It’s April and at Marketing Zone we’re celebrating our 17-year anniversary as a marketing communications agency. A lot has changed since we opened our doors for business back in 1997, but our commitment to helping our customers drive their businesses forward with cost-effective marketing remains the same. Here are just a few of the many significant moments, for businesses generally and for us, during the last 17 years.
| Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Marketing Zone is launched and beats its Year One targets | |
| 1997 | Labour takes over from the Conservatives as the new UK Government | |
| 1998 | Good Friday Agreement secures a political settlement for Northern Ireland | |
| 1998 | Worldwide internet users reach 1 million | |
| 1998 | Google is founded | |
| 1998 | The Chartered Institute of Marketing makes the first Chartered Marketer awards. Marketing Zone founders Dee & Mark are amongst those recognised. | |
| 1999 | Government first introduces the minimum wage | |
| 1999 | Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly inaugurated | |
| 2000 | Google releases Adwords increasing the scope of search marketing | |
| 2000 | Hewlett Packard invests in Indigo the company that launched digital printing, and in ten years digital printing accounts for the equivalent of 225 billion A4 prints | |
| 2003 | Worldwide internet users break the 1 billion mark | |
| 2003 | WordPress launches, going on to become the most popular website content management system | |
| 2003 | LinkedIn introduces a social network for professionals | |
| 2004 | Google Analytics goes live allowing online performance to be tracked, measured and improved more effectively | |
| 2004 | Microsoft starts the first corporate block born from the unintentional efforts of engineers to share what they are doing | |
| 2004 | Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook while at Harvard | |
| 2005 | YouTube is launched then sold to Google in 2006; it now has visits from 1 billion unique users each month | |
| 2006 | Twitter is launched | |
| 2006 | The Prince’s Trust is 30; Marketing Zone’s Dee & Mark are invited to Buckingham Palace to join the celebrations in recognition of 10 years voluntary service | |
| 2007 | Apple launches the iPhone | |
| 2008 | Facebook becomes available in the UK | |
| 2008 | FTSE 100 share index down 31% for the year, the biggest annual drop in 24 years since it began | |
| 2009 | Bank of England cuts interest rates to 1.5%, the lowest in 315 years | |
| 2010 | Coalition government of Conservatives with Liberal Democrats takes power | |
| 2010 | Pinterest the pinboard photo sharing website is launched | |
| 2010 | Instagram photo and video sharing service launched | |
| 2011 | Google+ is launched and by 2013 has a monthly active base of 235 million users | |
| 2011 | The Chartered Institute of Marketing celebrates its centenary at Windsor castle in the company of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh; Mark & Dee attend as Fellows of the Institute | |
| 2011 | Picaboo app launched sharing impermanent images, later renamed snapchat and installed by 60 million people with 400 million messages every day | |
| 2012 | Worldwide internet users break the 2.4 billion mark | |
| 2012 | Britain hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London | |
| 2013 | Twitter launches Vine for video sharing | |
| 2013 | Government growth forecasts are revised upwards from 1.8% to 2.4% | |
| 2014 | Marketing Zone clocks up 17 years having supported over 100 companies in their quest for better marketing |
Much has happened so far, but we’re even more excited about the new possibilities that are opening up each day. To talk about your business aims and the marketing help you need call Mark on 07801 419800, email mark@marketingzone.co.uk or tweet @MarketingZoneUK.