Omar Rodríguez-Vilá

Omar Rodríguez-Vilá is Professor in the Practice of Marketing and currently serves as Academic Director of Education at The Roberto C. Goizueta Business & Society Institute, an academic research center with a mission to transform business to build a more equitable and climate-smart world.

He completed his PhD in Marketing from Emory University's Goizueta Business School (2012). Prior to joining Goizueta, Dr. Rodríguez-Vilá was a faculty member at the Scheller College of Business of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

He has been selected as Core Professor of the Year six times during his 8 years in academia. Dr. Rodríguez-Vilá’s primary research focus is forces transforming the practice of marketing. First, he studies how environmental and social sustainability considerations are changing the nature of marketing activities. His work entitled “Competing on Social Purpose” was published in Harvard Business Review on September 2017 and ranks among the most read articles on the subject on HBR. It was re-published in 2020 as part of a special edition on Leadership and Purpose.

He is currently leading research into how brands communicate societal benefits in social media and into the marketplace practices of antiracist brands. He also studies how firms are evolving their marketing capabilities in order to compete in technology led market environments. His more recent work entitled “Is Your Marketing Organization Ready for What’s Next?” was published in the December 2020 edition of Harvard Business Review. Prior to his career in academia, Dr. Rodríguez-Vilá held leadership positions in marketing at The Coca‐Cola Company including serving as the Global Vice-President of Integrated Marketing Communications and Integrated Marketing Director for Coca-Cola China

Areas of Expertise

• Marketing Strategy
• Sustainability
• Social Purpose
• Modern Marketing
• Marketing Capabilities

Education

• Emory University: PhD, Marketing 2012
• Northwestern University: MBA, Business Administration (Strategy and Marketing) 2001
• Syracuse University: Bachelor of Science, Communications 1991

Companies

• Professor of Marketing Practice Emory University - Goizueta Business School (2021)
• Associate Professor in the Practice of Marketing Emory University - Goizueta Business School (2018)
• Assistant Professor, Marketing and Strategy Georgia Tech, Scheller College of Business (2012)
• Senior Manager, Global Marketing Capabilities The Coca-Cola Company (2007 — 2008)
• Integrated Marketing Director The Coca-Cola Company (2004 — 2007)
• VP - Worldwide Director of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) The Coca-Cola Company (2001 — 2004)
• Marketing and Strategy Consultant Monitor Deloitte (ex Monitor Group) (2001 — 2002)
• MBA Summer Intern IBM (2000 — 2000)
• Latin America & International Media Director The Coca-Cola Company (1996 — 1998)