After more than three decades in business, I’ve witnessed plenty of change. Technologies come and go, trends rise and fall and new generations bring fresh perspectives. But there’s one truth I’ve come to respect more with every passing year: the core principles of marketing don’t really change. Only the names do.
Back in the day, we talked about concepts like curb appeal or mailbox appeal (how to make your flyer or catalog stand out the moment someone opened the mailbox). The idea was simple: first impressions matter. Fast forward to today, and what do we call it? User experience. Yes, UX encompasses more than just first impressions, but at the core of UX is grabbing attention and guiding behaviour. Whether it’s a website, app or social post, you're still trying to make that critical first impression count. It’s still about creating engagement and guiding your audience toward action.
When I was coming up in this business, the '4Ps of Marketing’ were Product, Price, Place and Promotion. These were widely accepted principles that we did our work by. Now, as a professor of marketing at our local college myself, we teach the ‘5Ps,’ with the addition of People. The truth is: people were always part of the equation. Knowing your audience was always a key piece of this puzzle and continues to be so. We just didn’t label it that way.
I often tell my students and younger marketers: don’t get too distracted by frameworks or jargon. Yes, it’s important to stay current, but always remember that the essence of marketing is connecting with people — understanding their needs, speaking their language, delivering real value and building trust over time. That was true in 1995, and it’s still true in 2025.
So, while it’s tempting to chase every new trend or acronym, the seasoned marketer knows to ask: what’s the underlying principle here? Strip away the buzzwords, and you’ll usually find a classic idea in a shiny new wrapper.
Marketing isn’t about constantly reinventing the wheel. It’s about learning to steer it better.
