...The speed of change in the digital economy • Marketing Myopia Page 1 of 2 The speed of change in the digital economy • Archive • RSS Marketing Myopia Many companies define themselves almost completely through the product or services they offer. This is a common approach that can seriously narrow the focus. Extensive attention on products rather than customers’ needs, create a “marketing myopia” resulting in business nearsightedness or shortsightedness. The most important question is therefore, “What business are we really in?” from the perspective of what customer want. What do people really want when they acquire a product or a service? This question directly impacts the strategy and the value proposition definition Companies need to understand the difference between a product and a commodity: • A product is what customer feels about your business • A commodity is anything for which there is a demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market Kodak is a great example in which marketing myopia was present. The digital camera was invented at Kodak in 1975. But instead of marketing the new technology, the company kept it under wraps for fear of hurting its lucrative film business. And when Kodak decided to get in the game it was too late. Kodak had the myopic view that the company was in the film business rather than the story telling business. But customers aren’t buying cameras and film as much as they are buying a record of their memories...
Words: 596 - Pages: 3
...Marketing Myopia, is it Relevant Today? Marketing Myopia by Theodor Levitt was published in 1960. In the article he discusses that every industry is a growth industry and that growth does not decline or stop because the market is saturated, it does so because of a failure of management. According to the article, an industry is a customer-satisfying process, not a goods-producing process. Businesses will be more successful in the end if they concentrate on meeting consumers’ needs rather than on selling products. To illustrate his point Levitt uses several examples (Digital Marketing, 2010) His first example is of the decline of growth in the railroad industry. Railroads did not decline because needs were filled by cars, trucks, planes or telephones. They declined because they failed to meet their customers’ needs. Railroad executives assumed themselves to be in the railroad business and not in the transportation business. They declined not because of cars, trucks, airplanes, and even telephones, but because of their own myopia (Levitt, 1960). The next example that Levitt uses is that of Hollywood. Hollywood barely escaped being totally wiped out by television. All of the established film companies went through drastic reorganization or disappeared. Similar to the railroads Hollywood forgot that they were in the entertainment business and operated as those they were just in the movie business. Instead of embracing television as an opportunity they viewed it as a threat...
Words: 1626 - Pages: 7
...“Selling and marketing are antithetical rather than synonymous or even complementary. There will always be, one can assume, a need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.” (Drucker 1973, pp.64-65) In the early years of the ‘70s era, Drucker was one of the first educators and authors who identify marketing as a way to understand customers’ needs rather than to sell the products. With the same thinking as Drucker, in a journal article named Marketing Myopia (1960), Theodore Levitt examines and analyzes limitations of managers in approaching the philosophy of modern business. The core of this article is to criticize myopic visions of managers who always pay attention to their selling targets as well as their firms’ without perceiving that the most crucial goal in business is to satisfy customers, not to sell products. In order to illustrate his view, Levitt (1960) take the railroad industry as a typical example for the failure in its business at that time. In this case, he points his finger on the railroads’ disorientation as the main culprit in making their customers to use others such as cars, trucks, airplanes and even telephones instead of being royal travelers to the old traditional transportation. In other words, the railroads killed their business by themselves because they determined their industry in a wrong mind...
Words: 955 - Pages: 4
...Myopia is defined by Merriam –Webster dictionary as “a lack of foresight or discernment: a narrow view of something” (“what is marketing myopia?). In terms of marketing this is demonstrated by a company displaying short sightedness and an inward approach that keeps the focus on the specific needs of the business rather than its products or the customer’s satisfaction. This phenomenon can destroy companies if it is not addressed immediately. A good example of marketing myopia would be Ford Motor Company’s attempt at a car called the Ford Edsel in the late 1950’s. The vehicle was a passenger car and it was Fords marketing approach with the introduction of this car that was going to revolutionize the industry. Ford was under the impression that the vehicle would meet the driving habits and needs of many domestic consumers and families. The Edsel was released with extreme publicity from marketing company’s and also the media, however it was soon after found out that the Ford Edsel would be a complete failure within the consumer market. Many may argue that the vehicle was just not a good car and did not sell well. If you ask a business professional about this they would most likely chalk it up to the company’s failure and inability to recognize the consumers’ needs and desires or as we now know it “marketing myopia.” A second way that marketing myopia may occur is slightly different however the same unwanted failure takes place. Like the text says, “many sellers make the mistake...
