Rowntree and the Marketing Revolution, 1862-1969

Description

Rowntree and the Marketing Revolution, 1862-1969 is a major study in the history of marketing in economic development, in addition to being a history of a well-known international company. Marketing history remains a neglected field of study, yet Rowntree's commercial success has been the direct result of applied marketing methods and major advances in product development, branding and advertising. It is surprising that marketing and mass consumption has been so neglected; yet Rowntree was a marketing pioneer. The company had in addition a prominent role in questioning managerial organisation, business culture, industrial relations, restrictive practices, and multinational business. This book offers a comprehensive account of a company and its industry, but pursues themes and seeks to answer areas of debate, illuminating the ways in which marketing contributed to the growth of an enterprise.

"...well researched and written with a good, critical eye for themes and issues as well as chronology." Business History Review "...this is much more than a broad survey of a famous company history laced with many fancy illustrations of old publicity material. Indeed, the analysis is well-founded on a series of key themes which are amply addressed through the use of extensive primary records, detailed references to other secondary sources, and even economic theory...this is a most impressive business history which deserves a wide audience. Dr. Fitzgerlad must be credited with a significant achievement in harmonising the case-study treatment with a range of other issues, and reading lists would be the poorer if they did not include references to the book under any of its major themes." Robert Fitzgerald, H-Net Book Review "This is an impressive investigation. It accomplishes admirably the task of organizing a wealth of information into a coherent and comprehensive form, combining narrative with analysis. The reader is presented with a thorough and revealing account of a pioneer of mulitnational operation, and of the marketing revolution." Tom Nicholas, Jrnl of Eco. Hist.