Constantino Stavros

Visiting Fellow

constantino-stavros-profile

Constantino (Con) is a Visiting Fellow and is predominantly based at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia where he is the Associate Dean of Marketing with responsibility for the staff and programs in that discipline area.

Con is highly passionate about scholarship in sport both in terms of teaching and research. He possesses a comprehensive and global understanding of marketing, particularly in the application of strategic concepts in communication and the development and function of marketing both through, and of, sport. At RMIT he developed the Sport Marketing unit, at the time one of the few offerings of such a subject anywhere in the world and has received numerous accolades and awards for his contemporary teaching approach and external engagement. Aside from Australia, he has taught in Asia and Europe, including introducing a Sport Marketing unit at IESEG School of Management (France) where he has been a Visiting Professor since 2008.

As the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, Sport, Business & Management between 2015 and 2020, Con is strongly connected to the various research disciplines within sport and has published extensively, across a number of areas including marketing, economics, management, media, science and sociology. His work on a variety of topics from athlete transgressions to fan engagement via social media have proven to be hallmarks of sport business development and understanding.

Con has provided services to a wide range of brands and has also aided community and government sectors, including leading sport organizations. Given his renown as one of his nation’s foremost commentators on marketing matters, he regularly provides the media with insight on business topics, predominantly in the areas of sport, and branding more generally.

Academic background

Con obtained his PhD from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, looking at how major sporting organizations develop and maintain positive relationship marketing practices with their fans. Con also has a Master of Business, and Bachelor’s degrees in both Marketing and Accountancy.

Current research and collaborations

Con has a strong interest in contemporary marketing communications, media and branding strategy, the business and marketing of sport, and the application of social marketing in sport particularly with regard ensuring athlete and consumer wellbeing. He has worked on matters related to the use of new media in sport, particularly with regard the impact of sponsorship via these platforms.

Con is currently involved in a range of research streams including assessing the role of sport in promoting healthy eating within local communities, how gender balance participation can be promoted in football, and how new media technologies will impact the consumption of sport. Con is also increasingly interested in how esport will emerge as a distinct entertainment stream requiring radically different business approaches.

Research expertise

  • Qualitative methods
  • Marketing of, and through, sport
  • Media and sport
  • Consumer wellbeing and sport
  • Fan engagement and relationship marketing

Current PhD / research supervisions

Con has supervised a range of higher degree research students, including topics in word-of-mouth, online brand communities, athlete assessment and recruitment, and consumer behaviour. He is particularly interested in students who adopt qualitative methodologies to develop understanding that can enrich consumer wellbeing, or which helps spotlight the marketing practices in sport that will generate positive social impact in the future. He is also interested in transformative media practices and the presumptive change this will have on sport viewing and engagement.

Interests and activities

Con tries to play as much sport as he watches or studies. His efforts include competitive tennis and videogaming (esport), with forays into skiing, running, and dog agility with his family’s border collie. Con’s high media profile commands interest from a wide variety of organizations seeking marketing advice, and he actively mentors young academics on how to successfully engage with the media and promote both their research and expertise. Con authored a thought-leadership column in one of Australia’s leading industry publications from 2005 to 2020 when the magazine ceased production. He remains committed to sharing insight, promoting the scholarship of sport, and empowering the discipline given its unique social and cultural significance.