Lephoko, Thembelihle Philladelphia2024-09-022024-09-022023Lephoko, Thembelihle Philladelphia. (2023). Marketing strategy and business profitability in the South African FMCG industry [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40424https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40424A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023This paper reviews the lay of the land of the FMCG Industry and identified technological challenges, intense competitor rivalry, and evolving consumer needs and demands as contributors that need to be considered during decision-making and marketing strategy development; an important force behind companies delivering profits. Big data analytics has gained widespread recognition as a revolutionary technology in both the academic and business arenas. With more companies launching initiatives dedicated to its implementation, there is still a lot of doubt regarding its potential to transform its operations. Through a literature review, the study revealed key factors of big data analytics and marketing strategy that influence profitability for South African FMCG companies, and it was furthe underpinned by a conceptual framework to test the relationship between the identified factors and profitability, all in the effort to implement the identified factors and constructs effectively. A cross-sectional quantitative study was executed to establish whether big data analytics has a significant relationship to profitability, furthermore, the study tested the usefulness of big data on marketing strategy as well as the rate at which it impacts profitability. The study was conducted on 150 individuals, with 88.1% of them being marketing professionals. SPSS was used as a statistical tool to test the hypotheses that were identified through the literature review. The key findings of this study recommends that FMCG companies focus their efforts on adopting an organizational culture that supports the usage and adoption of big data in decision-making, underpinned by the right technical and managerial skills to extrapolate actionable insights from the data, and forming them part of the marketing strategy process. The findings of the study will open South African FMCG companies’ eyes to the capabilities and benefits of big data and how their marketing strategies can be enhanced for greater organizational impacten© 2023 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.FMCGProfitabilityDecision-makingMarketing strategyBig DataUCTDSDG-8: Decent work and economic growthDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg