Dr Sarah-Louise Mitchell

PhD (pass with no corrections)

Associate Professor of Marketing Practice

Oxford Brookes Business School

Role

Dr. Sarah-Louise Mitchell was motivated to become an academic in order to answer some of the burning questions in the nonprofit sector, particularly around impact and engagement. She came to Brookes having worked for nearly 20 years in senior roles across consumer goods, food retail and nonprofit organisations, for companies such as Tesco, Twinings, Reckett & Colman and Tate & Lyle. Her experience includes strategic portfolio planning, new product development, market research, and communication campaigns. Latterly she ran the marketing for two charities which prompted her to undertake a full time (funded) PhD looking at why people volunteer for one charity brand rather than another.

Her research focuses on charities, social impact, civic participation and communication including storytelling and personal branding. She has co-authored two best-selling books on Charity Marketing (Routledge), She founded the Brookes Charity Exchange which brings academics together with charity practitioners to ensue our research matters.

Her day job is Associate Professor of Marketing Practice plus she is the Research Area Lead for Marketing at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She holds a PhD (no corrections) from Henley Business School and MBA from London Business School.

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Modules taught

Social and Nonprofit Marketing
Personal Branding

Supervision

I regularly supervise doctoral students focusing on topics such as social impact, civic participation, nonprofit and communication - across PhD, Ed.D and DCM formats.

Research

My research focuses on the nonprofit sector, civic participation and social impact. At the moment I am focusing particularly on better understanding the use of language and image of charity beneficiaries, rethinking altruism and how we can better engage young people to participate and contribute to civic society.

Research impact

For Ref29, I have five 3* papers already.

Projects

Mission-based collaboration and its impact on nonprofit brands
Banking on Health

Publications

Mitchell S-L, Rundle-Thiele S, Lee Z, Hyde F, Guest editorial: A personal perspective on why social impact matters
European Journal of Marketing 58 (7) (2024) pp.1677-1680 ISSN: 0309-0566 eISSN: 0309-0566 Guest editorial: A personal perspective on why social impact matters Open Access version on RADAR
Rundle-Thiele S, Mitchell S-L, Lee Z, Hyde F, Refocusing marketing effort to support net-positive social impact
European Journal of Marketing 58 (7) (2024) pp.1806-1825 ISSN: 0309-0566 eISSN: 0309-0566 Refocusing marketing effort to support net-positive social impact Open Access version on RADAR
Mitchell S-L, Avengers assemble: Avenger philanthropy as the new gift opportunity for nonprofit organizations
Psychology and Marketing 41 (9) (2024) pp.2095-2106 ISSN: 0742-6046 eISSN: 1520-6793 Avengers assemble: Avenger philanthropy as the new gift opportunity for nonprofit organizations Open Access version on RADAR
Mitchell S-L, Reframing the practice of volunteering as a collective endeavour through a focal brand community.
European Journal of Marketing [online first] (2023) ISSN: 0309-0566 eISSN: 0309-0566 Reframing the practice of volunteering as a collective endeavour through a focal brand community. Open Access version on RADAR
Mitchell SL, Clark MK, Rethinking nonprofit service disintermediation through service communication interactions
Journal of Service Management 33 (4/5) (2022) pp.758-773 ISSN: 1757-5818 Rethinking nonprofit service disintermediation through service communication interactions Open Access version on RADAR
Mitchell S-L, Clark M, Rethinking nonprofit brands through a volunteer lens: time for B2V.
Journal of Marketing Management 37 (5/6) (2021) pp.464-487 ISSN: 0267-257X eISSN: 1472-1376 Rethinking nonprofit brands through a volunteer lens: time for B2V. Open Access version on RADAR
Mitchell S-L, Clark M, Telling a different story: How non-profit organisations reveal strategic purpose through storytelling.
Psychology and Marketing 38 (1) (2020) pp.142-158 ISSN: 0742-6046 eISSN: 1520-6793 Telling a different story: How non-profit organisations reveal strategic purpose through storytelling. Open Access version on RADAR
Mitchell SL, Clark M, Volunteer choice of nonprofit organisation: an integrated framework
European Journal of Marketing 55 (1) (2020) pp.63-94 ISSN: 0309-0566 Volunteer choice of nonprofit organisation: an integrated framework Open Access version on RADAR
Mitchell SL, Clark M, Reconceptualising Product Life-Cycle Theory as Stakeholder Engagement with Non-Profit Organization
Journal of Marketing Management 35 (1/2) (2019) pp.13-39 ISSN: 0267-257X eISSN: 1472-1376 Reconceptualising Product Life-Cycle Theory as Stakeholder Engagement with Non-Profit Organization Open Access version on RADAR

