Dr Katharina Stolley

• PhD in Marketing, University of Birmingham, 2024
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE), University of Birmingham, 2024
• Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Research Methods and Skills, University of Birmingham, 2019
• MSc in Consumer Behaviour, Goldsmiths, University of London, 2016
• BA (Hons) in Business Studies and International Management, University of Hertfordshire & Hochschule Bremen, 2014

Dr Katharina Stolley is a Lecturer in Marketing at University of Birmingham. She teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students, serves as a personal tutor, and supervises PhD students. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Lead for the Department of Marketing.

Katharina’s research focuses on marketing, media and culture, with particular interests in film, entertainment and the wider creative industries. Her work is informed by interpretative and sociocultural approaches and examines the relationship between culture, commerce and marketing.

Her doctoral research, titled Who Is Responsible for the Balance Between Art and Commerce? The Case of Branded Entertainment, was nominated for the Academy of Marketing’s Professor Michael J. Baker Doctoral Thesis Award in recognition of its contribution to the field.

Before joining University of Birmingham, Katharina was an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, and the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. At the School of Creative Management within Goldsmiths’ Institute of Management Studies, she also worked as a Research Assistant on an Innovate UK-funded project focused on mobile payments and real-time marketing.

Katharina brings professional experience from the film and music industries, as well as the hospitality and skincare sectors. She completed vocational training as a Commercial Specialist for Audiovisual Media while working as a Junior Talent Agent at a talent agency. Her experience in the creative industries continues to inform her academic research and provides a strong connection between academic scholarship and professional practice.

UG Modules:

• Strategic Global Communication (Edgbaston and Singapore)
• Public Relations and Reputation Management

PG Modules:

• Marketing in the Creative and Cultural Sector | MA in Digital Marketing and Communication in the Creative Industries (DMCI)

Katharina’s PhD supervision interests include film and arts marketing, branding, marketing communications, the creative and cultural industries, and cultural production and consumption. She is particularly interested in research that examines the ethical and social dimensions of marketing and consumption through qualitative approaches.

Katharina’s research sits at the intersection of marketing, media and culture, with a particular focus on film, entertainment and the wider cultural and creative industries. Her current research examines branded entertainment as an evolving form of marketing communication and its role in contemporary branding and marketing strategies. Drawing on interpretative methodologies and sociocultural perspectives, she explores the development of branded entertainment from traditional product placement towards more integrated forms of brand communication, with particular attention to the tensions between commercial objectives and creative practice. Her work also examines the challenges faced by industry practitioners in developing, producing and distributing branded entertainment, including questions of collaboration and intellectual property. A further strand of her research considers the ethical implications of integrating brands into entertainment and the responsibilities associated with these practices.