Mars Advertising and The Center for Retailing Excellence are presenting the 2013 spring conference Shop

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 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus. This year marks the third anniversary of the Shop Conference. Keynote speakers include Stephen F. Quinn, executive VP and CMO, Walmart ; Fern Grant, executive VP, Strategic Planning, Mars Advertising; David Marcotte, senior VP, Retail Insights, Kantar Retail; and Greg Silverman, CEO, 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” Mars COO Rob Rivenburgh said. “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 entitled Excellence in Strategic Selling and Collaboration featuring Scott Huff, senior VP, general merchandise manager consumables, Walmart; Ashley Buchanan, senior VP snacks and drinks, Walmart; Gary Severson, senior VP and general merchandise manager hardlines, Walmart; and Michelle Gloeckler, senior VP 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.