AMA 2026 The Art & Science of Marketing - April 9, 2026 : StevE Bauer, David Shogren, Marisa Lather, Mark Denk, Perry Drake, Wes Morgan, Hannah Frisch
The Art & Science of Marketing brings together marketing leaders, practitioners, and students to examine how intuition, storytelling, and brand-building intersect with analytics, technology, and experimentation. Today’s most successful marketers don’t choose between art or science—they master both.
Emcee
- Keisha Mabry Haymore, Hey Friend
Speakers
- Katie Martell, LinkedIn Top Voice, Rabble Rouser (Keynote)
- Mike Allton, AI Expert, The AI Hat
- Ryan Green, Founder, The Last Splash
- Amanda Chamov, Director of North America & APAC, the Experience Studio, American Express Global Business Travel
- Alicia Underwood, The Social Box
- Kelly Wiethuchter, Strategic Sales Lead, nativeMsg
- Nick Niehaus, Founder, Everyday AI
- Allie Haupt, Product Lead, RADaR Analytics
- Savannah Westbrock, Head of Agency Solutions, RADaR Analytics
- Tracy Polansky, The Polansky Group
- Miles Minnaar, Foundational Media
Featured Keynote
Woke Brands and Weary Consumers
Speaker: Katie Martell
One of marketing’s most fearless voices, Katie Martell takes the AMA St. Louis stage to unpack one of the most complex issues facing brands today: how companies navigate culture, values, and consumer expectations in an increasingly polarized world.
For years, marketers were encouraged to align brands with the values of their audiences and support the causes that matter to stakeholders. Yet along the way, many organizations shifted from authentic allyship to performative messaging—what critics now call “woke-washing.” Today, amid rapid social change and a deeply divided political climate, brands often find themselves frozen and caught in the middle of cultural and political tensions.
In this thought-provoking keynote, marketing truth-teller Katie Martell explores the most controversial decade in modern marketing and what it reveals about the evolving relationship between brands, culture, and consumers.
This topic brings together the art of reading culture, emotion, and brand voice with the science of proving what actually resonates—and what doesn’t.
Drawing from years of documenting this landscape in real time, Katie will explore:
- How we arrived at this moment in marketing history
- Where brands misunderstood or overlooked the communities they aimed to support
- Why performative messaging erodes trust
- How marketers can build more thoughtful, authentic connections with today’s weary consumers
- Expect a candid, insightful conversation that challenges assumptions and encourages marketers to rethink how brands show up in the world.
Featured Keynote
Woke Brands and Weary Consumers
Speaker: Katie Martell
One of marketing’s most fearless voices, Katie Martell takes the AMA St. Louis stage to unpack one of the most complex issues facing brands today: how companies navigate culture, values, and consumer expectations in an increasingly polarized world.
For years, marketers were encouraged to align brands with the values of their audiences and support the causes that matter to stakeholders. Yet along the way, many organizations shifted from authentic allyship to performative messaging—what critics now call “woke-washing.” Today, amid rapid social change and a deeply divided political climate, brands often find themselves frozen and caught in the middle of cultural and political tensions.
In this thought-provoking keynote, marketing truth-teller Katie Martell explores the most controversial decade in modern marketing and what it reveals about the evolving relationship between brands, culture, and consumers.
This topic brings together the art of reading culture, emotion, and brand voice with the science of proving what actually resonates—and what doesn’t.
Drawing from years of documenting this landscape in real time, Katie will explore:
- How we arrived at this moment in marketing history
- Where brands misunderstood or overlooked the communities they aimed to support
- Why performative messaging erodes trust
- How marketers can build more thoughtful, authentic connections with today’s weary consumers
- Expect a candid, insightful conversation that challenges assumptions and encourages marketers to rethink how brands show up in the world.
Featured Sessions
Producing Producers: Why the Best Marketers Think Like Jimmy Iovine, Not Don Draper
Speakers:
- Ryan Green, Founder, The Last Splash
- Savannah Westbrock, Head of Agency Solutions, RADaR Analytics
- Allie Haupt, Product Lead, RADaR Analytics
In a world increasingly defined by A/B testing, dashboards, and algorithmic optimization, something essential can get lost: the courage to bet on brilliance before the data proves it.
The producer mindset offers an antidote.
Great producers recognize magic as it unfolds. They resist formula when everyone else repeats it. They curate environments where innovation and artistry flourish. And most importantly, they develop more producers—people with the judgment, taste, and conviction to move both culture and business forward.
This dynamic keynote conversation brings that philosophy to life through three marketers across three generational decades, demonstrating a living talent lineage on one stage.
