Digital Leadership in Marketing: A Qualitative Exploration of Strategic Sensemaking in the Digital Era
Abstract
Digital transformation has fundamentally reshaped the marketing landscape, introducing heightened complexity, data saturation, and continuous strategic uncertainty. In this context, digital leadership can no longer be understood merely as technological competence, but rather as an interpretive process through which leaders construct meaning and guide strategic action. This study explores digital leadership in marketing through the lens of strategic sensemaking, focusing on how marketing leaders interpret dynamic digital environments and translate ambiguous signals into coherent strategic decisions. Adopting a qualitative research design grounded in an interpretive paradigm, the study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior marketing leaders across digitally intensive industries. The findings reveal that effective digital leadership is characterized by three interrelated practices: interpreting digital signals beyond surface-level analytics, constructing shared meaning from data through narrative framing, and fostering collaborative sensemaking to align marketing strategies. The study demonstrates that strategic outcomes in digital marketing are strongly shaped by leaders’ interpretive capabilities rather than by technological resources alone. Theoretically, the research extends sensemaking theory by positioning digital leadership as a dynamic, socially constructed process embedded in marketing strategy formation. Practically, it highlights the importance of developing leadership capacities that integrate analytical insight, contextual judgment, and collective interpretation. Overall, the study contributes nuanced insights into how organizations can navigate digital complexity through sensemaking-driven leadership in contemporary marketing contexts.
Downloads
References
Beverland, M., Micheli, P., & Farrelly, F. (2016). Resourceful Sensemaking: Overcoming Barriers between Marketing and Design in NPD. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33(5), 628-648. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12313
Cattani, G., Porac, J., & Thomas, H. (2016). Categories and competition. Strategic Management Journal, 38(1), 64-92. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2591
Cattani, G., Sands, D., Porac, J., & Greenberg, J. (2018). Competitive Sensemaking in Value Creation and Capture. Strategy Science, 3(4), 632-657. https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2018.0069
Johnson, D., Sihi, D., & Muzellec, L. (2021). Implementing Big Data Analytics in Marketing Departments: Mixing Organic and Administered Approaches to Increase Data-Driven Decision Making. Informatics, 8(4), 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics8040066
Kaplan, S. and Orlikowski, W. (2013). Temporal Work in Strategy Making. Organization Science, 24(4), 965-995. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0792
Klarin, A. and Sharmelly, R. (2019). Strategic Sensemaking and Political Connections in Unstable Institutional Contexts. Journal of Management Inquiry, 30(1), 3-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492619862635
Klein, G., Moon, B., & Hoffman, R. (2006). Making Sense of Sensemaking 1: Alternative Perspectives. Ieee Intelligent Systems, 21(4), 70-73. https://doi.org/10.1109/mis.2006.75
Klein, M. (2020). LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS IN THE ERA OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. Business and Management Studies an International Journal, 8(1), 883-902. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v8i1.1441
Li, Z., Yang, C., Yang, Z., & Zhao, Y. (2024). The impact of middle managers’ digital leadership on employee work engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1368442
Maitlis, S. (2005). The Social Processes of Organizational Sensemaking. Academy of Management Journal, 48(1), 21-49. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2005.15993111
Medeiros, K., Crayne, M., Griffith, J., Hardy, J., & Damadzic, A. (2022). Leader sensemaking style in response to crisis: Consequences and insights from the COVID-19 pandemic. Personality and Individual Differences, 187, 111406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111406
Mihardjo, L., Sasmoko, S., Alamsyah, F., & Elidjen, E. (2019). The influence of digital leadership on innovation management based on dynamic capability: Market orientation as a moderator. Management Science Letters, 1059-1070. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2019.3.018
Mogaji, E., Soetan, T., & Kieu, T. (2020). The implications of artificial intelligence on the digital marketing of financial services to vulnerable customers. Australasian Marketing Journal, 29(3), 235-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2020.05.003
Moqaddamerad, S. and Tapinos, E. (2022). Managing business model innovation uncertainties in 5G technology: a future‐oriented sensemaking perspective. R and D Management, 53(2), 244-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/radm.12559
Neill, S., McKee, D., & Rose, G. (2007). Developing the organization's sensemaking capability: Precursor to an adaptive strategic marketing response. Industrial Marketing Management, 36(6), 731-744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2006.05.008
Rouleau, L. and Balogun, J. (2011). Middle Managers, Strategic Sensemaking, and Discursive Competence. Journal of Management Studies, 48(5), 953-983. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00941.x
Samdanis, M. and Lee, S. (2019). Uncertainty, strategic sensemaking and organisational failure in the art market: What went wrong with LVMH's investment in Phillips auctioneers?. Journal of Business Research, 98, 475-488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.08.030
Sandberg, J. and Tsoukas, H. (2014). Making sense of the sensemaking perspective: Its constituents, limitations, and opportunities for further development. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(S1), S6-S32. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1937
Shin, J., Mollah, M., & Choi, J. (2023). Sustainability and Organizational Performance in South Korea: The Effect of Digital Leadership on Digital Culture and Employees’ Digital Capabilities. Sustainability, 15(3), 2027. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032027
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Leadership in Organisation and Development (JLOD)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
