Associate Professor Dr. Ayşe Begüm Ersoy is a scholar and practitioner of marketing whose career spans more than two decades across academia, multinational corporations, and international research collaborations. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Marketing in the Shannon School of Business at Cape Breton University, where she has also held major academic leadership positions, including Chair of the Organizational Management Department and Chair of the Management and Marketing Department. Her work is distinguished by a unique integration of rigorous academic research, senior-level industry expertise, and a sustained commitment to student mentorship and curriculum innovation.

Dr. Ersoy earned her PhD in Marketing from Istanbul Technical University, following an MBA from Youngstown State University in Ohio and a BA in Political Science with minors in Economics and Spanish from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. Her early international education, including her Rotary exchange year in the United States and French secondary education at Saint-Benoît in Istanbul, shaped the global perspective that defines her academic and professional trajectory.

Before entering academia full time, Dr. Ersoy built an extensive industry career in Europe and the Middle East, holding regional and global marketing leadership roles at some of the world’s most influential corporations. Her portfolio includes senior positions with PepsiCo International, The Coca-Cola Company, British American Tobacco, Danone, L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, and Nortel Networks. She served as the Power of One Marketing Director in Romania for PepsiCo; Region Marketing Manager for The Coca-Cola Company across Central and East Mediterranean markets, including Greece and Bulgaria; and Head of Brands for Nestlé Waters in Turkey. In these roles, she led multinational teams, developed integrated marketing strategies, managed large brand portfolios, and oversaw market expansion initiatives across culturally diverse regions.

Drawing on this professional foundation, Dr. Ersoy’s research explores emerging and high-impact themes in marketing, including artificial intelligence applications in retail, online consumer behavior, social media engagement, brand ethics, loyalty program design, and international marketing strategy. She has published in peer-reviewed, Scopus-indexed journals, contributed chapters to international edited books, and presented widely at global academic conferences in Europe, North America, and Asia. Her publications include research on brand ethics and social media management, CRM applications in tourism and hospitality, and AI-enabled consumer experience. She has also pursued interdisciplinary projects involving digital twins, wearable IoT technologies, and AI-supported retail innovation.

At Cape Breton University, Dr. Ersoy teaches across undergraduate and MBA programs, offering courses in marketing strategy, applied research methods, fundamentals of marketing, social media marketing, and international marketing. She has supervised numerous MBA theses—particularly in customer satisfaction, CRM, and organizational buying behavior—and has guided students in academic competitions and industry-focused research projects. Her dedication to teaching excellence has been recognized through multiple Faculty Awards at the American University of the Middle East, where she played a key role in establishing a digital marketing laboratory and contributed actively to AACSB accreditation initiatives.

Dr. Ersoy’s service contributions extend to academic committees, accreditation processes, and professional associations. She is an active member of the American Marketing Association, Canadian Marketing Association, Academy of Marketing Science, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, American Collegiate of Marketing Education, and the Independent Women Directors Project. She has also delivered invited presentations and keynote speeches at industry conferences and community events, including WTI and Maritime Atlantic.

Today, Dr. Ersoy continues to advance a research agenda centered on AI-driven marketing, digital transformation, and the societal implications of technology adoption, while contributing to regional development projects in Nova Scotia. Her work reflects a dedication to bridging industry and academia, fostering global perspectives in business education, and advancing marketing scholarship through interdisciplinary and practice-oriented research.

Keynote Topic

About the Keynote

Business excellence in the modern era extends far beyond traditional measures such as profitability and market share. It emphasizes that organizations must create sustainable economic value while fostering innovation, ethical governance, stakeholder well-being, resilience, and positive societal impact. Drawing on stakeholder theory, shared value, and dynamic capabilities, the speech highlights how artificial intelligence and digital transformation can enhance organizational performance when implemented responsibly and ethically. It also stresses the continuing importance of human-centered leadership, noting that qualities such as empathy, ethical judgment, and emotional intelligence remain essential despite technological advances. Sustainability is presented as a strategic imperative rather than a compliance issue, with organizations expected to balance economic, social, and environmental goals. Finally, the speech identifies resilience, adaptability, continuous learning, and collaboration between academia and industry as critical factors for success in an increasingly uncertain global environment.