Together, they will explore what marketing can learn from legendary producers and cultural architects, including Jimmy Iovine, Kris Jenner, Paula Scher, and Jack Antonoff, and why cultivating the next generation of creative producers may be marketing’s greatest competitive advantage in an AI-dominated future.
Attendees will walk away with a new lens for thinking about:
- How bold creative bets are identified before the metrics exist
- Why cultural intuition and taste still matter in a data-driven world
- How leaders build environments where breakthrough ideas emerge
- What it means to develop producers—not just executors—inside marketing teams
The Custom Assistant Revolution: How to Stop Using Generic AI and Build a Proprietary Brain for Your Business
Speaker: Mike Allton, Director of Partner-led Growth, Agorapulse
Most high-performers treat AI like a high-speed search engine. They ask for a draft, spend twenty minutes editing the robotic output, and eventually realize they could have just written it themselves. This is the result of the Admin Drag—the 70% of the week spent moving data rather than building relationships.
Imagine a Monday morning where you aren’t fighting your CRM or manually researching leads—because you have stopped prompting and started architecting.
In this session, Revenue Architecture Specialist Mike Allton reveals how to move beyond the amnesia of generic chat and build a Proprietary Brain for your business. When you deploy the PRICE framework, you stop being a highly-paid data entry clerk and become the Director of a Digital Crew.
Key Takeaways:
- The End of AI Amnesia – Understand the technical divide between generic chat and custom assistants, and why establishing persistent memory is the only way to eliminate robotic outputs.
- The PRICE of Scale – Master a repeatable 5-step framework to blueprint digital teammates that utilize your specific industry resources, product specs, and professional standards.
- The Revenue Velocity Dividend – Learn how to quantify your personal Admin Drag and identify exactly which Digital Crew member to hire first to reclaim your time for high-value architecture.
Engineering Emotion: The Art & Science of Experiences That Last
Speaker: Amanda Chamov, Director of North America & APAC, the Experience Studio, American Express Global Business Travel
Data shows in-person gatherings are no longer guaranteed but consciously chosen; the pressure is on for events to deliver more than just great content. Attendees expect connection, meaning, and emotion—and events that meet those expectations are the ones that stay in memory long after the last session ends.
This session blends real-world strategy with insights from neuroscience to explore how memory works, how emotion sticks, and how we can design experiences that resonate long after the event is over.
Drawing from in-depth interviews with senior event leaders and scientific expertise from a cognitive neuroscientist, we’ll explore:
- The psychological principles behind how memories are formed, including how anticipation, emotion, and reinforcement play a key role
- Practical strategies to activate engagement before, during, and after your event using emotion-led design and multisensory experiences
- Proven techniques to create emotional peaks, deepen human connection, and sustain impact post-event
Join us to discover how a deeper understanding of memory and emotion can elevate your next event from forgettable to truly unforgettable.
PANEL: Where to Focus: The Next Generation of Marketing Tactics
Panelists: Kelly Wiethuchter (nativeMsg), Alicia Underwood (The Social Box & TwentyThree), Nick Niehaus (Everyday AI), Miles Minnaar (Foundational Media)
Moderator: Tracy Polansky (The Polansky Group)
This isn’t a trend recap. It’s a prioritization conversation. What’s working, what’s overhyped, and where should you be placing smarter bets to drive real impact?
Walk away with a clear point of view on the next generation of marketing tactics and how to apply them with intention.
About the Host Emcee
Keisha Mabry Haymore is a certified AI educator, tech leader and community builder. Keisha has been featured on National Public Radio, The Daily Show, Fast Company, Success Magazine, Huffington Post, Essence, Nine Network, The Business Journal and more for her work in business, education and technology.
In addition, Keisha is the Managing Director of a Tech Bootcamp, Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Advocate, Adjunct Lecturer, Aspen Ideas Scholar, Fulbright Specialist, TEDx speaker and her book Hey Friend: 100 Ways to Connect with 100 People in 100 Days is a movement to make the world friendly again, or at the very least, friendlier than it’s ever been.
She’s delivered more than 500 keynotes and workshops for Fortune 500 companies and top brands like Google, Spotify, Nielsen, Mastercard, Square, Edward Jones, Bayer, SXSW, Facebook, Ikea and YUM!. Learn more at keishamabry.com.
Event Details
Thursday, April 9th:
- Conference: 7:30 AM – 1:30 PM | Community Music School at Webster University
- Agency Tour: 2:00 – 3:00 PM | Atomicdust (3021 Locust St, St. Louis, MO 63103
Exclusive Opportunity: Agency Tour
After the conference programming and networking lunch, attendees are invited to participate in an optional guided agency tour. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how one of St. Louis’s top agencies bring strategy, creativity, and data together in practice.
Who Should Attend
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