Title: Dynamics of marketing automation adoption for organisational marketing process transformation: the case of Microsoft

Authors: Sung Hak Hong; Min Jae Park

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Seoul School of Integrated Sciences and Technologies, 46, Ewhayeodae 2-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea ' Department of E-business, Ajou University, 432 Dasan-Hall, 206 Worldcup-ro, Yeongdong-gu, Suwon, South Korea

Abstract: As markets and customers rapidly digitalise with technological advances, companies are responding by increasingly introducing marketing automation (MA). This study aims to support successful MA adoption and marketing transformation. To achieve this aim, we design an MA adoption model based on Kotter's eight-step model, and we study the dynamics of the MA adoption process by analysing Microsoft's MA adoption case. Based on the results of the analysis, we present an MA adoption model in eight stages. The MA adoption model proposes a step-by-step transformation in adopting MA and suggests that to ensure successful completion, MA should be adopted in conjunction with marketing transformation rather than remaining on the level of technology adoption. The MA adoption model presented in this study is expected to help managers understand the dynamics of MA adoption and, thus, help them to build an appropriate MA adoption strategy.

Keywords: marketing automation; process transformation; Kotter's model; case; Microsoft.

DOI: 10.1504/IJECRM.2020.110039

International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management, 2020 Vol.12 No.3, pp.205 - 224

Received: 10 Jul 2019
Accepted: 29 Feb 2020
Published online: 01 Oct 2020 *

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