BMA14, the World's Largest B2B Marketing Conference, Kicks Off in Chicago

CHICAGO, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Business Marketing Association (BMA) holds its annual global marketing conference, BMA14, at the Hilton Chicago May 28-30, 2014. The annual event has become one of the largest business-to-business (b2b) marketing events in the world with approximately 1,000 marketing professionals from around the globe expected to attend.

BMA14 will address insights on the latest thinking, trends, best practices, success stories, technologies and tools in b2b marketing. Speakers are the profession's top business leaders and marketers and include:

• Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer, GE
• Gary Briggs, Chief Marketing Officer, Facebook
• Phil Clement, Global Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Aon
• Karen Walker, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Cisco Systems
• Xavier Burgat, Head of Corporate Marketing, Airbus

"With a packed agenda and an impressive lineup of nearly 100 speakers, BMA14 is heating up to be our most successful event to date," said Steve Liguori, Executive Director, Global Innovation and New Models, GE and incoming BMA Chair. "We are honored to have many of the greatest minds in marketing and communication in attendance to bring expert perspectives and a fresh look at some of the biggest challenges facing the marketing industry today."

BMA14 will address topics of paramount interest to b2b marketers. The three-day agenda includes sessions on:

• Aligning strategy, structure and brand to win
• New research from SAP identifying the three pillars of growth marketing organizations need to succeed
• Facebook and the move to mobile
• Using disruption to differentiate
• Using content to achieve success on LinkedIn
• How marketers can assist sales in communicating value
• How workforce engagement became a top priority at Aon
• How GE sparked new-found passion for a 135-year-old brand
• Inside Scoop: What marketing automation users wish they'd known before buying their system
• Gary Vaynerchuk on how to tell your story in a noisy social world
• Kellogg School of Management Professor James Anderson on "Tiebreaker Selling"
• Jay Baer on "Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help, Not Hype"

BMA14 is a premier networking event for the nearly 1,000 attendees who come from across the U.S. and overseas, with dinners and social events including the B2 Awards at the Paris Club May 27, a networking event at the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago May 28, and a young professionals event at Buddy Guy's Legends May 29.

"Part of what makes our national conference so special are the lasting relationships that are formed every year during, between and after our sessions," said Kathy Button Bell, Chief Marketing Officer, Emerson, and outgoing BMA Chair. "Professional development is key to a successful conference for individuals, but networking and relationship building within our great field of b2b marketing is vital for long-term growth and success."

For more information about BMA14, visit http://www.bma2014.com/ and follow #BMA14.

About the Business Marketing Association
Started in 1922, today's Business Marketing Association (BMA) works to increase the importance, impact and value of marketing in businesses worldwide.  BMA is the only professional organization with an exclusive focus on business-to-business marketing and its key drivers: customer engagement and relationships, product and service innovation, value pricing, channels, online/offline marketing communications and analytics. BMA's members represent state-of-the art expertise in business-to-business marketing and communications, and share best practices for the benefit of the global business community. For more information visit www.marketing.org. or phone 630-544-5054. E-mail [email protected].

SOURCE Business Marketing Association