Скачать или смотреть Wroe Alderson: The Forgotten Father of Modern Marketing?

A History of Marketing / Episode 25

I wanted to do something special for the 25th episode of "A History of Marketing." While I love the conversational format of the podcast, I stumbled upon a story so incredible, so important, that it demanded a different approach. This story is told in a documentary format that took 10X the usual effort to produce.

That story belongs to Wroe Alderson.

Ever heard of him? I hadn't either until I started this podcast. Yet, his short Wikipedia page calls him "the most important marketing theorist of the twentieth century and the 'father of modern marketing.'" (A title usually bestowed upon Philip Kotler.)

How could such a pivotal figure be almost completely unknown today?

Answering that question took me on a six-month journey. What I discovered was a life that reads like a great American novel. Before he was a marketing theorist academic, Wroe Alderson was a hobo riding the rails, a prizefighter, a lumberjack, a poet, and an FBI suspect who traveled to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

To do Wroe’s story justice, I decided to break from the usual format. In this episode, I weave together multiple interviews—with Ben Wooliscroft, a professor who has spent his career studying Alderson and chronicled his life; Stan Shapiro, a 91-year-old colleague who co-authored a book with him; and with his only son, Evan Alderson, who shares powerful stories about the defining moments of Wroe Alderson’s life.

This episode pieces together stories from the astonishing life, the groundbreaking work, and the mysterious disappearance of the most important marketing figure you've never heard of.

I hope you find Wroe Alderson as inspiring as I do, and that this episode can play a small part in bringing renewed interest to Alderson’s life and work. If you like this podcast, please consider sharing it with a friend or posting about it on your preferred social network. As always, you can email me at [email protected].

Learn more at marketinghistory.org
Produced by Andrew Mitrak