CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING

Abstract

This paper is based on the belief that companies in many areas enjoy the last fruits of traditional marketing and operations. Just some twenty years ago these techniques gave the companies a significant competitive advantage. Today this advantage is becoming smaller, since the vast majority of companies in all areas of business uses the same marketing techniques and exactly the same means of communication. The competitive marketing edge disappears. The traditional techniques in marketing and communication were very effective over the years. Companies that used them held leading positions in the markets, which enabled them to squeeze out or refuse smaller competitors. They were able to make their products into strong brands and capture a significant part of the market. Many markets have neatly crystallized, the greatest brands are very recognizable and new brands rarely appear, and the consumers are divided into clearly defined target groups. The bad sides of this neat crystallization are also clear: the markets lost their dynamism – they began to stagnate. We are convinced that the majority of manufacturing and service companies, certainly ever more, will be convinced by necessity or forced to make, in the years ahead, a step forward towards new perspectives of marketing.