Marketing Management 3(2+1)

Lesson 01 : Marketing

History of Marketing

Marketing is as old as civilization itself. Images of market stalls fully active with traders engaged in buying and selling gives the evidence of the market. These traders might not have called their activities ‘marketing’ but marketing did exist from the very early times. The marketing activities that we see today have more to do with the developments during the industrial revolution.

Marketing is basically a trade that existed ever since man has been capable of producing surplus. This surplus was agricultural produce that was exchanged in a barter system for manufactured goods.

Before industrial revolution, the production and distribution of goods was done on a small scale. After this, there was a dramatic increase in production of goods with their concentration in specified geographical areas. The surplus production was dispersed to other larger geographical areas from the enterprises called mills or factories.

At this juncture the producer had no immediate contact with their markets. Slowly the thought of operating business in ‘marketing oriented’ manner has cropped up in the thinking of entrepreneurs.