Article (Scientific journals)
Reigning in “little kingdoms”? The implementation of marketing within the advertising function of the Philips company (1959–1977)
HÖFER, Matthias Simon
2024In Journal of Historical Research in Marketing
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Keywords :
Advertising history; Marketing history; Marketing management history; Philips; Marketing
Abstract :
[en] The purpose of this paper is to analyze the introduction of marketing within the advertising function of the Philips company between the late 1950s and the mid 1970s. This company function, along with the organizational changes and integrative efforts it enacted and that it was subjected to, serve as a case study on how marketing as an organizational concept could be implemented within parts of a multinational company in a time of changing market conditions. This paper is a qualitative historical study of primary sources from the Philips Company Archives (PCA), mainly pertaining to the highest corporate level of Philips’ advertising function. Based on these sources, this research traces the implementation of marketing within that company function. It also investigates the functions’ organizational structure, as well as the measures taken to further integration between the subparts of the companies’ advertising function. Insofar possible, the impact of marketing on the advertising functions’ relation with other company parts is explored as well. In doing so, this research is situated at the junction of marketing history and historical research on advertising. Introducing marketing to Philips’ advertising function was a multi-step process involving not only the advertisers of the company but also several other departments implicated in marketing. A large focus within the advertising function was put on furthering the integration between the three major components of the function, as well as the integration between different functions (albeit to a lesser extent). While certain measures aiming towards institutionalizing collaborative processes and facilitating integration were successful, the advertisers working in national branches of Philips nonetheless retained a certain degree of independence. Previously unused sources were examined to contribute to the understanding of how marketing – and more specifically, marketing management – was introduced within a multinational European company. Through its focus on the practical implementation of marketing within a company, this research not only adds to our knowledge about integrative processes specific to Philips, but it also improves our understanding of the historical structures of the advertising function within multinational companies and the organizational changes taking place on a practical level after the introduction of marketing.
Research center :
Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) > Contemporary European History (EHI)
Disciplines :
History
Marketing
Author, co-author :
HÖFER, Matthias Simon  ;  University of Luxembourg > Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) > Contemporary European History
External co-authors :
no
Language :
English
Title :
Reigning in “little kingdoms”? The implementation of marketing within the advertising function of the Philips company (1959–1977)
Publication date :
18 November 2024
Journal title :
Journal of Historical Research in Marketing
ISSN :
1755-750X
eISSN :
1755-7518
Publisher :
Emerald Publishing
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
FnR Project :
FNR15173861 - Populärkultur Transnational - Europa In Den Langen 1960er Jahren, 2020 (01/09/2021-31/08/2025) - Andreas Fickers
Funding text :
The author of this paper is part of the Popkult60-research group (\u201CTransnational Popular Culture \u2013 Europe in the Long 1960s\u201D, https://popkult60.eu). This project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in Germany and the Luxembourgish National Research Fund (FNR) in Luxembourg (INTER/DFG/20/15173861 POPKULT60_II). The author benefited from the suggestions made at the 21st Biennial Conference on Historical Analysis & Research in Marketing (CHARM), where an earlier version of this paper was presented. The extended abstract is available online: https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/pcharm/article/view/4364 (last accessed: 9 August 2024).
Commentary :
Accepted for publication: 08. October 2024
Available on ORBilu :
since 28 November 2024

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