Transformation of marketing communications: analog, digital and phygital environment

Abstract

The article examines the customer-oriented theories of marketing communications from 1950 to 2025. The aim of the study is to identify the influence of the technological environment on marketing communications. In the frame of this research the most significant technologies and technological products from a customer-oriented perspective over the past 75 years have been systematized. The study examines the preconditions for the emergence of digital and phygital environments, and the evolution of marketing communication practices in analog, digital and phygital environments, as well as the concepts of marketing according to Kotler: marketing 1.0 (product-oriented), marketing 2.0 (customer-oriented), marketing 3.0 (value-oriented), marketing 4.0 (digital), marketing 5.0 (technology) and marketing 6.0 (metamarketing). The obtained data was synthesized and presented in the form of a timeline containing customer-oriented marketing theories, technologies and technological products. Based on the considered timeline, conclusions were formulated about the use of marketing communications in analog, digital and phygital environments, and about the time and features of the marketing communication use in the framework of Kotler marketing concepts. The technological gap between consumers and companies, the time gap between the described theories of marketing communications and those that are applied in practice, as well as the fragmentation of marketing communication theories were identified. As a result, a new concept of integrated marketing communications in a phygital environment, FIMC, was proposed. The article describes the key elements that the FIMC concept takes into account. The obtained data can be used in the future to develop a comprehensive approach to creating a company's integrated marketing communication strategy in the phygital environment.