America is exceptional. Founded by capitalists, it is the greatest financial behemoth of the modern world. Its booming industries were built upon relatively few years of innovative and daring business.
America is exceptional. Founded by capitalists, it is the greatest financial behemoth of the modern world. Its booming industries were built upon relatively few years of innovative and daring business. America arguably did more to advance the business world than any other nation. This blog is dedicated to some of the most notable of all American Businessmen. The three I will review exemplify the rapid evolution of marketing and how it helped to grow the great businesses that brought America to the pinnacle of global finance. According to Forbes, these businessmen are among the top 10 entrepreneurs in American History.
Henry
Ford is known for his development of the assembly line, but he also devised a way of selling cars to a group of people that had never owned something as exclusive as a vehicle, the middle class. Ford implemented a new and expensive marketing product in order to advertise his new, affordable product to America: Color. At this time, most advertisements were printed in black and white. Printing was much more complicated at this time, and additional colors only made the process that much harder. However, Ford’s heavy investment into this fledging marketing technique paid off, making him one of the richest men in the history of the world.
John
D. Rockefeller, the mastermind behind Standard Oil, also introduced a brand new product directed toward the everyday American: Kerosene. His new Kerosene revolutionized the way Americans lit their homes, formerly, candles and fire were the only other light sources after the sun had set. Additionally, he used his massive oil refineries to produce additional consumer products once he had made a name for himself. He revolutionized marketing through making his products appeal to the normal consumer using familiar images that evoked amiable feelings not normally associated with the produts. Dr. Seuss produced many ads for Standard Oil, lending his familiar art style to the sale of Petroleum products.
Wa
lt Disney is obviously known for his hugely successful brand of entertainment that has spawned multiple amusement parks and multimedia. He did business by selling, not tickets or movies. He sold instead, wonder, and excitement. He used new technology in order to do so: Television and Animation. Never before had technology played such a powerful role in marketing as it did with Walt Disney’s endeavors. People had never been exposed the film magic that Disney performed before their very eyes.
Now a days, we employ color in just about every ad seen anywhere. We even have science behind their psychological effects. Subliminal messages are encoded in thoughtful advertisement in order to garner certain emotions from the consumer on a regular basis. Computers and visual effects are behind just about every advertisement that you will ever encounter. The newest most successful entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs both understood that marketing with these new mediums and methods were the only way to be successful in today’s economy. Now, digital and social marketing is the gold standard of advertising. Its value cannot be overstated, but one cannot help but wonder, where will marketing and American business evolve next?
