... and product managers are the new Sears Buyers.
Sears used to have an army of buyers going out into the world and finding or creating new products to introduce to the american consumer. They would then pitch these products via the sears catalog.
[imagine a picture of the Sears catalog here]
This catalog is no longer a place where US consumers are introduced to new products and services. Now the consumer looks to instagram ads for such things.
This is another example of the point Benedict Evans makes in his piece 75 years of US Advertising where the new advertising dollars aren't replacing old advertising dollars but are instead replacing old ways of doing business.
J Peterman is another example of the catalog as an advertisment of new products genre: https://www.jpeterman.com (yes, the J Peterman from Seinfeld is a real company)