Words: 389 - Pages: 2
...Marketing Myopia The Myopic culture, would pave the way for a business to fail, due to the short-sighted mind-set and illusion that a firm is in a so-called 'growth industry'. This belief leads to complacency and a loss of sight of what customers want. - Theodore Levitt . Marketing Myopia suggests that businesses will do better in the end if they concentrate on meeting customers’ needs rather than on selling products. Some commentators suggested that it was the beginning of the modern marketing movement. Hollywood barely escaped being totally ravished by television. Actually, all the established film companies went through drastic reorganizations. Some simply disappeared. All of them got into trouble not because of TV’s inroads but because of their own myopia. As with the railroads, Hollywood defined its business incorrectly. It thought it was in the movie business when it was actually in the entertainment business. “Movies” implied a specific, limited product. Hollywood should have been more customer oriented than product oriented. Sustained growth depends on how broadly you define your business and how carefully you gauge your business. 3 Benefits … It helps companies find new products, services, new markets It helps companies find accurate competition It stops companies losing out when trends change We put the businesses at risk of obsolescence when we accept any of the following myths. Myth 1 :...
Words: 265 - Pages: 2
...Marketing Myopia Simple differentiation or even a mere classification may sometimes be a wall that hinders a company from maximizing all the opportunities in business. In the article, the movie industry is given as an example. Companies or producers who are into movies were not able to visualize that television entertainment is actually an opportunity for expansion. The launch of the first few successful TV shows posed a threat into the entire industry. Myopia or nearsightedness as related to marketing is the inability of a company to see beyond what is currently possible. The belief that there is no substitute on the products which are currently available in the market results to the complacency of the current players in the industry. These companies invested in researching on how they can improve the product itself and fall short in exploring the changing needs of the customers. Companies which are either leading in competition or have highly specialized products in the market exert more than enough focus to mass production. It is true that high volume production equates to lower cost and therefore lower price products. On the other hand, even the lowest priced product may not be saleable if it fails to give value to the consumers. Marketing is about creating satisfied customers. The article discusses the oil industry how it fails to consider the possibility of emerging natural gas, battery powered vehicle and eventually solar powered cars. Just few years back another good...
Words: 468 - Pages: 2
...Marketing Myopia Marketing Myopia can be defined as a short-sighted and inward looking approach to marketing that focuses on the needs of the company instead of defining the company and its products in terms of the customers' needs and wants. It results in the failure to see and adjust to the rapid changes in their markets. For example, transportation is a generic need filled by buses, cars, trains, airlines and shipping lines all of them being in the transport business. Finding the generic need (by asking "What business are we in?") corrects the 'marketing myopia' and gives a broad view of the possibilities. Marketing Myopia can also be referred to as the name given to theory that some organizations the fact that to be successful, the wants of the customer needs to be there central consideration. The blind thoughts of the top executives generally play a major role in marketing myopia. They believe that they are the leaders of the market and they are the ones who controls the market. They stick to the comments like “They have nothing on us”, “That could never happen to us”, “We are our own competitors”, “Customers love our product or service regardless of what happens” these thoughts gradually leads to decline in the market share of a company. Kodak film company is a great example in which marketing myopia was present. Kodak did not view Sony, an electronics company as a potential competitor. Industry begins with the needs of the customer for its products. Given...
