The organization's origins can be traced back to 1956 when a group of visionary sales and promotion managers, gathered for lunch at the Kungsholm Restaurant in Chicago. During this meeting, they conceived the idea of establishing a professional promotion association to address the emerging needs of the broadcast promotion and marketing industry. This gathering led to the formation of the Broadcast Promotion Association (BPA).

The primary purpose of the BPA was to provide a platform for professionals in the entertainment marketing and promotion field to collaborate and share knowledge. In their first letter to their peers around the United States, they expressed the desire for an organization that would allow members to learn from each other about various aspects of the industry, including ratings, audience engagement, promotion strategies, merchandising, and other related challenges. They believed that such an organization would benefit everyone involved in the field.

Over time, BPA underwent remarkable transformation. This evolution included its official status as a nonprofit 501(c)(6), the development of award competitions to honor and celebrate outstanding work, an expansion of its international reach, and the eventual transition into the Promotion Marketing Executives, Broadcast Design Association, better known as PromaxBDA. This pivotal shift marked the integration of strategic and design marketing and solidified its reputation as a prominent global association dedicated to professionals in the realm of entertainment marketing.

Today, we proudly embrace the name, The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.), as our own. Within our organization resides a community of the most imaginative and strategic marketing experts in the entertainment field. Our identity is more than just a label, it embodies the significance of our members' work— at our core we are a platform that celebrates the art and science of marketing – a wonderful convergence of data analytics and insights into human behavior with compelling storytelling and design. It stands as a testament to our unwavering commitment to celebrating the wide array of creativity, innovation, and brilliance that defines global entertainment marketing. This commitment now home to the achievements in Film, Music, Video Games, Sports and beyond!