Skip to content

Dr Terry O'Sullivan

Staff photo

Senior Lecturer in Management and Head of the Department for Strategy and Marketing

You can email Dr Terry O'Sullivan directly; but for media enquiries please contact a member of The Open University's Media Relations team.

Staff profile

See below for Dr Terry O'Sullivan's:

Biography

Prior to joining The Open University Business School, Terry was Principal Lecturer in the Faculty of Media at Trinity and All Saints, a college of the University of Leeds where he had institution-wide responsibility for international links. His prior experience also includes marketing and advertising management at Nestle-Rowntree, and leading the marketing and publicity functions at two regional repertory theatres: Derby Playhouse and York Theatre Royal. He has worked as a marketing or fundraising consultant for a number of organisations in the arts and non-profit sector, most recently for the European Fundraising Association. Until recently he was Senior Examiner for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, having developed and written the CIM Introductory Certificate in Marketing qualification.

He contributes regularly to OpenLearn. He is an active member of ISM-Open, the Open University arm of the Institute for Social Marketing, jointly hosted with the University of Stirling.

Teaching interests

Terry chairs the module Making sense of strategy (B301), studied by everyone who takes the Open University Business School's popular BA in Business Studies. His other teaching responsibilities include the first-stage MBA course, Managing performance and change (also known as the Professional Diploma in Management).

Research interests

Terry's research is in the areas of arts and social marketing, and marketing ethics. He is particularly interested in research which has the potential to contribute to policy and practice in marketing. Recent publications include an analysis of debates around advertising and children in contemporary UK society, and the use of social software (such as web forums) in extending the experience of performing arts audiences.

He has published in the following journals: The Journal of Marketing Management, Qualitative Market Research, The International Journal of Advertising, The International Journal of Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, Consumption Markets and Culture and the International Journal of Arts Management.  His books include two popular marketing text books Foundation Marketing (now in its third edition), and The CIM Companion to Introductory Certificate in Marketing, and Creative Arts Marketing, the leading UK textbook in the growing field of arts marketing.

External contributions

Terry is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Management and is the Regional Editor (Europe) for Arts Marketing, an International Journal. He is also the elist owner for the Arts and Heritage Marketing Special Interest Group of the Academy of Marketing.

International collaborations

Terry is a visiting lecturer at the Facultat de Comunicacio Blanquerna, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona

Areas of expertise

  • Arts marketing
  • Social marketing (focusing on pro-environmental behaviour)
  • Marketing communications

