Marketing through the Ages

Catalog description

This course reviews marketing in a social and historical context. The goal is to explore how the 4 Ps of Marketing- which are product, price, place, promotion, are deeply rooted in the societal context across the ages and have been both a function of culture as well as a cultural influencer. While many think of marketing as a new business function, it has a very long history as marketing is indeed millenia old practice. This course seeks to familiarize students with early examples of marketing, such as the first documented customer complaint letter dating back to 1750 BCE which was written in cuneiform on a clay tablet in Mesopotamia, and to compare these to contemporary practices. The students will be presented with marketing practices throughout history and will learn to critically assess these in terms of the morality of the period and using current standards.