and the feeling of being able to make a difference.