Advancing the Profession Through Knowledge, Education, and Community
The American Advertising and Marketing Association, or AAMA, is a professional organization serving people and institutions across the advertising and marketing industries. Its members include advertising professionals, marketers, agencies, brands, media professionals, students, academics, educators, and others whose work contributes to the profession.
AAMA exists to inform, educate, connect, and advance the advertising and marketing community. Through industry news, research, analysis, historical perspective, events, professional development, and educational programming, the Association provides members and the public with a place to better understand where the profession has been, where it stands today, and where it may be headed next.
Our Mission
Advertising and marketing influence commerce, culture, media, technology, and the way organizations communicate with the public. Understanding these industries requires more than following the latest platform, campaign, or trend.
AAMA’s mission is to support a better-informed profession by providing access to knowledge, education, discussion, professional development, and historical context. The Association encourages the study of advertising and marketing as both professional disciplines and forces that continue to shape business and society.
From Three Alliances to One Association
AAMA grew from three organizations that previously represented advertising and marketing communities across different regions of the Americas: the North American Advertising and Marketing Alliance, the Central American Advertising and Marketing Alliance, and the South American Advertising and Marketing Alliance.
In 2025, the three organizations formally came together as the American Advertising and Marketing Alliance, creating a unified organization capable of serving a broader professional community. During the ceremony marking that transition, author and consultant Tony Torres was named the organization’s 2025 Person of the Year.
In 2026, the organization adopted the name American Advertising and Marketing Association. The change from Alliance to Association reflected the organization’s evolution from a collaboration among regional groups into a permanent professional institution with a growing membership, leadership structure, educational mission, and long-term role within the industry.
An American Association With Continental Reach
AAMA’s largest membership base is in the United States, and the Association primarily presents itself as an American professional organization. Its history and broader community, however, extend throughout North, Central, and South America.
That broader perspective allows AAMA to recognize both the shared foundations of the advertising and marketing professions and the different markets, cultures, ideas, and professional practices found throughout the Americas. As the Association continues to develop, regional participation will remain an important part of its identity.
Leadership and Organization
AAMA is supported by a Board of Directors, executive leadership, committees, regional representatives, and an expanding chapter structure. These groups help guide the Association’s programs, educational priorities, professional activities, and long-term development.
The Association is developing a chapter network designed to support participation at multiple levels, including national, state, and major-city chapters. This structure will allow AAMA to maintain a broad professional perspective while creating opportunities for members to participate in programming and professional communities closer to home.
Past, Present, and Future
AAMA believes that understanding the future of advertising and marketing requires an understanding of what came before it. Historic campaigns, changing media environments, consumer behavior, creative strategies, research, regulation, technology, and cultural shifts all provide lessons that remain relevant to today’s professionals.
For that reason, AAMA’s educational and editorial work spans the full history of the profession. The Association examines landmark campaigns and strategies from the past, reports on the issues and developments shaping the industry today, and explores the technologies, ideas, opportunities, and challenges that may define advertising and marketing tomorrow.
Education and Professional Development
Education is central to AAMA’s purpose. The Association develops and supports opportunities for professionals and emerging professionals to expand their knowledge, examine new ideas, and better understand the forces changing the industry.
Programming may include conferences, webinars, workshops, academic initiatives, research, professional development, networking opportunities, industry discussions, and other educational resources. AAMA also provides a platform for experienced professionals, educators, researchers, and emerging voices to contribute to the wider conversation about advertising and marketing.
A Community for the Entire Profession
Advertising and marketing are built by people working across many disciplines. Creative professionals, strategists, researchers, account teams, brand leaders, media professionals, educators, students, analysts, technologists, and business leaders all contribute to how the industry develops.
AAMA brings those perspectives together within one professional community. Membership is open to individuals throughout the profession, including those working within agencies and companies, members of academic institutions, students preparing to enter the industry, and professionals representing other organizations connected to advertising and marketing.
Looking Ahead
AAMA is building an organization designed not simply to reflect the advertising and marketing industries as they exist today, but to help its members understand how those industries continue to change. Its work will expand alongside the profession through new educational initiatives, events, research, chapters, awards, partnerships, and opportunities for professional participation.
The Association’s role is straightforward: preserve what the profession can learn from its past, provide context for what is happening now, and help prepare its members for what comes next.
Reviews
Lester Douglas
AAMA has become my go-to community for benchmarking campaigns, finding collaborators, and staying ahead of shifting consumer and media trends.
Ann-Marie Jackson
Through AAMA events and insights, I’ve grown my strategic skills, expanded my network, and uncovered opportunities I would never have accessed alone.