Digital marketplaces have transformed every aspect of our lives. Data are now the life blood of these marketplaces and how that data are created, captured, and curated, is deciding the difference between today and tomorrow’s winners and wannabes. Moreover, while the digital marketplace is considered to be the great equalizer by many, its benefits are often not enjoyed equally between organizations and firms operating in different geographical locations. Indeed, the chasm between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ is growing – a trend that is expected to continue. Firms face the challenge of how to deploy data analytics in solving key and strategic marketing problems; the use of marketing technology as an investment that yields a strategic advantage; the factors that can trigger and drive customer engagement in an era of more choice than ever before? And, firms need to know at what point should they engage with customers, through which channel and with what message, for success to be achieved? Most important of all, and the crux issue underlining all of the aforementioned, what does the future of marketing and communications look like and what role will data and analytics play in this domain?
With challenges enters opportunity. On the 5th-7th January 2022 the University of Southampton, UK and MICA, India, will co-host an international conference on The Future of Business in a Digital Age: Data, Analytics and Narratives. Researchers and practitioners from around the world will come together to present their work on this topic. A core theme of the conference pertains to the future of marketing and communications and how data and analytics will be deployed from a strategic perspective. Critical empirical and conceptual work from the conference will be encouraged to submit full drafts for consideration at the Journal of Strategic Marketing via the normal review protocol. Successful manuscripts will appear amongst a collection of other articles from the conference.
Whilst manuscripts will be considered from a broad church of marketing and communications topics, examples may include:
- Customer Experience Data and Implications
- Leveraging Data and Technology to Enhance Customer Experiences
- Understanding the Customer Journey using data and analytics
- Consumer Insight Mining using novel methods and technologies
- MarTech Challenges and Opportunities
- Digital Marketing Metrics for Growth.
- The Role of Data in Communications
- Social Media and Influencer Marketing
- Search Marketing
- Search Engine Optimisation
