Episode 008
Srikanth Ramachandran
Marketing has a long history, and data suggests that marketing started much earlier than most people think or believe. Many historians believe the concept began as early as 1500 BCE when Mesopotamian societies started mass production of goods that required quality control. This period records the earliest form of logo usage.
Then, in 1450 CE, the printing press was invented, revolutionising marketing reach through books, posters and paper. That started the momentum and foundation for marketing.
1730s-1900s
The 1730s -1900s was the golden period for marketing when the foundation was laid for marketing as we know it today – Magazines, Billboards, and Outdoor Advertising all came into being.
1872-1887s
The first one-page mail-order catalog was done in 1872, which brought the birth of catalog marketing to the world. 1887 saw the introduction of coupons, and handwritten vouchers, which transformed how promotions were done.
1920s
The 1920s saw the emergence of marketing through Radio and TV – the birth of the electronic medium as we know it today. The first Radio Ad hit the marketing world in 1922, and the first TV commercial in 1941..
1920s
The 1920s also saw the first emergence of Marketing Research, which is now embedded into the fabric of marketing on how concepts are tested, consumer behaviour is understood, and market shares are measured.
1950s
The 1950s saw the arrival of computers, and this changed marketing forever. In 1967, Lester Wunderman coined the term ‘Direct Marketing’ for one-to-one marketing directly to customers..
1954
Interestingly, in 1954, the word ATL(Above-the-Line) and BTL(Below-The-Line) was coined by the accountants of P&G, differentiating agency payments who undertook promotional activities.
1970s
The 1970s saw the explosion of colour, which added magic to catalogs, point-of-purchase materials, coupons, press advertising, television, etc
1996-2010s
1996- the 2010s saw the birth of the internet and digital marketing, and marketing has never been the same again, with technology at the core of brand building and customer engagement.
Pooja Jauhari is the former Group CEO of VMLY&R India, and former CEO of The Glitch. Over her two-decade-long career, Pooja has worked with some of the biggest brands in the country and the world, and introduced powerful campaigns to society.
Pooja has worked with some brilliant people and has held important responsibilities over the past 20 years. She is the Founder of Seat At The Table, an unbiased investment and advisory initiative to invest in companies and people that are built on a purpose.
Prior to her appointment in the VMLY&R network, Pooja was the CEO of The Glitch, a high-performance creative company that has worked hard to create a workspace that is gender blind, inclusive and progressive. The Glitch was acquired by WPP, the world’s largest marketing communications company in 2017, and integrated into the VMLY&R network within WPP in 2020.