55th Annual Marketing Conference

PMA Charts the Next Era of Marketing with ONE MAP at the 55th Annual Marketing Conference

The Philippine Marketing Association announces a six-pillar marketing protocol for the country’s longest-running marketing conference, set September 23, 2026 at Hilton Manila, Newport World Resorts.

MANILA, Philippines. Since 1954, the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) is presenting what it calls its most operationally ambitious marketing conference to date. At a media launch held June 24, 2026, at the Hilton Manila, Newport World Resorts, PMA officially unveiled the 55th Annual Marketing Conference under the theme ONE MAP (Omni Network Ecosystem Marketing Agility Protocol), with the conference aiming at “Charting the Future of Marketing.”

The conference is set for September 23, 2026, at Hilton Manila, Newport World Resorts. A hybrid on-demand track runs from September 24 through November 2026, extending the program to participants across the region.

ONE MAP In View

ONE MAP is a pioneering initiative that goes beyond traditional learning formats by introducing an Omni-Experience, Output-Driven Learning Journey, which is a system designed to help delegates identify where conditions are shifting and respond before the window closes. The acronym reads in two halves.

The first half, O.N.E., covers the Omni Network Ecosystem. Omni pulls every channel and touchpoint into a single integrated system. The Network layer describes the partners, platforms, and communities that surround a brand. The Ecosystem pillar ties these into a customer-engagement environment built to compound over time, where each element reinforces the next.

The second half, M.A.P., covers the Marketing Agility Protocol. Marketing refers to the brand and demand engines that drive commercial growth. Agility is the organizational capacity to pivot under volatile conditions. Protocol is the standardized playbook that makes both repeatable regardless of what disruption a team is facing.

“PMA is not merely organizing another conference. PMA is presenting ONE MAP as a movement that reimagines how professionals learn and apply knowledge. It recognizes that the future belongs not to those who simply acquire information, but to those who can transform insights into action, ideas into innovation, and learning into measurable impact,” said Mitch Ballesteros, 2026 PMA President and CEO and Founder of Exlink Management and Marketing Services. She placed ONE MAP within PMA’s broader 2026 organizational theme of “ONENESS,” describing the conference as the association’s most defining statement yet on where Philippine marketing is headed.

A Dual-Director Structure

For the first time, the 55th Marketing Conference is led by two members from PMA’s Board of Directors. Cha Pestano-Diaz, 2026 PMA Executive Vice President and Co-Founder & Marketing Director of Artisano Studio, and Adolf Aran Jr., 2026 PMA Director for National Marketing Conference and Senior Director for Corporate Marketing Communications of National University, synergize to make this PMA flagship event a success. The dual-director structure reflects the scale of this edition and the expanded scope it carries compared to previous iterations. To support them is this year’s overall conference Chairperson Greg Banzon, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Century Pacific Food, Inc.

The conference program was designed for participants to engage across six key pillars: Meet Up Day, Digital Experience, Business Networking, Featured Company Visits, Fellowship Gala, and the Marketing Gambit Cup. Together, these experiences are designed to provide a more comprehensive and meaningful learning journey that reflects how professionals learn, connect, and grow in today’s business landscape.

What September 23 Looks Like

The Day 1 run-of-show at Hilton Manila is built around two programmatic movements. Movement 1 covers the O.N.E. half, opening with a session on AI-agent consumer journeys, followed by a panel on creator economies, communities and retail-media partnerships, and a talk on building loyalty in purpose-driven ecosystems.

Movement 2 covers M.A.P., addressing growth on constrained budgets for Filipino brands, a panel on pivots and budget reallocation, a talk on repeatable agility playbooks, and a live “Protocol in Action” crisis simulation where panelists walk the ONE MAP steps in real time.

The Extended Program

The true differentiation of ONE MAP lies beyond its Omni-Experience approach through turning learning inspiration into transformative execution. At the center of this commitment is the Marketing Gambit Cup, the capstone program of the ONE MAP learning journey. Designed as an industry-wide challenge, the Marketing Gambit Cup encourages participants to apply the insights, strategies, and frameworks gained throughout the conference to address real-world business challenges.

Delegates will be invited to develop and present a Marketing Agility and Business Resiliency Plan based on actual business and brand case studies provided by participating organizations and sponsors. Rather than ending their learning journey with notes and presentations, participants become active contributors to the marketing community by creating actionable solutions that can drive meaningful business outcomes. The top three winners will receive scholarship grants to the Marketing Professional Certification Review Program of the Marketing Institute of the Philippines, providing a pathway toward professional certification and continued industry leadership.

As PMA celebrates its 55th Marketing Conference, ONE MAP sets a new benchmark for professional development—one that empowers marketers not only to navigate change, but to lead it.

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About the Philippine Marketing Association

Founded on January 27, 1954, the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) is the premier marketing association in the Philippines. For over seven decades, it has promoted excellence and ethics among marketing professionals, serving as a platform for industry collaboration and professional development. The Marketing Conference is one of PMA’s flagship events on its 55th year this 2026.

