ABSTRACT
The origins of the marketing and media industries go back a long way to the early cave wall paintings, the street traders of Roman and Greek times, the first printed materials and the opportunities and stimulus brought by the industrial revolution. Yet the past decade has witnessed massive upheaval in these industries due mainly to the impact of new digital technologies. Social media has emerged as a new marketplace, allowing enhanced connectivity, questioning and perspectives on our buying decisions. Data is becoming more and more important and yet increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few large data owners, whilst artificial intelligence is transforming how we market and sell by recognising patterns, predicting outcomes and helping us to better assess the success or otherwise of marketing campaigns. The pace of change is likely to intensify, with new technologies continuing to drive innovation, disruption and opportunities for growth in these industries. Against this backdrop, marketing and media companies have started to face up to the issues embodied in the SDGs, but to some, the marketing industry, in particular, has traditionally been seen as the very antithesis of the concept of sustainability, as it aims to promote consumption, often with seemingly little regard to wider issues. The response of companies within these industries is examined next in what is a complex and rapidly evolving business and technology environment.
