From Data to Strategy: Contextualising the Strategic Big Data Analytics Model in Marketing

Abstract

This paper aims to address the strategic gap between data availability and its utilisation in marketing strategy within the South African context. Despite global advancements in Big Data Analytics (BDA), many firms in emerging markets remain entrenched in operational analytics with limited strategic integration. The research develops the Strategic BDA Marketing Model, a contextually grounded framework to guide South African firms in embedding BDA into marketing design, decision-making, and execution. Adopting a qualitative, constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology, the research engaged 32 senior professionals across marketing, analytics, and IT roles in South African firms spanning the retail, finance, telecommunications (telecoms), and technology sectors. Semi-structured interviews and axial coding techniques were used to extract empirical themes. The model is theoretically underpinned by the Resource-Based View (RBV), Dynamic Capabilities Theory, and the Marketing 5.0 paradigm, and integrates six core constructs: Strategic Alignment, Data Readiness, Marketing Intelligence, Organisational Capability, Ethical Data Governance, and Technology Infrastructure. The study finds that although firms have access to vast volumes of data, several critical barriers impede the strategic use of that data. These include misalignment between data and marketing teams, fragmented data systems, limited data literacy, and ethical concerns related to compliance with South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) of 2013. To overcome these challenges, the research proposes six core constructs that enable the strategic integration of Big Data Analytics into marketing: Strategic Alignment, Data Readiness, Marketing Intelligence, Organisational Capability, Ethical Data Governance, and Technology Infrastructure.
The research provides a roadmap for firms to evolve from data-aware to data-strategic marketing organisations. It recommends capability maturity models, cross-functional teams, embedded ethical governance, and martech rationalisation as implementation pathways. These findings hold relevance for business leaders, policymakers, and educators aiming to drive digital transformation ethically and strategically. This article extends the author’s doctoral research (February, 2025) by translating the Strategic BDA Marketing Model into a peer-reviewed academic framework that integrates empirical insights with contemporary literature. In doing so, it contextualises the model for practical application and theoretical refinement within emerging-market environments. The contribution lies not in replication but in the articulation of new, evidence-based perspectives on strategic alignment, ethical governance, and marketing analytics capability in South Africa’s data economy. This study contributes a novel and empirically validated model tailored for emerging markets. Its value lies in integrating ethical, technological, and strategic dimensions into a unified marketing analytics framework, advancing theory and offering actionable insights for practitioners.