Marketing Evolution and the need for Dynamic Marketers

How marketing evolved over time.

Marketing is perhaps the most unpredictable field on planet Earth. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I certainly see it that way. From ancient advertising in the region of Pompeii to creative new marketing techniques, marketing evolution has been incredibly dynamic and so the need for dynamic marketers arises.

In the present age, with the rise of new technologies like Cryptocurrency and NFTs, marketing is becoming even more complex. Modern marketers know they have a handful in their hands. But, the internet is a vast place and it can sometimes be quite stressful to find the correct website to increase knowledge and skills.

Just two years ago, marketers were occupied with Facebook advertising and PPC, then all of a sudden Tik Tok arose, and the transition to short-form content became the go-to strategy for every small and medium business.

Heck! Even the biggies jumped in on the action. From Coca-Cola to Marvel, from Nando’s to Levi’s, everyone scurried to grab a piece of the pie. This meant that marketers had to adapt too, which they did, to varied success.

Not everyone has that dose of creativity that aligns with what modern content requires, but it’s safe to say that in order to stay relevant and be successful in Digital Marketing, there’s a need for marketers to be more dynamic in line with marketing evolution. But first! Let’s see how Marketing evolved over time and how that pattern can act as an indicator of what’s to come.

The Evolution of Marketing — A Brief Description

The Kotler model of evolution

Nearly all schools of thought agree with the idea that marketing evolution took place in distinct phases. All of these phases have a unique element about them and each contributed to the evolution, in their own, unique way. In this article, we’re going to go over the Kotlerian Model of Marketing Evolution, as defined by Philip Kotler.

1. The Production Era
2. The Product Era
3. The Selling Era
4. The Marketing Era
5. The Holistic Era

The Production Era Phase One of the Marketing Evolution

This is the era of Mass Production. Marketing before this era was all about writing long-form copy in newspapers, posting flyers around the city, and to a certain extent, word-of-mouth. Most products were a thing of novelty and due to there not being a standard currency, they were sold in exchange for other goods.

In this model, companies focused on producing as many goods as possible while spending the least amount of money — hence the term Mass Production. The Production Era revolutionized the whole idea of marketing. Suddenly, tons of different products became instantly accessible to a wide variety of the market.

The presence of automation through machines meant products were made in less time than normal and also brought down labor costs. The marketing was still done through ads — enter the printing press.

While before, ads had to be manually written and produced on a shorter scale, the printing press allowed for mass production of newspapers, and so the frequency of ads also increased. Manufacturers utilized the printing press to promote their products and this led to an era where advertising was at its peak!

The Product Era — Phase Two of the Marketing Evolution

The Product Era

If the production era was all about mass production and efficiency, then the product era was the complete opposite. Instead of mass production, this era focused on making the product’s attributes or qualities more appealing to the customers. They packed products with exciting new features and hoped for them to sway away from their target demographic.

This model held the belief that in order to drive revenue, products needed to be packaged properly — this included the fact that they had to be priced and promoted adequately. Companies also focused on securing proper distribution pathways in order to make sure the customers received their products in time.

In a way, this meant those companies valued customer loyalty more than how many products they sold. In order to achieve this loyalty, they had to do two things:

1. Prioritize the customer experience: To make sure customers received their products on time and to ensure the products had suitable quality
2. Make sure the customers could find the product: By utilizing a variety of distribution sources, companies were best placed to make sure their products were visible thereby guaranteeing sales

For full insights into how Marketing Evolved over the centuries, visit the PlayTru Media website and read the full article over there.

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