Geraldo Matos

Geraldo (Gerry) Matos is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Gabelli School of Business where he teaches courses Marketing, Sports Marketing, and Advertising. His research interests involve a wide range of brand-related issues, including self-brand connection, brand attachment, cool brands, and the politicization of brands. His work has been published in the Marketing Education Review, Journal of Education for Business, and Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice (JMTP). His work on the intersection of branding and politics in JMTP was noted as offering a fresh perspective on branding in a recent journal article. His research has been presented at leading marketing conferences, including the American Marketing Association, Association for Consumer Research (ACR), European ACR, Society for Marketing Advances, Marketing & Public Policy (MPP), Society for Consumer Psychology, and Marketing Management Association (MMA). His co-authored articles won Best Paper at the 2019 MMA and 2021 MPP Conferences.

Professor Matos is the faculty advisor for the RWU American Advertising Federation chapter, a club meant to prepare students interested in a career in the field of marketing/advertising. His students have successfully participated in the AAF sponsored National Student Advertising Competition, having placed in the top 3 of the District 1 competition every year in which they participated, including a first-ever first place finish for RWU in 2020.

Prior to joining academia, Professor Matos had extensive experience in the private sector. His last industry position was as the Senior Vice President of Marketing for New Era Cap. Best known as the official on-field cap for Major League Baseball and the sideline cap for the National Football League, New Era grew from $125M to over $400M in annual revenues during the time Professor Matos was leading the brand. Professor Matos also worked on other well-known brands including Dr. Scholl’s, Coppertone and Fisher-Price. While at Fisher-Price, he led the team that launched Rescue Heroes, a line of action figures for preschool boys.  Rescue Heroes was a global success, ultimately generating over $100M in annual sales, and even spawned a Saturday morning television cartoon.

When not working, Professor Matos enjoys time spent with friends and family, especially when done so while traveling, and golfing. The latter despite the sense that at times it feels exactly how Mark Twain described it – a good walk spoiled.