Integrating Information Technology into Marketing Practice – The IT Reality of Contemporary Marketing Practice

The continuing assimilation of Information Technology (IT) into marketing practice is an issue of our time. The aim of this paper is to highlight that, despite the current negativity in the market, it is crucial that marketing's continuing assimilation of IT, for a variety of purposes, is not impacted. It also suggests a holistic rather than individualist view of IT in marketing in order to capitalise on its benefits and to cope with the reality of IT assimilation. Following empirical research a framework is proposed, which integrates contemporary marketing practice and IT assimilation, both descriptively and prescriptively. This framework can be used academically and practically, as a guide to the marketing specific IT assimilation issues. This paper is also a rally call for marketing professionals and academics to become more IT proficient in order to capitalise on the board range of ITs which are becoming core requirements for the practice of marketing.