Simple Trade Era (>1860)

1. Simple Trade Era (>1860) • Prior to the Industrial Revolution, people made most of what they consumed. Any excess household production could be brought to town and sold or traded for other goods. This type of economy is commonly referred to as a pure subsistence economy. In a pure subsistence economy, there is little need for marketing (to facilitate exchanges), since each household produces what it consumes.

2. Production Era (1860-1930) • During the early years of the United States, goods were scarce so buyers were willing to accept virtually any goods that were produced and made do with them as best as they could. • French economist J.B. Say developed his law that described the prevailing business theory of the period… • “Production creates its own demand.”

3. Production Era (1860-1930) • The central notion was that products would sell themselves. • The major concern of business firms was production, not marketing. • Ford, Model T

4. Sales Era (1920-60) • Firms discovered that they could produce more goods than their regular buyers could consume. • Competition became more significant and the problems of reaching the public became more complex. • The usual solution was to hire more salespeople to find new markets and consumers.

5. Marketing Concept Era (1960-1990) • The idea is that an organization should strive to satisfy the needs and wants of its consumers… • Concept of consumerism introduced as American consumers sought to obtain a greater say in the quality of products they bought.

6. Marketing Concept Era (1960-1990) • This era recognizes that marketing should take place at the beginning rather than the end of the production cycle and integrates marketing into each phase of the business. • Pillsbury 1960’s • “We are in the business of satisfying needs and wants of customers”

7. Market Orientation (1980-1990’s) • Consists of one or more departments which actively try to understand customers’ needs and the factors affecting them, share information across departments, and use the information to meet the needs of customers. • Useful information comes from talking to the customer, observing industry trends, studying competition, looking ahead, and considering present trends.

8. Relationship Marketing (1995-today) • The Relationship Marketing Era Relationship marketing is the process whereby a firm builds long-term satisfying relations with its customers in order to retain the customers' loyalty in buying the firm's products. Philip Kotler (1997), a noted author of several books on marketing, has pointed out that the need for customer retention is demonstrated by the fact that the cost of attracting a new customer is estimated to be five times the cost of keeping a current customer happy.