Heath McDonald

A marketing academic with over 15 years in management roles, Heath is currently the Dean of Economics, Finance & Marketing at RMIT University.

Prof Heath McDonald is the Dean of Economics, Finance & Marketing and Professor of Marketing at RMIT University.

Heath has worked in the hospitality, wine and leisure sectors and have consulted to more than 50 elite sporting organisations worldwide.

Heath's research work focuses on the field of customer acquisition and retention, particularly in subscription markets (e.g., season tickets, memberships). Informed by a marketing science perspective, this work often involves repeated modelling employing large datasets. Major sporting leagues and teams have used this research to drive growth in fan and member numbers, to inform pricing decisions and evaluate stadium design and development.

He has recently worked with the Australian Football League (AFL) on its club membership strategy during and post COVID19 and Zoos Victoria on its membership structure and pricing. His work has attracted over $2.5 million in external research funding, including three prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grants. He is currently working on the second edition of "Sports Consumer Behavior: Marketing Strategies" (Routledge).

Heath is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Sport Management, a Research Fellow of NASSM and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Subscription, Marketing, Fans, Customer Retention, Members, Satisfaction

• Subscription markets (e.g., Netflix, Gyms, Insurance) and how they differ
• Best practice marketing for Member-based organisations (e.g., sport clubs, DAOs)