LESSON 1:

“The Day the Geeks Took Over”

4
Digital Epochs
have occurred
Data availability
and access have
Computing power
has grown while
Growth of web Digital’s impact is
analytics services seen in investment
since 1994 changed shopping devices got smaller has been dramatic in other channels
“
Over the next few years Geeks in
Marketing will become one of the
most disruptive forces in a
discipline that traditionally was

”
driven by big creative personalities.

Michael Fassnacht, President FCB Chicago (2006)

 Four Digital Epochs Mark the Internet Age
October 1994: First banner ad
purchased for web by AT&T 2003: LinkedIn launches

1998: Google 2004: Facebook launches

opens first office
2006: Twitter launches
1999: Pets.com,
Flooz.com, 2007: Zynga launches
Kozmo.com, others
founded 2008: Groupon launches

1994 2014

2001: Pets.com, Flooz.com, 2011:

Kozmo.com go bankrupt
June - Twitter hits 200m
tweets per day

2000: AOL buys Time Warner in a

deal valued at $350 billion July - Facebook hits
750m users

2000: Internet bubble bursts, July - Zynga raises $1b

NASDAQ stock index plunges in IPO

1999: Napster is
invented
Source: SpringMetrics.com
 October 1994: 
 1999: 

First banner ad purchased 1998: 
 Napster is invented
for web by AT&T Google opens
first office 1999: 

Digital Epoch I: 
 Pets.com, Flooz.com,
Kozmo.com, others founded
When Anything Was Possible (1994-1999)

Page and Brin in 1999 in their Menlo Park, photo by William Hercer Moleod, 

Retrieved from http://archive.fortune.com/galleries/2012/news/companies/1203/gallery.greatest-
entrepreneurs.fortune/6.html
Source: SpringMetrics.com
 2000: AOL buys Time Warner
in a deal valued at $350 billion
2001: Pets.com, Flooz.com,
2000: Internet bubble bursts, Kozmo.com go bankrupt
Digital Epoch II: 
 NASDAQ stock index plunges
The Bubble and The Burst (2000-2002)

The Next Bubble, by Eric Janszen, Retrieved from http://harpers.org/archive/2008/02/the-next-bubble/4/

 2006: Twitter
2003: LinkedIn launches launches
2004: Facebook launches 2008: Groupon launches

2007: Zynga launches

Digital Epoch III: The Seeds of Prosperity (2003-2010)

Mark Zuckerberg f8 Keynote, (CC) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com and bub.blicio.us.

 2011 (July):
Facebook hits
2011 (June): Twitter hits 750m users 2011 (July): Zynga
200m tweets per day raises $1b in IPO
Digital Epoch IV: The Age of Unicorns (2011-2015)

Nasdaq Take
Source: 1 by bfishadow is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution By 2.0
SpringMetrics.com
 Four Digital Epochs Mark the Internet Age
October 1994: First banner ad
purchased for web by AT&T 2003: LinkedIn launches

1998: Google 2004: Facebook launches

opens first office
2006: Twitter launches
1999: Pets.com,
Flooz.com, 2007: Zynga launches
Kozmo.com, others
founded 2008: Groupon launches

1994 2014

2001: Pets.com, Flooz.com, 2011:

Kozmo.com go bankrupt
June - Twitter hits 200m
tweets per day

2000: AOL buys Time Warner in a

deal valued at $350 billion July - Facebook hits
750m users

2000: Internet bubble bursts, July - Zynga raises $1b

NASDAQ stock index plunges in IPO

1999: Napster is
invented
Source: SpringMetrics.com
Determined Shoppers by Amy Jeffries is licensed under a 

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
 The 3-step 

model of 

marketing

Source: Procter & Gamble, 2005

 2005

By Luca Bruno / AP(2005), Retrieved from


http://chrisonderstall.com/2013/03/16/proof-the-world-is-changing/
 2013

By Michael Sohn / AP St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican (2013), Retrieved from

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/14/17312316-witnessing-papal-history-changes-with-digital-age
Google/Shopper Sciences, Zero Moment of Truth Study – Tech (2011), 

Retrieved from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/research-studies/zmot-consumer-electronics.html
 ZMOT in action is messy

