Prof. Varsha Jain on “The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding"

In the recent episode of 'Business Talk,' Prof. Varsha Jain, the AGK Chair Professor of Marketing and Co-Chairperson of Research, Conference, Centre for Research Excellence in Marketing and Dissertation at MICA, India, delves into her latest book, "The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding: Signature Programs that Impact & Inspire Both Business and Society." The book is co-authored with Prof. David A. Aaker, renowned as the visionary "father of modern branding" and E.T. Grether Professor Emeritus of Marketing and Public Policy at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. About the Guest: Prof. Varsha Jain is the AGK chair professor of marketing and co-chairperson of research, Conference, Centre for Research Excellence in Marketing and dissertation at the MICA, India. She is the deputy editor of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour (JCB, "A" Journal) and an associate editor (AE) at three "A" journals: Psychology and Marketing, the Journal of Consumer Marketing, and the Australasian Marketing Journal. She received the best AE award from JCB in 2022, was an editorial board member at the International Journal of Information Management (A* Journal) and Journal of Business Research (A journal, social media track), and co-track chairperson at the Advertising Academy of Marketing Science, USA, the annual conference, 2023 and co-chairperson, special session, American Marketing Association Winter Conference, 2024. She has authored over 145+ publications (primarily qualitative research in the digital age), including multiple papers in A* and A journals, including the European Journal of Marketing, the International Journal of Information Management, the Journal of Advertising Research, the Journal of Consumer Behavior, the Journal of Consumer Marketing, and the Journal of Business Research. She has received over 27 international and national awards and gold medals in scholarship. The most recent is the 2024 Best Paper award for a special session held at Winter AMA 2024 at AMA Annual Conference, USA, 2024; the Best Methodology Paper Award at Newcastle University along with Lanchester University Management School and Brunel University, UK (2023) at Marketing, Strategy, and Policy (MSP) Conference, UK and Best Paper (Runner-up) award for a special session held at Winter AMA 2023 at AMA Annual Conference, USA. In her global research career, she is a visiting guest at Emory Business School, Atlanta, Michigan State University, University of Washington, USA, a visiting scholar at Greenwich University, London, and The Medill School, Northwestern University, USA. Her interests are advertising, branding, consumer behaviour, and digital marketing, primarily immersive technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (Al), Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Metaverse. She is also co-editor for seven special issues related to Al, social media influencers, and Metaverse for JCB in the "A" journals in 2024 and 2025. She has co-authored and co-edited books, primarily with Prof. Jag Sheth, Consumer Behaviour, Al and Services, Customer Services in Digital Context, and Purpose-driven Branding with Prof. David Aaker. With these global legends, she is working on seven more books related to Al and marketing, global digital consumer behaviour, and customer relationship marketing in the digital context, Aaker on branding, sub-categories of brands, and other international scholars on qualitative research in the digital world and brand India.