Around 350 marketing academics from around the UK, Ireland and over 40 other nationalities were welcomed to Regent’s for the three day conference, held at the beginning of July. The theme this year was ‘when you tire of marketing, you tire of life’, which was unashamedly borrowed from Samuel Johnson’s famous quote, whose love for the capital was unbounded.
Keynote speakers included Pauline Maclaran, Professor of Marketing & Consumer Research at the School of Management at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Stuart Sherman, CEO at IMC and Finalist European AI (Artificial Intelligence) CEO of the Year 2018.
Maclaran’s research interests focus on cultural aspects of contemporary consumption, particularly in relation to gender issues. She has been published widely in international journals as well as co-editing and co-authoring various books including Motherhoods, Markets and Consumption: The Making of Mothers in Contemporary Western Culture and Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture.
Sherman runs one of the most innovative artificial intelligence companies in the world, pioneering two new classes of AI: ‘Behavioural AI’, and ‘Simulation AI’. He works with some of the worlds’ largest companies including the NHS and the Pentagon, creating and implementing AI systems designed to change the way big data is understood.
With over 70 tracks (looking at topics such as political marketing, sustainability and ethics, and digital marketing), eight workshops and seven special sessions, it was a busy three days. The conference dinner was addressed by Regent’s Chancellor, Lord Michael Hastings, with lifetime achievement awards given to Professor Pauline Maclaran and Professor Christina Goulding of Birmingham University.
Professor John Egan, Chair of the 52nd Annual Conference of the Academy of Marketing said: ‘From the number of messages I have received in the past few days, the conference was a great success. The 53rd conference will have a lot to live up to!’
The main conference was preceded by the Marketing Doctoral Colloquium, chaired by Professor Ibrahim Sirkeci from Regent’s University London and Dr Maurice Patterson from the University of Limerick. Supporting them were 10 doctoral mentors from universities nationwide.