The Epic History of Marketing, Advertising, and Evolution into the Modern Day

The story of marketing is in many ways the story of civilization—how people learned to communicate value, persuade their neighbors, and share ideas through creative promotions. If you have ever wondered, “when did marketing start?” you might be surprised that it dates all the way back to ancient Egypt and Babylon, where merchants scribbled out the earliest ads on papyrus or clay tablets. The history of advertising and the history of marketing are intertwined tales of human innovation, cultural change, and technological leaps. One could even say the marketing evolution is a winding narrative that parallels trade routes, printing presses, radio signals, and the digital webs that now connect our world.

We live in a time when advertising appears on our phone screens every few minutes, when social media “likes” often influence our purchases, and when the concept of brand identity is so familiar that young entrepreneurs create their own personal “brand” at the click of a button. But this level of sophistication did not appear overnight. It arose over thousands of years through trial and error, from the humble signage of ancient shopkeepers to the data-driven strategies of modern digital agencies. The pages of the history of marketing are filled with brilliant ideas, questionable gimmicks, leaps of faith, and some entertaining missteps.

In the paragraphs to come, we will trace the marketing evolution from the cradle of civilization through the Middle Ages, the dawn of mass printing, the glory days of Madison Avenue, and eventually to the social media revolution that shapes our reality today. We will see how pioneering figures like John Wanamaker, Claude Hopkins, David Ogilvy, E. Jerome McCarthy, and Philip Kotler transformed an intangible art into a definable science, and how the question “when did marketing start?” can lead us down a fascinating journey spanning thousands of years. As we navigate this story, keep in mind that the history of advertising and marketing is not just about selling products—it is about forging connections, influencing perceptions, and weaving shared narratives that have shaped culture itself.

Ancient and Classical Foundations‍

Many believe that marketing is a modern phenomenon, but its roots stretch to antiquity. When did marketing start in earnest? You could say as soon as merchants began trying to stand out in crowded bazaars, using painted signs, shouted announcements, or anything else that would bring a passerby closer to their stall. Records show that as far back as 3,000 BC, an Egyptian weaver in Thebes used a papyrus advertisement to promote his textiles and even offered a reward for the return of a runaway slave on the same document. The “history of advertising” in that sense arises from these everyday needs: to get attention, communicate availability, and persuade people to buy or trade.

In ancient Babylon, merchants scribbled short messages on clay tablets. Meanwhile, in Pompeii—frozen in time by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD—archaeologists have discovered wall paintings, essentially early graffiti, that announced upcoming gladiatorial games or the presence of certain shops. These ephemeral texts might say something like, “Gladiatorial games on the 10th at the amphitheater—don’t miss it!” Some shops used basic imagery painted on walls or wooden boards, a form of signage. This era lacked any formal concept of marketing as we know it, but the seeds of the marketing evolution were clearly planted in every merchant’s creative attempt to woo customers.

Even the notion of branding had a primitive form in ancient times, as artisans sometimes marked their wares with distinctive symbols. For instance, a potter might etch a personal mark into pottery so buyers could identify the maker’s quality. Although these behaviors were not systematically studied, the fundamental principle behind the history of advertising—communicate clearly and stand out—had already taken hold. Such practices underscore how basic marketing was always about forging recognition and trust within the local community.

The Middle Ages and Early Modern Period‍

Fast-forward to the medieval era, and we see a world where many people were illiterate, but simple signage continued to flourish. Tradesmen identified their shops with pictorial symbols—like a boot sign for a cobbler or a loaf for a baker—making it easier for townsfolk to navigate winding streets. Monks copied texts by hand, occasionally creating elaborate manuscripts that highlighted sponsors or patrons. Yet it was the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450 that truly propelled the marketing evolution.

With the printing press, mass-produced handbills and pamphlets became feasible. By the late 15th century, printers in England were producing small leaflets to advertise various services. One of the oldest surviving printed ads in English is from 1472, promoting a prayer book. This marks a turning point in the history of marketing—when printed text could be widely distributed, making advertising more consistent and less reliant on word of mouth. Over time, newspapers arose in the 17th century, soon featuring paid ads. In the American colonies, the Boston News-Letter published the first paid newspaper advertisement in 1704, inviting colonists to buy real estate or obtain goods.

