Marketing innovator leaps from practise to academia

After a decade-long career in sales and marketing management, Flinders University Honours student Yvonne Li has taken her passion for marketing to the next level—into the world of research.

When Yvonne (Chunyang) Li arrived in Melbourne in 2017 to pursue a masters in marketing, she already had an economics degree in China under her belt, and had enjoyed a thriving career as a high-achieving Regional Sales Marketing Manager.

From theory to practise

Having completed her masters degree, Yvonne stayed in Victoria to practise her skills as Business Developer and Marketing Specialist for a homewares company. After 7 months, she left to start her own marketing consultancy, LYFT Consulting.

‘Lyft Consulting acts as a communication bridge between Caucasian and Asian customers. By bridging the gap between these two major segments in the hospitality industry, I help business owners grow their target markets.’

Over the past 2 years, Yvonne has developed strong business ties with Melbourne café owners and specialty coffee roasters, providing integrated communications across their marketing channels, including social media management, website maintenance, blogging, Google reviews, WeChat digital marketing, and B2B emails.

Yvonne says the foundation of her business is strong client relationships as key to understanding the distinctive value of their products and services.

Taking it to the next level

With her deep interest in market research and innovative enterprises, Yvonne decided to take her career to the next level in July 2022 and applied to Flinders for a Bachelor of Business (Honours) degree in marketing as a pathway to a PhD.

‘Flinders was the only university to offer an Honours degree with a pathway to research in my unique marketing specialisation—livestreaming online shopping. The support of my lecturers and connection to the research community has brought me so much closer to my future career.’

Bringing it all together

Currently halfway through her Honours at Flinders, Yvonne is passionate about her research topic on the growth of livestreaming shopping in the fashion industry*. She is also excited by the potential for future research, saying: ‘In my academic career, I look forward to further investigating consumer behaviour in digital marketing. At the same time, I plan to work on the synthesis of academia and practical marketing in real life.’

With another six months of Honours to go, Yvonne says she will continue refining and developing her thesis with a view to applying for a PhD research scholarship. And the future looks bright, as she fearlessly forges ahead to a new career.

*‘The influence of perceived value on customers’ future live streaming shopping intentions in Australia’s fashion industry.’