The Evolution of Marketing: From 1500 BC to Digital Marketing

The story of marketing is much older than most people think. Historians believe that the concept began as early as 1500 BC. C. (before the Common Era), when Mesopotamian societies started to mass-produce products that needed quality control.

We often talk about the ROI of marketing, or the return on investment in advertising, as if it were a fixed and immutable number. However, the influence of marketing has grown significantly since the introduction of printing in the 15th century. As marketing evolved, it gave rise to the first modern marketing measurement strategy, marketing mix modeling (MMM). This was when the first version of the four P's of the “marketing mix” was implemented. Some economics professors began teaching courses that examined different aspects of the marketing system, including distributive and regulatory systems.

When radio advertising entered the marketing landscape, investment in radio advertising quickly surpassed print advertising. In this section, we will briefly discuss the contributions of key thinkers with respect to the mainstream schools that have dominated marketing thinking. Kristin Hambelton, CMO (chief marketing officer) of Marketing Evolution, shares her views on different ways to drive change.

Digital marketing

is expected to grow in the coming years, with many new developments and changes in this exciting industry. This allowed marketers to collect long-term aggregated data that could determine the relationship between marketing combinations and their overall impact on sales. As a marketing professional, you must be particularly aware of changes in society, technology and the global economy.