The topic of this final paper work is marketing as a business activity which went through different stages of development. These stages of develeopment were happening in a different parts of history and their results depended on economic development of each country. Marketing appears for the first time int he USA and then in development countries of Western Europe. The term marketing appears for the first time int he USA int he 19th century and in Croatia int he 20th century. However, some marketing activities appeared before the term marketing itself. That is the reason why int he first part oft his paper work you can find some definitions oft he term marketing and marketing elements in order to describe them in the period before the appearance oft he term marketing. Then there is a description of the development of marketing idea in Europe and world which have made a great impact on Croatian marketing theory. Development of marketing idea in Croatia is given through three development stages. Eminent scientists are given in every stage whose work made way to the development of marketing idea and practice. At the same time, examples of marketing implementation in practice educational system are elaborated.