The Evolution of Marketing

Investopedia defines marketing as the activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or selling of its products or services. Marketing includes advertising and allows businesses to sell products and services to consumers, other businesses, and/or organizations. Today, marketing is a nonnegotiable aspect for any successful business, but that wasn’t always the case. Over the span of a century, marketing has evolved from having limited strategy, to developing segmentation tactics, to becoming today's AI-personalized social media – all to adapt to the changing consumer landscape. 

The sales era characterized the post-industrial revolution market, which left a new culture of mass production as agrarian economies were replaced with mechanized factories. From the early 1920s on, modern-like businesses were rising, consumerism was booming, and so was competition. As the threat of new entrants to markets was becoming something of concern, and companies were competing for the loyalty of customers, marketing techniques were popularized. The first marketing tactics began by appealing to the everyday middle-class man, with little to no specification of niche, age, or demographic. This system was reflective of the common business goal to just sell as many products as possible as everything was priced extremely cheaply to appeal to a general audience. The extent of personalization was seen between gender in ads, for example, ads targeted to men often pointed to work and success. On the other hand ads for women were more decorative to appeal to the rebellious flapper style. A Coca-Cola advertisement from 1930, features gas pumps connecting the drink to America’s growing car culture while the text promising a “pause that refreshes,” and “happy places,” speaks to the aspirational escape that consumers of the time were looking for during war times.

Coming into the fifties, businesses focus’ was shifting to appeal to target customers– telling of a new understanding of the importance of personalization. The U.S. was home to many competing companies who were beginning to recognize that it wasn’t a good idea to attempt to enter the same industry as other companies acting as monopolies or oligopolies (companies controlling the majority of the segment, and therefore having a large and loyal consumer base). This was a catalyst for more niche startups, and businesses were beginning to arise to meet the new needs of smaller, more targeted audiences. Subsequently, in the sixties, rather than allocating money on a generic ad that would reach a broader audience but wouldn’t be as relatable, brands began focusing on making relatable, entertaining content that would stick in consumers' heads and both establish a brand and drive business to a company. Whether that was through memorable characters like Frito Bandito, or Tony the Tiger from Kellogg's Frosted Flakes; through catchy jingles like “Don’t squeeze the charmin” by Charmin; or through slogans. These attracted kids to sweet cereals, and kept brand names in people’s heads so that when they went to stores, they would buy from them; companies were learning who their customers were and how to attract them. Not only this, but additionally the 1960s marked a critical shift as businesses began to systematically collect and organize customer data, laying the foundation for modern personalized marketing. This era saw companies like Reader's Digest and American Express pioneering the use of customer purchase history and demographics to target specific groups, a revolutionary idea that transformed direct mail campaigns. It set the stage for today’s data-driven marketing approaches. 

Fast forward to the 2020s, where hyper-personalization has taken center stage, driven by AI and machine learning. Brands now use AI to create tailored experiences in real-time across multiple touchpoints, from email campaigns to dynamic websites that adapt based on individual preferences. This evolution highlights how technology has exponentially increased the ability to deliver highly customized marketing experiences, making the relationship between brands and consumers more dynamic than ever. The leap from basic data collection to real-time predictive marketing showcases both the power of innovation and the increased consumer demand for personalized interactions.