Words: 615 - Pages: 3
...MARKETİNG MYOPİA The marketing myopia theory was originally proposed by Theodore Levitt. The needs of the market should receive first priority. An industry is a customer-satisfying process, not a goods-producing process. Businesses will do better in the end if they concentrate on meeting customers’ needs rather than on selling products. Companies stop growing because of a failure in management, not because the market is saturated but because of MYOPIA. For example; Railroads declined because they “were railroad oriented instead of transportation oriented; they were product oriented instead of customer oriented.” They declined not because of cars, trucks, airplanes, and even telephones, but because of their own myopia. The other example; Hollywood & TV. Hollywood declined because they thought they were producing films instead of entertainments. There are no such bad ideas for a growing industry that: 1. Growth is assured by an expanding and more affluent population; 2. There is no competitive substitute for the industry’s major product; 3. Too much faith in mass production and in the advantages of rapidly declining unit costs as output rises; 4. Preoccupation with a product that lends itself to carefully controlled scientific experimentation, improvement, and manufacturing cost reduction. “Selling focuses on the needs of the seller, marketing on the needs of the buyer: • Selling consists of tricks and techniques focusing on the seller’s need to convert...
Words: 536 - Pages: 3
...Marketing Myopia, Journal Article 1 Sylvia DeSormeau Marketing Management, MKT 308 Rob Koonce, Instructor May 1, 2009 "Marketing Myopia" is an article published in the Harvard Business Review originally in 1960. The very fact that it is still being used as a teaching tool in a marketing class in 2009 speaks volumes for the article's central message, that top executives must define their industries correctly. It seems simple enough, and yet Levitt supplies the reader with many examples of industries that have either given up profitable opportunities or simply drowned in a sea of red due to their industry classification. Industry classification errors do not occur because top management believes that it operates in a different field than it actually does, per se. Rather, Levitt drives home the point that most successful companies identify themselves to be a part of larger industries. This concept is at the heart of Levitt's article. Rather than defining one's industry to be "the street car industry" or "the railroad industry," companies would be much more successful if they thought of themselves as being in "the transportation industry." After all, most of the time technology evolves but the needs to be fulfilled remain the same. Another cause of marketing myopia is what Levitt calls the "idea of indispensability." This concept is embodied by many industries, including the petroleum industry. For instance, Levitt speaks of the gas revolution that posed a threat on the...
Words: 1129 - Pages: 5
...Marketing Management I Assignment 1 Marketing Myopia Myopia refers to nearsightedness or shortsightedness. Marketing myopia refers to the myopia shrouding the vision of certain companies or industries. It occurs when the company/industry focuses mainly on selling its products and services, instead of paying attention to the needs of the consumers. They concentrate their efforts on selling, instead of marketing their product. They tend to ignore the adage, “the Customer is King”, which more often than not results in disastrous consequences. The concept of Marketing Myopia is applicable to Indian companies as well. Many Indian companies historically have failed to define their purpose from the consumers’ point of view. These firms have focused more on producing their goods and services and then finding customers to sell them to, instead of getting to know the consumers’ needs and then producing goods to meet those needs. The situation was made worse by the licensing era and closed Indian economy till 1991, which led to little competition for firms. This resulted in customers having to buy products of only those companies, which created a high demand for their products. One Indian company that suffered from marketing myopia and paid a heavy price for it is Hindustan Motors (HM). It was founded in 1942 by Mr. B.M. Birla, and was the producer of the Ambassador and the Contessa cars. Hindustan Motors: The History The Ambassador began production in 1958, and was based...
Words: 1246 - Pages: 5
...Theodore Levitt's Marketing Myopia ABSTRACT, Theodore Levitt criticizes John Kenneth Galbraith's view of advertising as artificial want creation, contending that its selling focus on the product fails to appreciate the marketing focus on the consumer. But Levitt himself not only ends up endorsing selling; he fails to confront the fact that the marketing to our most pervasive needs that he advocates really represents a sophisticated form of selling. He avoids facing this by the fiction that marketing is concerned only with the material level of existence, and absolves marketing of serious involvement in the level of meaning through the relativization of all meanings as personal preferences. The irony is that this itself reflects a particular view of meaning, a modern commercial one, so that it is this vision of life that Levitt's marketing is really SELLING. Golin Grant corporation. If such an expectation sounds fanciful, this may be more indicative of enthusiasm in Levitt's promotion of marketing, than of a misreading of his intent. While he does acknowledge that the marketing orientation has to be balanced by other more traditional selfinterests of the corporation,^ when he lauds the virtues of marketing itself, this note of realism is difficult to detect. The irony is that Levitt's enthusiasm for the marketing mode discloses precisely the tactics and influences that are of concern to critics of marketing, and especially of the advertising portion...