For updates and queries, connect with us through:

Philippine Marketing Association: @philippinemarketingassociation.org I Lira Ligero of the PMA Secretariat at 09173087877 or through email: lira@philippinemarketing.net.ph I Ana Manansala of AMPR, Ana Manansala PR and Digital Consultancy OPC

MEDIA LAUNCH Q&A BRIEFER

PMA 55th Annual Marketing Conference | ONE MAP | June 24, 2026

Open Forum Moderator: Ana Manansala

Panel: Mitch Ballesteros, Cha P. Diaz, Adolf Aran, Greg Banzon, and confirmed panel members

The following questions are prepared for the Open Forum session. They are organized by topic to guide the moderator and help the panel anticipate the media’s likely lines of inquiry. The moderator will take questions from the floor and may use these as follow-ups or bridges between exchanges.

1 Conference Vision and the PMA Mandate

For Mitch Ballesteros, PMA President

Q1: The PMA has been running the annual marketing conference for 55 years. What makes this edition different enough to be called a protocol?

Q2: You’ve placed ONE MAP under PMA’s 2026 theme of “ONENESS.” Can you explain how those two ideas connect? What does oneness mean in a practical marketing context?

Q3: The Philippine marketing landscape has been contending with budget pressure while inflation persists and AI is reshaping what campaigns can do. Why is September 2026 the right moment for a conference specifically about agility and resilience?

Q4: This is the first time the conference has two Co-Directors. Was that a structural decision or a necessity given the scope? What does that mean for how the conference is run?

2 The ONE MAP Framework

For Greg Banzon, Overall Conference Chairperson

Q5: Walk us through the ONE MAP acronym. What are the six pillars, and why was this particular structure chosen to represent the current state and direction of marketing?

Q6: The conference program is built around two movements, O.N.E. and M.A.P. How does a delegate experience that progression across the day?

Q7: The “Protocol in Action” war-room is described as a live, unscripted crisis simulation. Can you give media a preview of what that looks like? What kind of crisis scenario are you simulating, and how does it work on the day?

Q8: The 30-Day Sprint gives delegates a deliverable to take home and actually execute. What was the thinking behind building something with a five-month follow-through into a single-day conference? What are delegates expected to submit?

3 Content, Speakers, and the Program Build

For Cha P. Diaz and Adolf Aran, Conference Co-Directors

Q9: The speaker lineup includes candidates from San Miguel, Ayala, Jollibee, GCash, and others. How does the selection process work? What does a speaker need to bring to the table to earn a spot in a ONE MAP session?

Q10: The conference program has a 62.5/37.5 split between talks and panels. That is a deliberate design choice. What determined that ratio, and what would have been lost if you had gone further in either direction?

Q11: AI appears across multiple sessions, from agentic AI to the cookieless playbook and the 30-Day Sprint. How does the overall program frame AI relative to the other five pillars?

Q12: Day 2 includes physical visits to companies like San Miguel, Jollibee, GCash, and Watsons. What will delegates actually see or learn from those visits that a panel discussion could not cover?

4 Market Positioning and Industry Context

For the Full Panel

Q13: The Philippine conference calendar already has DigiCon, Mansmith, and BrandCon. What is the specific gap that ONE MAP is filling, and why does PMA believe this is theirs to address?

Q14: The closing keynote is about resilience as competitive advantage across ASEAN. Is PMA positioning this conference for a regional audience beyond the Philippines, and what does that mean for how it is designed?

Q15: The Most Marketing-Resilient Brands (Asia) awards are tied to the conference. What does a marketing-resilient brand look like in the current environment? Is there a Philippine brand that already operates this way?

Q16: All sessions will be available on demand through November 30. Does making that content accessible after the fact reduce the incentive to attend in person? How did the organizing team think through that decision?

5 Logistics, Registration, and Participation

For the Secretariat or Designated Spokesperson

Q17: When does registration open, where can delegates sign up, and what is the registration fee? Are there early bird or group rates?

Q18: The conference targets 400 onsite delegates and around 1,000 online. Is there a cap on the hybrid track, and how does someone access the on-demand library if they register after the live dates?

Q19: The Day 2 corporate visits are capacity-limited. How does that allocation work? Is it first-come, first-served at registration, or curated by the organizers?

Q20: For media partners, what accreditation or access arrangements are available for September 23? Will there be a designated media area, and what kind of access will journalists have to speakers after their sessions?

6 Moderator Notes — Likely Follow-Up Lines

The following are not formal questions but anticipated media follow-ups the moderator should be ready to bridge.

On speaker fees and international talent: Media may press on the cost of securing names like Ramon Ang, Zobel de Ayala, or international speakers. Suggested redirect: “Speaker invitations and confirmations are still in process. PMA’s focus is on bringing the right voices to each pillar of the protocol, and we’ll announce confirmed names through our official channels.”

On sponsorship and funding: If asked about sponsors or the budget behind this production, the moderator can note that sponsor acknowledgments will be made at the official launch and direct media to the press kit or PMA Secretariat for partnership inquiries.

On comparison to previous conferences: Some media may frame this as asking what was lacking in past editions. A useful framing from the panel: “Each conference has reflected where the industry stood at that moment. In 2026, the market has been under sustained pressure, and what practitioners are looking for is something they can run when they get back to their desks.”

On whether ONE MAP works for SMEs: Media covering business and entrepreneurship will likely ask whether the protocol is designed only for enterprise marketing teams or whether smaller organizations can apply it. This has not been addressed in the program materials and may need a prepared answer from the panel before the open forum.

End of Q&A Briefer