Marketing Consultants

Products and services have been marketed ever since the first goods were sold in town markets and farriers, lawyers, blacksmiths, and other workers promoted their services to the public. Much early marketing was done via newspapers and periodicals. Ads touted everything from toothpaste and fancy dresses to, unfortunately, slaves who were for sale. The first American newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick, appeared in Boston in 1690, but it lasted only one issue due to censorship by the British government. The first continuously published newspaper in America was the Boston News-Letter, first published in 1704. The first daily newspaper, the Pennsylvania Evening Post, began publication in 1783. The first magazine published in the American colonies was The American Magazine. It was published in 1741.

The advertising industry formally emerged in the 1840s, when newspaper-advertising solicitors began representing groups of newspapers. In 1865, a new system was introduced: buying newspaper space and then dividing and selling it to advertisers at higher prices.

Other forms of advertising gradually developed. By the early 1900s, for example, outdoor posters developed into the billboard form, and the merchants who used them were the principal advertisers. In 1922, radio station WEAF in New York City offered program time to advertisers. The use of television advertising began just before the end of World War II.

In 1991, the World Wide Web was launched. This marked the beginning of the modern Internet as we know it today. Businesses quickly grasped the possibilities of online marketing. In 1994, the first banner ads appeared on HotWired.com. They were for Zima (an alcoholic beverage) and AT&T. Today, the Internet has catapulted the world of advertising into a whole new realm, allowing businesses not only to target and reach customers but to interact with them as well (especially using social media). Internet advertising and marketing is now a multibillion-dollar business.

As the methods of advertising have increased, the need for skilled marketing consultants has also grown. The first management consulting firms were founded in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and these firms provided advice on marketing to corporations and other businesses. Eventually, these firms created specialized departments to provide marketing advice, and management consultants with expertise in marketing began founding their own marketing consulting firms. Today, marketing consultants play a key role in both the public and private sectors.