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Brandi Watkins

Brandi Watkins, Associate Professor

Brandi Watkins, Associate Professor
Brandi Watkins, Associate Professor

School of Communication
101 Shanks Hall
181 Turner Street, NW
Blacksburg, VA 24061
brandi1@vt.edu

Brandi Watkins is an associate professor in the School of Communication. Her research looks at how organizations use social media to create, maintain, and enhance relationships with their publics. Most of her research is conducted in the context of professional sports.

  • Public Relations in Sports
  • Social Media
  • Corporate Communication
  • Branding
  • Gender
  • PhD, University of Alabama, 2013
  • MA, University of Alabama, 2008
  • BA, Mississippi University for Women, 2006
  • Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication
  • International Communication Association
  • American Academy of Advertising
  • Graduate Teaching Assistantship, College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama, 2011-2013
  • Travel Fund Award, Graduate School at the University of Alabama, 2013
  • Top Paper Award, BEA Proposals in Progress Competition, April 2012

Select Journal Articles

Watkins, B. (2014). An integrated approach to Sports Branding: Examining the Influence of Social Media on Brand Outcomes. The International Journal of Strategic Communication (6)2, 20-30.

Watkins, B., & Lewis, R. (2014). Winning with apps: A case study of the current branding strategies employed on professional sport team mobile apps. International Journal of Sport Communication 7, 399-416. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/IJSC.2014-0009

Watkins, B., & Lewis, R. (2014). Initiating dialogue on social media: An investigation of athletes’ use of dialogic principles and structural features of Twitter. Public Relations Review 40 (853-855).

  • Social Media
  • Sports and Public Relations
  • Writing and Editing for Public Relations