MARS Advertising, Center for Retailing Excellence Present Third Annual SHOP Conference

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – MARS Advertising and the Center for Retailing Excellence at the Sam M. Walton College of Business are presenting the 2013 spring conference SHOP: Finding and Converting Growth Opportunities with Shoppers on Thursday, May 16.

The conference will be held from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus. Spots are still available to attend the conference. For more information or to reserve a spot visit the SHOP Conference website or contact Pam Styles at 479-575-6812.

This year marks the third anniversary of the SHOP Conference. Keynote speakers include Stephen F. Quinn, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Walmart U.S.; Fern Grant, executive vice president, Strategic Planning, MARS Advertising; David Marcotte, senior vice president, Retail Insights, Kantar Retail; and Greg Silverman, chief executive officer, Concentric. 

“We are pleased to continue the annual practice of bringing together marketing leaders in a unique and intimate forum to lend their insight and share their expertise,” said Rob Rivenburgh, chief operating officer of MARS. “Every year, we are challenged to make the event more meaningful for our attendees and believe this year’s content to be more practical and actionable than ever before.”

New to this year’s event are a networking lunch and the inclusion of an afternoon panel presentation titled “Excellence in Strategic Selling and Collaboration,” featuring Scott Huff, senior vice president and general merchandise manager, Consumables, Walmart; Ashley Buchanan, senior vice president, Snacks and Drinks, Walmart; Gary Severson, senior vice president and general merchandise manager, Hardlines, Walmart; and Michelle Gloeckler, senior vice president, Home, Walmart.

“We believe this panel discussion will be incredibly relevant to the audience as content is being crafted around questions and topics received directly from the Walmart supplier community,” said Claudia Mobley, director of the Center for Retailing Excellence.

The Center for Retailing Excellence, through a strong partnership with retailer and supplier industries, is one of the foremost internationally acclaimed centers for retail studies focused on research and the development of students as future leaders in the retailing and related industries. Learn more about the Center for Retailing Excellence.

MARS Advertising, Inc. was founded in 1972 and has been named the No. 1 shopper marketing firm in the United States for five out of the past six years, according to The Hub magazine. MARS and its affiliated companies work with Fortune 500 companies and have more than 500 employees in 11 offices throughout North America and in the United Kingdom. MARS offers full-service integrated marketing solutions, from insights to execution. Learn more at www.marsusa.com/.