• MARKETING EVOLUTION: Trade: people exchanged what they had for what they wanted. Formal definitions of marketing did not exist. Product orientation: During the late 1800s and early 1900s, technology and infrastructure developed, enabling businesses to produce greater volumes of an ever-increasing range of products. Marketers’ offerings were largely determined by what could be made, and what people bought was largely determined by what was available. This is summed up in the famous quote from Henry Ford: ‘Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black.’ Sales orientation: During the 1930s, competition increased and companies could no longer rely on consumers to want and buy everything they could make. This led to a focus on increasing profits through advertising and one-to-one selling. Market orientation: In the mid- to late-1900s, businesses realised that customers would not automatically buy any product that a business happened to devise. Businesses worked to determine what potential customers wanted and then made products to suit. Marketing became mainstream business practice. Successful businesses responded to the market’s needs and wants. Societal marketing orientation: Today, businesses are socially responsible corporate citizens. Companies with a societal market orientation have practices and policies that seek to minimise their negative impact on society and maximise their positive impact.