Hyde F, Mitchell S, (ed.), Charity Marketing: Contemporary Issues, Research and Practice. ,
Routledge (2021) ISBN: 9780367652029 eISBN: 9781003134169

Hyde F, Mitchell SL, Introducing charity marketing: Contemporary issues, research and practice.
in Hyde, F., & Mitchell, S. L. (2021). (ed.), Charity Marketing: Contemporary Issues, Research and Practice, Routledge (2021) ISBN: 9780367652029 eISBN: 9781003134169
Mitchell SL, Marketing charities to attract volunteers: Time for B2V.
in Hyde, F., & Mitchell, S. L. (Eds.). (ed.), Charity Marketing: Contemporary Issues, Research and Practice, Routledge (2021) ISBN: 9780367652029 eISBN: 9781003134169
Mitchell SL, Theoretical foundations for exploring charity marketing
in Hyde, F., & Mitchell, S. L. (Eds.) (ed.), Charity Marketing: Contemporary Issues, Research and Practice. , Routledge (2021) ISBN: 9780367652029 eISBN: 9781003134169 Theoretical foundations for exploring charity marketing Open Access version on RADAR

Journal Publication

Mitchell S.L.(2023), ‘Reframing the practice of volunteering as a collective endeavour through a focal brand community’. European Journal of Marketing. ABS 3*, Five year impact: 4.687. Accepted for publication 13th April 2023.

Book (and Chapters)

Hyde, F and Mitchell, S-L (Eds) (2021) “Charity Marketing: Contemporary Issues, Research and Practice", (20th December 2021). Format negotiated: Simultaneous publication of paperback, hardback and e-book. Working with Dr. Fran Hyde: developed concept for the book, pitched to publishers, negotiated multi-format contract, built network of 19 academic contributors (across 12 chapters). Book type: Supplementary Academic Book.
Mitchell, S-L (2021), “Marketing Charities to Attract Volunteers: Time for B2V”, in Charity Marketing, pp. 59-76, Routledge.
Mitchell, S-L (2021), “Theoretical Foundations for Exploring Charity Marketing”, in Charity Marketing, pp. 4-13, Routledge.

Professional information

Memberships of professional bodies

National Committee member for the Academy of Marketing Education Committee
National Committee member for the Worshipful Company of Marketors Awards Committee
Nationally elected member of the British Academy of Management Marketing and Retail SIG Fellow of the Higher Education Authority
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing
Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors
Member of CharityComms.

Conferences

Academy of Marketing
British Academy of Management
Global Brand Conference

Consultancy

Regularly asked to deliver keynote talks and training on personal branding for academics, social impact and charity communication.

Further details

External Roles

External Examiner for University of Kent (Masters in Philanthropy)
Elected Committee Member (with responsibility for communication) for BAM marketing and retail group
Invited Committee Member for Awards Committee for Worshipful Company of Marketors, including responsible for the national Thesis Prize programme.

Grants/Funding

AWARDED: British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant Scheme (Decision: 20/3/2020) Value: £5,155 “Mission-based collaboration and its impact on nonprofit brands”. Reference: SRG1920\100786. Completed.
AWARDED: OBBS Internal Small Grant Round 18 for “Does volunteering have an image problem? Repositioning volunteering as an aspirational goal for young people”. Value: £2,701. Awarded on 24th March 2022.
AWARDED: ESRC funded place on Academic Research Video Training Programme (Decision: 04/04/2022) April – December 2022. Value not publicised. Weblink: https://socsci.web.ox.ac.uk/your-research-in-film-video-production-training-programme. Film presented at University of Oxford Social Sciences Impact Conference (20-21/03/2023)
AWARDED: Academy of Marketing Early Career Research grant (July 2017), value £4,200 to investigate nonprofit brand typicality vs differentiation positioning on corporate websites.
AWARDED: Full postgraduate studentship, Henley Business School (Sept 2013), value £62,00 to fund PhD research into the role of brand in the non-profit sector.

Best Paper Awards

Winner (Sept 2022) British Academy of Management (Manchester) . Best Paper Prize for track (Marketing and Retail)
Winner (July 2022) Academy of Marketing, (Huddersfield). Best Paper Prize for track (Social and Nonprofit marketing)
Winner (Sept 2016) British Academy of Management Conference (Newcastle). Best Paper Award (Marketing & Retail),
Winner (Nov 2015), Henley Business School Doctoral Conference. Won the award for best overall presentation of research at the Henley Business School PhD Conference.
Winner (July 2015) Academy of Marketing Conference (Limerick), Best Paper Award (Brand Identity and Reputation track)
Winner (July 2014) 3 Minute Thesis Competition, University of Reading (University-wide competition that rewards succinct presentation of research topic to non-specialist audience).