Navigating the Portuguese digital landscape: Martech systems’ adoption, digital intensity, transition and transformation: Balancing traditional and innovative marketing strategies

Abstract

This exploratory study aims to identify opportunities and challenges within the process of enhancement of the Digital Intensity of Portuguese enterpris-es in relation to their Martech strategies, including AI, Big Data, Cloud, ERP and CRM systems' implementation. An innovative approach to marketing digital transformation is proposed combining the Multilevel Framework for Responsible Digitalization and the Change Engagement model. Such inte-gration is an original contribution to literature, providing a holistic and structured approach to understand and promote digital transformation through responsible and sustainable lens.The analysis considers Martech im-plementation as constitutive variable of the Digital Intensity Index, and fo-cuses on the Portuguese landscape, discussing data retrieved from Eurostat and the national Report Digital Transition in the light of the two theoretical frameworks. A complementary perspective is added interviewing privileged informants, representing three types of key actors in the implementation processes of Marketing management and Business Intelligence, Digital Communication and Branding, Automation and CRM: enterprises’ manag-ers, Martech service providers and marketing consultants. Our findings cross businesses’ perspectives, showing different strategic approaches to lead with digital transition and transformation and point to three pillars to enhance Digital Intensity, balancing traditional and innovative marketing strategies: digital literacy, sustainability, and stakeholders’ engagement. Main practical contributions emphasize the need for an engaged collaboration between gov-ernment, business, and civil society, aligning their efforts to share responsi-bilities, design strategies, implement actions and shape digitalization policies that ensure participation, sustainability, and fairness of the digital transfor-mation efforts and consequences over time.