Over the last 500 years there were very few inflection points to the advertising and marketing ecosystem. In the last 5 years we’ve seen hundreds more infection points…
In the beginning… 1440 to 1940…
- Guttenberg invented mass printing in 1440.Yet, it wasn’t until 1704 that the first newspaper advertisement, an announcement seeking a buyer for an Oyster Bay, Long Island, estate, is published in the Boston News-Letter.
- Fearing there may be a pattern occurring, the first convention of advertising agents is held in New York in 1873.
- Still not knowing which portion of his advertising is wasted, department store founder John Wanamaker is the first retailer to hire a full-time advertising copywriter, John E. Powers, in 1880.
- Not until 40 years later did KDKA air the first commercial radio broadcast in1920.
- 21 years after that, with 7,500 TV sets in New York City, NBC’s WNBT aired the world’s first legal television commercial July 1, 1941, costing the Bulova Watch Company a whopping $9.00.
Fast forward 37 years…
- The first recognizable email marketing message was sent on 3 May, 1978 to 400 people on behalf of DEC – a now-defunct computer-maker – This is also noted as the first SPAM message.
- In 1990, the very first tool used for searching on the Internet was launched, Archie.
- Then, in1993, the Internet becomes a reality as 5 million users worldwide get online.
- In 1994 HotWired coined the term “banner ad” and sold the first clickable advertisement to AT&T
During the last 15 years we’ve seen a flood of new media and advertising options: comparison shopping, SMS, mobile advertising, social media, games. As well as the digitization of our analog world: mobile phone, Kindle, addressable TV, HD radio, digital variable print.
Five years ago, who would have thought that MySpace would now be a worn out social network? Who’s next?
Visitor Centric Marketing 