Work with thought leaders and academic experts from Brock University

I am a marketing professor who specializes in augmented/extended realities, metaverse marketing, brand storytelling, and influencer marketing. I am a public speaker and consultant who helps your brand thrive in today's and tomorrow's new realities. <br> \~ ⨏ \~ <br> MY PASSION is to explore augmented reality’s strategic potential for marketing: I published the first-ever conceptual article on AR marketing, which won Article of the Year award and is one of the most-cited publications about this topic. I have taught AR since 2015 as part of my social media and digital marketing courses at Cal Poly. At Brock University, I developed and teach the world’s first dedicated Augmented Reality Marketing courses for undergraduate as well as MBA students. <br> \~ ⚬ \~ <br> MY RESEARCH combines ethnographic methods with socio-cultural frameworks to cut through the complexities of marketing and consumption: I explore how augmented reality can deepen consumer/brand relationships, how it helps customers feel more competent and autonomous, how Pokémon GO players co-create and transport into hybrid-realities, how managers can deploy AR initiatives, and how various types of augmented realities offer different strategic opportunities for brands. My social media research explores how marketers can build their brands in today’s polarized and tribal societies by fighting back against online critics. <br> \~ × \~ <br> I LOVE building bridges between academia and the broader business community: I'm a member of Adweek's Academic Council and serve on the advisory board of Schulich’s Future of Marketing Institute. I regularly publish research-driven insights in Adweek, MKTGsquad, and other AR-specific publications. I provide expertise for marketing agencies and consult wine, CPG and technology companies in the US and Canada on branding and augmented reality marketing. I decipher the babel and help people see the big picture. <br> \~ 🦊 \~

V. Kumar (VK) is the Professor of Marketing, and the Goodman Academic-Industry Partnership Professor, Goodman School of Business, Brock University, ON, Canada. He has held/holds several Distinguished Endowed Faculty Positions in the U.S., and Distinguished Fellowships across universities worldwide, including being the *Chang Jiang Scholar*, HUST, Wuhan, China; and the *Hagler Fellow,* Texas A&M University, USA.  VK has also been honored as a *Legend in Marketing* through the 10-Volume Legends in Marketing series published by Sage Publications with commentaries from scholars worldwide. Professor Kumar has published over 300 papers in scholarly journals including the *Harvard Business Review*, *Sloan Management Review* and the *California Management Review*, and over 30 books including the three most recent – Valuing Customer Engagement, Transformative Marketing (with Phil Kotler) and International Marketing Research; received over 20 Lifetime Achievement Awards including the *Charles Coolidge Parlin Award, the Paul Converse Award, Distinguished Marketing Educator Award* from the Academy of Marketing Science, the *Mahajan Award*, the Robert B. Clarke Award, and the *Churchill Award* for his contributions to diverse areas of marketing; and over 25 Research and Teaching Excellence Awards including the *Don Lehmann Award*, the *Paul Root Award*, the *Robert Buzzell Award*, the *Sheth Award,* and the *Davidson Award*. Professor Kumar has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the *Journal of Marketing* (2014-2018) and serves/served as the Department Editor of *POM*, and as the Consulting Editor of *JIBS*. He also serves on the Editorial Review Board of many scholarly journals in marketing and serves as a senior consultant editor for Elsevier Publishers. Global Fortune 500 firms have implemented many of VK’s ideas and models in multiple areas of marketing and operations, which have resulted in gains of over multi-billion dollars. Dr. Kumar has been inducted into the *Analytics Hall of Fame* for his contributions to marketing analytics practice. Dr. Kumar was awarded the *Gary Lilien Practice Prize Award* for the best implementation of marketing model to solve business problems for a firm by INFORMS/ISMS*.*  VK has mentored over 40 doctoral students across the world.  To honor his commitments to the doctoral student mentorship, the American Marketing Association has instituted the “V. Kumar Doctoral Student Mentorship Award” which is given out to recognize academics in the field of marketing who are productive scholars and who have been instrumental in developing doctoral students in marketing.  VK spends his “free” time visiting business leaders to identify challenging problems to solve. He plays tennis and basketball to relieve his stress arising out of being in academics. Dr. Kumar obtained his B. Tech (Hons.) and M. Tech (with Distinction) degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, India and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. (URL: [www.drvkumar.com](http://www.drvkumar.com/) and [www.vkclv.com](http://www.vkclv.com/) )