Dr Karolos Papadas
Associate Professor of Marketing

Profile

Biography

Dr Karolos Papadas is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of York (U.K.). He has been a visiting professor at the Copenhagen Business School, University of Vienna and University of Athens. His main research and teaching interests lie in the areas of strategic marketing, sustainable/green marketing, international marketing and branding. His research has been published in leading journals including Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing and International Marketing Review, while his work has been regularly presented at prestigious marketing conferences across the globe, such as the American Marketing Association and European Marketing Academy. He also serves as a member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Business Research (CSR & Business Ethics section) and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Sustainable Marketing.

Karolos is the co-editor of the book “Ethical Consumption”, published in May 2023. To date, he has gained approximately £250,000 in funding for research projects with environmental and social impact in Europe and West Africa. In his current funded project, Karolos teamed up with a Ghanaian SME and a local University towards the development and branding of a new cereal product. This project has received two prestigious awards from the UK Research & Innovation for its impact on education inclusivity, poverty alleviation and local community regeneration in the North region of Ghana. It has also been featured as a best practice for knowledge transfer in the United Nations’ magazine, “Envoy”.

Karolos has also served as an advisor on sustainability and marketing to BoEs/CEOs (APIVITA, Landmark Environmental, University of York), and he has extensive experience in executive education within the energy, insurance and banking sectors. He has been invited to deliver keynote speeches to organisations (HM Department of Business & Trade-UK Government, National Bank of Greece, Allianz, among others).

He has regularly contributed to British and Greek media, including the Financial Times, The Conversation and Mega TV.

Departmental roles

Programme Leader

• MSc Global Marketing

Deputy Director of Business and Community Engagement

Research

Overview

Karolos’s research focuses on the areas of sustainability marketing, international marketing and branding. Currently, he seeks to answer the question 'How do organisations build competitiveness and resilience through sustainability marketing in times of uncertainty?’ from a variety of theoretical and contextual angles.

He is also acting as Co-Investigator for the African Agri-Food Knowledge Transfer Partnership project led by Professor Jeff Jia (awarded £220,000 from UKRI). Through this research and training, the research team will help an African SME to improve their supply chain and branding strategy to transform their business with a potential impact on the local economy and community. 

Karolos is open to supervise research students in sustainability marketing, international marketing, branding and digital marketing.

Research group(s)

African Agrifood Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Professor Jeff Jia

Publications

Full publications list

View in Google Scholar

View in PURE

Teaching

Undergraduate

Branding Strategies, BSc Marketing

Postgraduate

Brand Management, MSc Global Marketing

Other teaching

Karolos’s teaching is research-led, encouraging students to develop a critical and reflective approach. In his lectures, Karolos blends established academic theories and new research outputs with business cases that bridge theory and practice. In his seminars, he focuses on group work using innovative pedagogical methods (eg. blogging, online presentations) that allow students to develop new skills, build a portfolio, and improve their experience.

Karolos teaches Brand Management to MSc Global Marketing students.

Supervision Interests

Marketing Strategy, International Marketing, Brand Management, Sustainability Marketing

External activities

Business engagement

My research addresses real business challenges and provides nuanced insights for marketing managers and C-level executives.

My work experience before joining academia helps me to link research outcomes with managerial actions. In my role as sustainability advisor to the CEO of APIVITA, I contributed to their 5-year Sustainability Business Plan and the design of a holistic green marketing strategy. As the former digital communications manager for a high-profile politician, I developed, planned, implemented and ran a large-scale communications strategy across multiple channels.

I can help businesses deliver the right messages to key audiences and successfully manage digital communication. I have extensive experience in delivering training and consulting to executives through cutting-edge
knowledge in sustainability marketing and digital marketing (National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, European Reliance Insurances, APIVITA).

I am also keen to share my expertise on sustainability marketing and digital marketing as a keynote or guest speaker.

I am a firm believer in the synergies between academia and business to address real challenges responsibly. A good example is my most recent research collaboration which has direct implications for businesses (£250,000 grant for a Management Knowledge Transfer Program funded by UK Research & Innovation, with Professor Jeff Jia). Through our research and training we will help an African SME to improve their marketing strategy and transform their business with a potential impact on the local economy and community. I am keen to collaborate with businesses to co-produce projects with similar challenges.