Meet Mario Vafeas, Professor of Marketing and Leader of the Applied Marketing Research Group
With a background in consultancy and an interest in research with real-world impact, Professor Mario Vafeas brings industry insight and academic rigour together in his work. In this conversation, he reflects on how marketing relationships, collaboration and organisational engagement can drive better outcomes for both businesses and employees.
Firstly, what prompted your transition from consultancy into academia?
I think some people have a natural inclination towards academic work. Even when I worked in industry, I never really stepped away from academia. I completed an MBA part time and then a PhD. After that, it felt like a natural progression to move fully into academic life.
Before making the switch, I tried teaching as an associate lecturer while still in consultancy. I really enjoyed it, the combination of research and teaching really appealed to me. So in 2010, I made the move into academia full time and I’ve never looked back.
Do you ever miss working in industry?
Not really, because I don’t feel I’ve ever left it. I’ve always stayed engaged with external firms through my research and projects like Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
“My role brings together teaching, academic research and external engagement, that mix is what I enjoy most. It’s not a complete departure from industry, it’s more of an evolution.”
Could you share a project where your research has been translated into practice?
For many years, I focused on ‘value co-creation’ – how organisations work together to create value rather than delivering it unilaterally. My research explored how marketing agencies and their clients in the creative industries can collaborate more effectively to strengthen relationships and outcomes.
That work attracted a lot of interest from agencies and clients alike. I’ve delivered workshops, seminars and consultancy sessions to help them apply these ideas in practice. Helping them to improve collaboration and get more value from those partnerships.
More recently, I’ve been working with my colleague Dr Ed Little on something a little different, a concept called ‘workplace alienation’ (when employees feel disconnected from their work). We’ve explored how ownership models shape engagement and motivation by comparing conventional organisations with employee-owned firms. (Examples of such firms include John Lewis and Aardman Animations.)
Our findings are generating interest from both businesses and organisations like the Employee Ownership Association, who are exploring how our insights can help promote employee ownership and ultimately reduce alienation at work.
How has your industry experience influenced your research interests?
It’s been fundamental. My early career in consultancy was all about managing relationships between agencies and clients. I was fascinated by why some relationships thrived while others broke down.
That curiosity led to my PhD, which examined how creative agencies and clients could build longer-lasting, more effective partnerships. In the creative industries, around 80 per cent of client-agency relationships don’t last beyond five years – that’s incredibly inefficient. My research looked at what makes these relationships work better and last longer, which continues to inform my work today.
What advice would you give to early-career researchers hoping to make meaningful contributions in marketing?
“Find topics that sit at the intersection of academic value and practical relevance. It’s important that your research contributes to academic knowledge but also that it can be applied and have real-world impact.”
I’ve always tried to ensure my work ticks both boxes: that it’s publishable and interesting to academic audiences, but also something I can share externally with businesses or practitioners. When those two worlds overlap, that’s where the most valuable research happens.
Outside academia, what inspires your thinking?
A lot of my ideas come from everyday life. My research on workplace alienation, for example, grew out of personal experiences – wondering why service quality varies so much between firms and realising it’s often linked to how motivated employees feel.
We all have personal experiences as consumers and collaborators. Reflecting on those moments often sparks new questions and sometimes, new research ideas.
Find out more about Mario, his research and how to get in touch here.