Publications

Journal papers
Smith, A, O'Sullivan, T  (2012)  'Environmentally responsible behaviour in the workplace: an internal social marketing approach', Journal of Marketing Management, pp. (In press). Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2010)  'Dangling conversations: web-forum use by a symphony orchestra's audience members', Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 26, issue 7 & 8, pp. 656-670. Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2010)  'More than words? Conversation analysis in arts marketing research', International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 4, issue 1, pp. 20-32. Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2009)  'All together now: a classical music audience as a consuming community', Consumption, Markets and Culture, vol. 12, issue 3, pp. 209-223.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2007)  'Get MediaSmart®: A critical discourse analysis of controversy around advertising to children in the UK', Consumption, Markets and Culture, vol. 10, issue 3, pp. 293-314. Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2007)  'Sounding boards: performing arts organizations and the Internet forum', International Journal of Arts Management, vol. 9, issue 3, pp. 65-77. Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2006)  'All Marketers are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World by Seth Godin. Book review.', Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, vol. 15, issue 1, pp. 65-66.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2006)  'Book review: Proper marketing: a review of 'Marketing Management for Nonprofit Organisations' by A. Sargeant', Nonprofit Management and Leadership, vol. 16, issue 3, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 369-372. Abstract
McDermott, L, O'Sullivan, TJ, Stead, M, Hastings, G  (2006)  'Food Advertising, Pester Power, and Its Effects', International Journal of Advertising, vol. 25, issue 4, pp. 513-539.
McDermott, L, O'Sullivan, TJ, Stead, M, Hastings, G  (2006)  'International food advertising, pester power and its effects', International Journal of Advertising, vol. 25, issue 4, pp. 513-539. Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2005)  'Choosing better: a review of The Ethical Consumer by Harrison, R., Newholm, T. and Shaw, D.', Journal of Customer Behaviour, vol. 4, issue 3, Westburn Publishers Ltd, pp. 445-447.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2005)  'Advertising and children: what do the kids think?', Qualitative Market Research: an international journal, vol. 8, issue 4, pp. 371-384. Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2000)  'Advertising and the male', Tripodos, special edition, pp. 605-616.
O'Sullivan, TJ, O'Sullivan, C  (1996)  'Naivety and relationship marketing in the non-profit sector', International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, vol. 1, pp. 32-40.
Books
Hill, LE, O'Sullivan, TJ  (2004)  'CIM Companion: introductory certificate in marketing', UK, Chartered Institute of Marketing, pp. 264. Abstract
Hill, LE, O'Sullivan, TJ  (2004)  'Foundation Marketing, (3rd edition)', Harlow, U.K., Pearson Education Limited, pp. 480. Abstract
Hill, LE, O'Sullivan, TJ, O'Sullivan, C  (2003)  'Creative arts marketing. 2nd edition', Oxford, UK, Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 384. Abstract
Hill, LE, O'Sullivan, TJ  (2001)  'CIM Companion: foundations of marketing', Cookham, The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Hill, LE, O'Sullivan, TJ  (1999)  'Marketing (Longman Modular Texts in Business and Economics)', Addison Wesley Longman.
Hill, LE, O'Sullivan, C, O'Sullivan, TJ  (1995)  'Creative Arts Marketing', Butterworth-Heinemann.
Book chapters
O'Sullivan, TJ  (1992)  'Marketing planning', Hammond, J (ed.) The Manager's Guide to Business Success, IFS Direct, pp. 125-148.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (1992)  'Promotion', Hammond, J (ed.) The Manager's Guide to Business Success, IFS Direct, pp. 49-82.
Conference papers
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2007)  'All together now: a classical music audience as a consuming community', 9th International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management, AIMAC, Valencia, 9 July.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2006)  'Child sponsorship as parasocial interaction', Academy of Marketing Conference, Middlesex University.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2006)  'The efoyer', Active Audiences, 3rd Seminar in Rethinking Arts Marketing, ESRC Seminar Series, Open University Business School, Milton Keynes, 7 July.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2006)  'Voices@Play: cultural consumers interacting online', First Workshop Arts, Culture and Management in Europe, Neuchatel, Switzerland, September.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2005)  'House lights up: reimagining the audience for the performing arts', Academy of Marketing Conference, Dublin Institute of Technology, 6 July.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2005)  'Sounding boards: performing arts organisations and the internet forum', 18th UK Services Marketing Workshop, School of Business and Management, University of Glasgow , 11 November.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2004)  'Analysing discourse on advertising and children', 'Virtue in Marketing', Academy of Marketing Conference, University of Gloucester.
Mordaunt, J, O'Sullivan, TJ  (2004)  'Working with a sector: providing quality non-profit management education', AACSB International 2004 Distance Learning Conference, Houston, Texas, (Webcast from Open University), May.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2003)  'Marketing ethics after the "movement', Academy of Marketing Conference, Aston University.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2000)  'Advertising and the male', The Impact of Information and Communication on Technologies and Social Realities, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (1993)  'Promoting Asian New Writing on Tour: 'Song for a Sanctuary' at the West Yorkshire Playhouse', Marketing Education Group Conference, Loughborough University.
Other
O'Sullivan, T  (2012)  'Conducting research with children and adolescents, by Julie Tinson', Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 28, issue 13-14, pp. 1646-1648. Abstract
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2009)  'Campaign diamond geezer', issue 24/02/10, Blog for the BBC's The Money Programme.
Rutterford, JM, O'Sullivan, TJ  (2008)  'Money & Management podcast', issue 30/10/10, Podcast for the BBC's The Money Programme.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2008)  'Retail revolutions', issue 19/11/10, Blog for the BBC's The Money Programme.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2007)  'Advertising goes to the cinema', issue 26/07/10, Blog for the BBC's The Money Programme.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2007)  'Pester power', issue 27/02/10, Blog for the BBC's Money Programme.
O'Sullivan, TJ  (2006)  'Animal magic', issue 09/06/10, Blog for the BBC's The Money Programme.