Graham Hankinson began his career as a market researcher before joining the Survey Research Centre at the London School of Economics. He has since held professorial positions at Thames Valley University and the University of Lincoln. He has also been Dean of the Business School at the University of Lincoln and was Head of the School of Marketing and Corporate Strategy at Kingston University. He now teaches and researches at London Metropolitan University Business School. His writing and research has been in the area of brands and their management, and more recently focused on the creation and maintenance of places as brands.