Magazines emerged in the 18th century, offering marketers another specialized channel for targeting certain readers. By the 19th century, mass printing technology enabled illustrated posters, handbills, and eventually early forms of billboards. In major cities like London, posters became so pervasive that legislation tried to curb them. All these developments show that marketing evolution is always tied to technology and consumer behavior. As literacy rates rose, newspapers and magazines carrying advertisements became central to daily life, and so the idea of marketing—though not yet defined as a science—took on a broader, more structured form in society.

The 19th Century – Birth of Agencies and Mass Marketing‍

The Industrial Revolution fundamentally reshaped production and consumption. Factories churned out standardized goods, and marketers needed ways to reach vast new audiences with consistent messages. This is the period where the question “when did marketing start to become a full-fledged profession?” finds its turning point. The formal “advertising agency” model took shape. In 1841, Volney B. Palmer opened the first known ad agency in Philadelphia, brokering space in newspapers and helping clients place ads. By the late 1800s, agencies were creating ads for soap, patent medicines, canned foods, and other mass-market products.

Branding also flourished in this era. One notable milestone in the history of advertising is the Bass red triangle, registered in 1876 as the UK’s first official trademark. Companies began to craft visual logos and slogans to differentiate their products. The growing railroad system enabled national distribution, so brand consistency mattered. The Sears Roebuck mail-order catalog in the 1890s exemplifies how companies reached rural consumers with glossy illustrations, proving that marketing evolution meant bridging regional divides as well.

It was an era of transformation, but also some dubious practices. Patent medicines, for example, used exaggerated claims—and it worked so well that the ads often funded entire newspapers. The public loved reading these flamboyant promotions. Even then, the basic principle remained: get attention, persuade quickly, and ensure people remember your brand. The pace of the marketing evolution sped up with each new technology: telegraphs allowed faster coordination, printing costs dropped, and rail systems transported products nationwide. By the dawn of the 20th century, advertising had become a recognizable industry with dedicated professionals.

Early 20th Century – The Advertising Age Takes Off‍

As the 1900s began, marketing was a flourishing business. The phrase “history of marketing” might conjure images of old newspaper clippings, but in fact radio was about to flip the script. Around the 1920s, commercial radio erupted in popularity. The first radio ad, a 15-minute real estate pitch, aired in 1922 on New York’s WEAF station. Suddenly, marketers could speak directly to families in their living rooms. Sponsored radio shows—especially soap operas—were common, and brand jingles became earworms that swept the nation.

At the same time, pioneers like Claude C. Hopkins introduced scientific testing methods. He believed in measuring advertising results, using coupons to track redemptions, and refining copy based on real-world data. This approach laid the groundwork for many direct-response marketing tactics we see today. Meanwhile, the term “marketing” itself started to take its modern form around the early 1900s. In the 1940s, the stage was set for an even bigger shift with television. On July 1, 1941, the first TV commercial aired—a brief 10-second spot for Bulova Watch proclaiming, “America runs on Bulova time.” Though only a few thousand sets were tuned in, that tiny ad signaled a coming revolution. Once the post–WWII boom made TV sets common in American households, marketing soared to new creative and financial heights.

Mid-20th Century – TV Dominance and the Marketing Concept‍

Television in the 1950s and 60s was a dream come true for brands, allowing them to demonstrate products visually and connect emotionally with large, captive audiences. The so-called Golden Age of Advertising was personified by Madison Avenue agencies, where copywriters and art directors crafted iconic campaigns. Ads like Coca-Cola’s “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” or Volkswagen’s witty “Think Small” were cultural phenomena. The best ads resonated so strongly that people remembered them decades later, which is part of why the history of advertising is so intertwined with pop culture.

During this period, the “marketing concept” also took hold among businesses and academics. Scholars like E. Jerome McCarthy proposed the four Ps of marketing—Product, Price, Place, Promotion—as a blueprint for how companies should approach strategy. Around the same time, Theodore Levitt popularized the idea of “marketing myopia,” urging executives to look beyond their immediate product and focus on broader customer needs. This philosophical shift made “marketing evolution” more than just a buzzword; it was an institutional rethinking of how companies served consumers.

Data also started playing a bigger role, though it was rudimentary by today’s standards. With the rise of bigger corporations, marketing departments used market research surveys to gauge consumer sentiment. They tested product concepts, studied brand awareness, and tried to systematically measure ad effectiveness. While still nowhere near modern analytics, these methods showed that marketing was growing into a formal discipline with established best practices.

