A collection of some of my writings, and that of others about me...which you may or not find of any interest.

Here you will find some of my mass media coverage (some are articles I submitted while others were written by journalists), as well as some of my most recent papers published in "peer-reviewed" academic journals which, as you may know, is a long and difficult process to publication. Getting published in an academic journal could take 9 months to 2 (or even 3 or 4) years, and often takes several rounds of edits and reviews (or even rejects). Due to copyright laws, I can't post full journal articles here, so I posted just the first page. Let me know if you want the full paper. To date (early 2017), my own published academic papers have been cited by 271 other academic papers! Not bad! My most cited paper is at 98. Nice!

About Me:
I'm a marketing research practitioner based in Hong Kong, but I work on worldwide projects. I completed my doctorate degree (Ph.D in Marketing) and in the process I published a few new papers in academic journals. Born and raised in South Africa, I lived in Canada before moving to Hong Kong in 1996. I'm particularly interested in advancing research design; analytics in the areas of brand and advertising research, customer satisfaction, loyalty measurement, service recovery, customer advocacy, and digital media & marketing measurement. Also love teaching at post-graduate level or tutoring of researchers and practicing execs. Also serves on several editorial boards of reviewers for academic journals, mainly in the USA and Europe. Been to 122 countries (published ten photography books and a series of magazines) and still counting, which continues to enrich my understanding of international marketing and consumer behaviour.

Journal of Financial Services Marketing (10 pages)

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International Journal of Advertising (29 pages)

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Journal of Services Marketing (10 pages)

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Journal of Brand Management (10 pages)

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Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal (13 pages)

Ambush marketing research wins best paper prize

Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, CANADA
October 5, 2010

Research from SFU Business professors Leyland Pitt and Michael Parent on the implications of ambush marketing at global-scale sporting events has garnered a notable award from the journal Business Horizons (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, USA). Entitled "Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics," the research has won the Business Horizons/Elsevier Publishing Prize for the journal’s "Best Article" published in 2010.

The article was co-written with Pierre Berthon of Bentley University in Boston, and Peter Steyn of Sweden’s Luleå University of Technology.

Their research shows that the persistent effectiveness of ambush marketers leaves sporting event sponsors particularly vulnerable – costing them not only their financial investment, but ultimately their customers.

The study’s authors examined data from the 2008 "Li Ning affair", which saw Olympic sponsor Adidas ambushed by lesser-known Chinese sportswear company Li Ning at the Beijing Summer Olympics. The Chinese company's namesake founder, Li Ning, was China’s most decorated Olympian and it was he who lit the Olympic flame at the 2008 opening ceremony.

Data collected after the closing of the Beijing Games isolated what the researchers called the "Li Ning effect" – which describes being incorrectly identified as an official sponsor, and the positive effects accrued to a company's brand as a result. In the footwear category at least, Li Ning was the clear brand winner of the 2008 Olympics, in spite of the millions spent by Adidas to secure a sponsorship.

"Amidst the background noise of multiple sponsorships," said the study’s authors, "this highly poignant event stuck in people’s memory such that when they were asked to recall who the official sponsor of athletic footwear was for the Beijing Games, more of our respondents thought it was Li Ning than Adidas."

The researchers offer important advice for marketers trying to see through successful sponsorship investments in events such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cup. "Don’t naively put yourself in a position to be ambushed; remember, large sporting events provide optimal venues and occasions for this to happen," they suggest. "This does not mean that firms should abstain from sponsorship; large global events can provide superlative opportunities for marketing communication. “However, walking into sponsorships and blithely ignoring the lessons from the Li Ning affair would be asking for trouble. If you do decide to sponsor a major event, anticipate and behave as though an ambush will happen."

Best Article Award

Media coverage of this award winning paper can be found HERE

African Journal of Business Management (11 pages)

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Journal of Financial Services Marketing - June 2010 (13 pages)

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (19 pages)

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IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications (11 pages)

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Business Horizons (10 pages)

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Public Relations Review

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Journal of Sponsorship

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Media Magazine Asia

Content Asia

Sponsorship measurement needs to go deeper

15 April 2009 4:28pm

The importance of digital media in marketing and promoting brands means sponsors need far deeper measures of effectiveness than the traditional metrics such as brand awareness and recognition, according to specialist research company Aha! Research.

Aha! Research Managing Director, Peter Steyn, told Sponsorship News that consumer generated media, such as blogs, YouTube, and Twitter were now having such an impact they could make or break a brand in a matter of months.

He says that Aha!’s research following the last Olympics showed that while traditional metrics couldn’t be ignored, there was a need to measure consumers’ online engagement with the brands.

Steyn said a range of research showed that positive online brand recommendation correlated with a company’s growth, so monitoring consumer media engagement was crucial.

The research showed that sponsorship has an influence on whether a brand will be recommended through online consumer generated media. It also showed that marketers have to get on the front foot to ensure their position as official sponsor is recognised, as this has an impact in social media.

"The distinction between an official sponsor and a non-sponsor is becoming much more important and measuring the likelihood that consumers will promote, or demote, your brand online, is critical," Steyn said.

Talking Customer Satisfaction with "Asian Hotel & Catering Times"

In an April 2009 interview with "Asian Hotel & Catering Times", Peter Steyn of Aha! Research talked with Zara Horner about Customer Satisfaction in the Asian hospitality industry.

Event Sponsorship in the Digital Age