HOW MARKETING HAS EVOLVED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS

The flamboyant tree in full bloom!!! Glorious!!!

The field of marketing has not always been there in its present form. Five significant periods are identifiable in the evolution of marketing as a business discipline.

The Production Stage

The production phase started at the time of the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution was the time man learned to use advanced machines, and to mass-produce. Roughly, it was the 100 years from the mid-1700’s to the mid-1800’s.

The emphasis in the production stage was on producing – making as many things as possible available. This was understandable mainly because:-     

•          It was really the first time modern clothing and processed food had a chance of being available widely. There was a big section of society ready and waiting to consume. Never mind the ability to pay.
•          There were not many mechanised producers and, therefore, not much competition.

The Product Stage

As more parties jumped onto the industrialist bandwagon, the producer field became crowded – which meant competition for buyers. This situation promoted new thinking in manufacturers, to overcome the increased difficulty in finding customers. The result was birth of the product stage.

It was believed that businesses had to aim at making better quality than the competition to be sure of finding buyers. The ‘quality race’ was not the end of the search for a more reliable business philosophy.

From the works of some scholars, it is possible to conclude that the production stage was the period from about 1850, and that the product stage may have started around 1900.

The Selling Stage

By the 1930’s, a new way to look at unlocking business success had emerged. It was selling orientation.

The selling stage probably marked the beginning of modern-day thinking on the important role played by the salesman. The new belief was that it was the effort of sales people that would make the difference between finding buyers and not finding any. And so, the search was on for high-pressure sales employees.

The Marketing Stage

In the 1950’s, the marketing concept was born, underpinned by putting customer requirements first. Marketing orientation moved focus from the producer and product to the buyer. The realisation was that businesses existed to satisfy the needs and wants of customers: that there would be no business without a desire to consume something. Producers, it was stressed, had to strive to meet the expectations of their clients better than their competitors to win more buyers.

The Societal Marketing Stage  

Societal marketing is about not only providing merchandise and services that match customer requirements but also taking care of wishes beyond product attributes. It includes, for example, ensuring that food offerings do not cause excessive weight gain that exposes consumers to the risk of heart disease, and avoiding manufacturing processes that result in environment-damaging emissions.

Promotion of societal marketing started in the early 1970’s.

In many ways, societal marketing is not a totally new and independent concept, but an enhancement of the basic philosophy of marketing. It is, in that sense, in the same bracket as customer relationship marketing (CRM), which advocates building and maintaining close understanding with each customer.

Conclusion

Not every organisation today is marketing oriented. The environment does play a part in how much a business leans toward marketing. Where shortages are common, for instance, it is normal to see efforts mainly directed at maximising production.

   
Rupert Chimfwembe, 12 March 2018.