ZMOT Handbook, Ways to Win Shoppers at Zero Moment of Truth (2012),


Retrieved from https://ssl.gstatic.com/think/docs/2012-zmot-handbook_research-studies.pdf
 Brinker’s snapshots show web analytics 

maturity from 2011

August 2011 September 2012 January 2014

~100 companies ~350 companies ~950 companies

Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic (2011, 2012, 2014), Retrieved from http://chiefmartec.com
 US Print Newspaper Advertising Revenue
$Billions (Adjusted for Inflation) 1950-2011

$70

$60

$50

$40

$30

$20

$10
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Source: Newspaper Association of America, 2012
 US Print Newspaper Advertising Revenue
$Billions (Adjusted for Inflation) 1950-2011

$70

$60

$50

$40

$30

$20

$10
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Source: Newspaper Association of America, 2012
 LESSON 1:
“The Day the Geeks Took Over”

4
Digital Epochs
have occurred
Data availability
and access have
Computing power
has grown while
Growth of web Digital’s impact is
analytics services seen in investment
since 1994 changed shopping devices got smaller has been dramatic in other channels
Supplemental reading for this lesson
• A word from a Founding Father of web analytics: 

http://marketinggeek.blogspot.com/2006/02/geeks-in-
marketing.html

• The “Age of Unicorns” frolicking in the land of billion-

dollar tech startups: 

http://fortune.com/2015/01/22/the-age-of-unicorns/

• A web analytics for marketers manifesto: 


http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/manifesto-web-marketers-
analysts/

• More on ZMOT: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/zeromomentoftruth/videos
References

1. SpringMetrics. 2014. “Four Digital Epochs mark the

Internet Age.” Retrieved from http://
www.springmetrics.com/

2. William Mercer McLeod. 1998. “1998 Larry Page and

Sergey Brin – Google Garage.” Retrieved from http://
archive.fortune.com/galleries/2012/news/companies/1203/
gallery.greatest-entrepreneurs.fortune/6.html

3. Kampas Research. “Visual Case Study A -- The 1994-2002

Dot.com Bubble.” Retrieved from http://
www.kampasresearch.com/Bubbles.html

References

4. Facebook. 2006. Retrieved from http://

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Facebook.svg

5. Brian Solis. 2008. “Mark Zuckerberg f8 Keynote.”

Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/
2696190509/

6. Bfishadow. 2007. “Nasdaq Take 1.” Retrieved from https://

secure.flickr.com/photos/bfishadow/3100369536/

References

7. Amy Jeffries. 2009. “Determined shoppers.” https://

www.flickr.com/photos/67998313@N00/3488114119/in/
photolist-6jeuNB-bU9Zbe-9V93Zt-9V92EF-69GYmS-
nFFxkE-9VbEBN-9V936P-mqx9yH-99qCDg-mqx7Vx-jDHfXw-
mqx8J6-mqz1wL-hCfPrg-mqxbjM-3atq8S-jsNHnG-jsL3pg-nrZL4e-
jsMfdK-9VbEph-c5vgtY-c5vkiJ-9V8QbF-9V92ux-c5vdeW-7xms4f-
bcwHPn-9VbTMb-9yEuV1-9VbSnQ-8KTELZ-6yH8xd-
mqxeu4-4TZczj-mqz6hN-mqz5j5-
mqz3Xh-7wyebG-6Ys8XX-8Kv8vU-mqz71b-mqz4ys-mqxV1r-
mqz8vL-mqyXkW-2VPTcg-bvFxzL-5sUEWD

References

8. Google/Shopper Sciences, Zero Moment of Truth Study – Tech

(2011). Retrieved from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/research-
studies/zmot-consumer-electronics.html

9. Luca Bruno / AP. 2005. Retrieved from http://chrisonderstall.com/

2013/03/16/proof-the-world-is-changing/

10. Michael Sohn / AP. 2013. Retrieved from http://

photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/14/17312316-witnessing-
papal-history-changes-with-digital-age

References

11. Scott Brinker. 2011. “Marketing Technology Landscape

Supergraphic.” Retrieved from http://chiefmartec.com/2011/08/
marketing-technology-landscape-infographic/

12. ZMOT Handbook, Ways to Win Shoppers at Zero Moment of Truth

(2012), Retrieved from https://ssl.gstatic.com/think/docs/2012-
zmot-handbook_research-studies.pdf

13. Newspaper Association of American. 2012. Retrieved from http://

www.naa.org/