A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN MARKETING
A guest blog post by Jon Wesselink
Marketing is everywhere these days but that wasn’t always the case.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane by looking at a brief history of modern marketing.
(1) The Production Era (Late 1910s)
This was the era of mass production and these new efficiencies enabled goods to be created much faster.
Modern marketing emerged during this period to sell these goods more rapidly.
The basic idea here was that the reduced production costs would lead to reduced selling prices and this would appeal to vast numbers of customers overall.
(2) The Sales Era (20s)
‘Salesmen’ become more prominent during this period and the ‘pitch’ was created.
Sales agents encouraged potential ‘consumers’ to purchase products using a variety of promotional techniques.
These were designed to inform & persuade potential customers.
This strategy moved away from simply selling products and instead emphasized the benefits of buying these new items.
(3) The Marketing Era (50s)
This era marks the beginning of “market research”.
This allowed companies to sell the consumer exactly what they wanted and, most importantly, needed.
This was far more effective than trying to talk them into buying meaningless products.
This is also the era of “planned obsolescence” and thus represents the start of what many have called “lifestyle marketing”.
(4) The Ethical Marketing Era (70s)
During this era market research began to create customer-focused strategies promoting socially responsible, moral, and ethical marketing principles.
These were designed to counter some of the more serious criticisms of marketing that had risen from consumerist movements.
(5) The Relationship Marketing Era (80s & 90s)
The customer was placed firmly in the centre of the process.
They were individuals, not just a collective market of consumers to sell products to.
The focus was firmly on gaining repeat business and return customers.
There was a very strong emphasis on building lasting relationships and customer loyalty.
AT&T made the first banner ad during this era and 44% of their users clicked on it.
(6) The Digital Marketing Era (2000s)
This period was very much inspired by society’s dependence on the internet.
Technology now allowed smaller companies to rise up, and in some cases, dominate key markets.
“Digital Marketing” had begun in earnest and became a very valuable way to promote goods and services.
It actively promoted the idea of “content marketing” as a new way to reach potential customers.
Inspired by print media, it becomes a cheap, popular, and effective way to market businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Now What?
Marketing is an evolving process and will continue to change over time.
The big question now is:
WHAT’S NEXT FOR 2022?
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WHAT’S NEXT FOR 2022?
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