Prof. Falguni Vasavada-Oza

Professor, Academic Head, The School of Applied Creativity

Academic Area: Brand Management

Falguni Vasavada is a Professor & Co-Chair of CCC (Crafting Creative Communication) and LMDP (Learning and Management Development Programs) at MICA. She has a Ph.D. from Sardar Patel University in 2009 and an M.Com. from Saurashtra University, 1998. She is a double gold medalist with over two and a half decades of academic experience in Marketing and Advertising. She teaches on-campus and online programs and mentors students and scholars in dissertations and projects.

As a senior member, Falguni sits on various committees and academic advisory boards. She has trained corporate professionals and mentored young entrepreneurs. She has published in International Journals and presented papers at national and international conferences. She is a visiting faculty at management institutes of repute in India and overseas. She is a TEDx speaker frequently invited speaker to reputed forums/panels/events and round tables. She has been a keynote speaker at conferences, industry summits and startup conclaves.

Falguni speaks on Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Social Media, Personal Branding, Gender Equality, Body Positivity, Women Empowerment, Work-Life Balance, Happiness as a Lifestyle and Motivation.

Falguni is an avid content creator and actively creates content on social media platforms on women empowerment, gender equality and body positivity. With a wide reach and engagement, she has established a strong presence on social media. Her journey has been covered by many reputed blogs, podcasts, magazines and publications.

In her free time, she loves to read fiction about women, watch movies and cook. And yes, she loves social networking and believes in being technologically savvy and, therefore, is available 360 degrees. Her motto in life is – to make the best of whatever you have. Appreciate the positives and live life to the fullest!

2. Areas of Research
  • Influencer Marketing
  • Brands on Social Media
  • Portrayals in Advertising
  • Consumer Perception/Responses to Brand Communication
  • Account Planning
  • Social Media Consumption by Youth
  • Strategies of Influencers in dealing with negative comments
  • Sustainable brands and content on Instagram
  • Brand personality of AI influencers
3. Awards and Honours
  • Won Femina Achiever Award 2024 for her contribution to the academic world and content on social media
  • 3 times TEDX Speaker. Topics: Body Positivity, Rethinking Happiness and Breaking Stereotypes.
  • Covered by CNBC Bazaar and Zee24Kalak as Woman of the Week
  • Jury Member for Social Samosa Awards 2017
  • Jury Member for Social Media 4 Empowerment Awards by Digital Empowerment Foundation in 2015
  • Recognized as a Social Media Woman Hacker by SMW Mumbai 2015 & was invited to speak at SMW, Mumbai
  • Invited as Keynote speaker in multiple forums on Marketing, Advertising, PR, Women Communities, Social Media, Facebook, Startups and more
  • Appointed as Independent Women Director on the Board of Nandan Denims, Ahmedabad.
  • Invited Member of Consumer Complaints Council of Advertising Standards Council of India - ASCI
  • Member - Board of Studies - M.S. University and SEMCOM, V V Nagar
  • Independent Director - Nandan Denim
4. Research Publications
  • Tell me a story! Antecedents to purchase of handloom products in India – accepted for publication at Global Business Review 2020 (With Payal Trivedi)
  • Zydus Wellness: Nutralite’s Marketing Twist, IVY Publishing, 2019
  • Is Selfie Moving Towards Popular Culture? - Application of Selfie Phenomenon and Extension of Digital Self in Television Ads, Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies Volume: 7 – Issue: 4 October – 2017 (With Khyati Jagani)
  • Heritage Tourism: How Advertising is branding the Intangibles? Journal of Heritage Management, I (I) 22-34 (With Gurpreet Kour)
  • Promoting Organizational Brands as Desirable Employers Through Company Websites: A Study of Three Indian IT Companies, The IUP Journal of Brand Management, Vol. XIII, No.2, 2016 (With Dhriti Bhattacharjee)
  • Capturing Trends and Identifying the Emerging Cool: A Study of Indian Bollywood Celebs on Twitter, Vol 6 Num3 Media Watch September 2015 (With Santosh Patra, Palak Gadhiya and Krishna Mishra)
5. Areas of Teaching/Training
  • Contemporary Advertising – A Strategic Approach
  • FDP in Teaching Pedagogy and Engagement
  • Social Media Etiquettes
  • Personal Branding on Social Media
  • Marketing Communication
  • Marketing
6. Areas of Consultancy
  • Branding
  • Social Media Usage Patterns
  • Advertising Strategy
  • Consumer Perception towards Communication
  • Insights from Usage of Social Media
  • Portrayals in Advertising