Late 20th Century – The Dawn of Digital and Global Connectivity‍

The 1970s and 80s brought fresh dynamics to marketing. Telemarketing via telephone emerged as a direct line to consumers, though it sometimes bred annoyance. Database technology let big companies store customer information for targeted direct mail campaigns. But the watershed event for modern marketing was the arrival of the public internet in the early 1990s. When the first banner ad launched on HotWired.com in 1994, it boasted an unprecedented 44% click-through rate, demonstrating the novelty of internet advertising at that time. People actually wanted to see what an online ad was all about!

By the mid-1990s, email marketing became a core pillar. While spam proliferated, legitimate newsletters and promotional emails offered a cost-effective way to reach subscribers. Then search engines like Yahoo! and Google redefined how consumers found information, birthing the discipline of SEO—Search Engine Optimization. Marketers realized that ranking high in search results could yield massive traffic. Paid search ads, introduced by Google AdWords in 2000, let brands target specific keywords, paying only when users clicked. This pay-per-click model fundamentally changed the history of advertising and the “marketing evolution” by aligning costs with actual user interest.

E-commerce also soared in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Amazon and eBay led the charge, showing that people would buy everything from books to electronics online. Marketers adapted by creating product pages optimized for search engines, employing affiliate marketing to leverage third-party blogs, and harnessing content marketing to build trust with audiences. The ability to measure every click, open, or purchase revolutionized marketing. Even a small business could track conversion metrics akin to big players. This data-driven approach was a far cry from the days of John Wanamaker’s lament, “I know half my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.”

21st Century – Social Media, Mobile, and Future Horizons‍

The 2000s and 2010s, of course, witnessed the explosive rise of social media. Platforms like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and eventually Instagram and TikTok turned consumers themselves into content creators. Marketing once again had to adapt as brands created official pages, posted engaging content, and fostered dialogues with followers. Social media marketing was about authenticity and community building—two qualities that represent a more personal dimension in the history of advertising. Instead of one-way broadcasting, companies had to master conversation.

Mobile devices further expanded the marketing evolution. By 2019, a majority of web traffic was mobile, making responsive design and mobile-friendly campaigns essential. Geo-targeted offers and push notifications tapped into location-based marketing. Meanwhile, influencer marketing soared, bridging the gap between celebrity endorsements and everyday user recommendations. A well-liked influencer with the right niche could convert fans to customers more effectively than many traditional ads.

Looking to the future, emerging trends like AI-driven personalization, the metaverse’s virtual worlds, and advanced analytics keep expanding the boundaries. AI helps automate tasks from writing email subject lines to real-time ad bidding, while the concept of the metaverse heralds immersive brand experiences inside virtual spaces. Sustainability also looms larger, as consumers expect ethical, eco-conscious marketing. This ongoing marketing evolution shows no signs of slowing down; in fact, it continually morphs to keep pace with culture and technology.

Marketing is All Around Us‍

From the earliest inscriptions on papyrus to the newest influencer-led campaigns on TikTok, the history of marketing showcases humanity’s inventive spirit in communicating value. If someone asks, “when did marketing start?” the short answer is that it began as long ago as humans had something to sell. From the bustling markets of ancient Egypt to the digital marketplaces of the 21st century, marketing evolution is a testament to how we adapt to new media and shifting cultural landscapes.

The history of advertising has been closely entwined with breakthroughs in printing, radio, television, the internet, and mobile technology. Each medium expanded marketers’ reach, from painting messages on stone walls to whispering brand messages into a smartphone. At each stage, forward-thinking individuals made bold moves—whether launching the first ad agency, crafting the first scientific approach to measuring results, or pioneering new creative techniques that captured the public imagination. These stories remind us that marketing is more than tactics; it’s about understanding people, forging emotional bonds, and telling compelling narratives.

In our digital era, marketing remains as vital as ever, albeit in new forms. Instead of flyers in the village square, we might see sponsored content on social feeds or personalized deals popping up on smartwatches. Yet the underlying purpose endures: connect a product or service with those who need it. Future developments—like AI, virtual reality, and perhaps mediums not yet invented—will further transform the marketing evolution. But as we look back through the centuries, it becomes clear that what began in an Egyptian weaver’s ad on papyrus continues strong, guided by the same human drive to reach out, inform, and persuade. That is the remarkable saga of the history of marketing, a narrative that keeps unfolding with every technological shift and consumer trend, endlessly rewriting itself for each new generation.

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