Words: 6320 - Pages: 26
...Plan SIMILARITIES: IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT: Marketing Myopia: ‘in every case the reason growth is threatened, slowed or stopped is not because the market is saturated. It is because of failure of management.’, ‘little or no attention to customers basic needs and preferences’ ‘management tends to be orientated towards the product rather than the people who consume it’, ‘they latter occupy a stepchild status. They are recognized as existing, as having to be taken care of but not worth any real thought or attention’, ‘organizational lifetime has conditioned management to look in the opposite direction (of customers satisfaction and deepest needs)’. ‘Marketing is a stepchild’, ‘the chief executive must set the companies style, its direction, its goals. . . . for unless a leader knows where he is going, any road will take him there’ ‘All effort focuses on product. The effect is marketing gets ignored.’ Market Orientation: ‘The role of senior management emerged as one of the most important factors in fostering a market orientation.’ Webster 1998 asserts that “customer orientated values and beliefs are uniquely the responsibility of top management”, Webster 1998 p 38 observes ‘if managers are evaluated primarily on the basis of short-term profitability and sales, they are likely to focus on those criteria and neglect market factors such as customer satisfaction that ensure the long term health of an organization’, ‘factors could be largely controlled by managers’, ‘factors identified...
Words: 661 - Pages: 3
...Apple - Rebate Programs - Print and Mail 11-07-23 10:01 PM Secure connection Sign in Purchase location Receipt information Contact information Confirmation We appreciate your participation in Apple's rebate program. Please print and mail this page along with all required documentation. Please allow thirty (30) days from the date we receive this form along with your receipt, and UPC labels, to process your rebate claim. You will receive an email to sae770@gmail.com once your claim has been processed. Mail to: Apple Rebate Program 125-720 King Street West P.O. Box 519 Toronto, ON M5V 3S5 Your Claim Number is: A0004621776 Your submission must contain three items to be valid: 1. This page A completed claim form, with claim number and legible bar code. You have requested that once confirmed, your rebate will be mailed to: saeed alomari 15 Christopher Crt 2 Saint John, NB Your Claim Number is: A0004621776 2. Your receipt Submit proof of purchase consisting of the original itemized, dated sales receipt(s) showing all products purchased; the selling entity's name and address; and the prices paid for the qualifying products. Handwritten receipts will not be accepted. 3. Your Mac UPC Include the UPC label from the Mac box, including the part number, serial number, product description, and bar code. Your claim cannot be processed without a Mac UPC. For help finding your UPC labels, please read the FAQ (http://www.apple.com/ca/promo/faq...
Words: 257 - Pages: 2
...Marketing Myopia - Critique Marketing Myopia is an article written in 1960 by Theodore Levitt. Levitt was a marketing professor at Harvard who has published many articles on the subject. This article; however, is no doubt his claim to fame as it has been extremely well read over the years. This is due in large part to the consumer oriented approach to marketing that he argues for. Though common knowledge to the marketers of today, making the customer the first priority in business would have been easily overlooked during this era of production, selling, and basic marketing approaches to business. This contends that the businesses of the day are extremely short-sighted when it comes to the true focus and associated advantages of marketing. He illustrates that a firm’s inability to elaborate on their given industry will result in lack of readiness towards competition and other threats when they arise. Failure to broaden the scope of said firm may result is a lack of innovation Thus, in conclusion we see that companies or industries have a myopic outlook towards their business, largely due to the fact that they are oblivious of future trends of their resources. This is especially so, because the pressure on resources comes not from their own industry but related ones. What is more is that, as we have seen, competition comes from sectors that might seem totally unrelated to the business in question. New developments in upcoming industries must be thoroughly analyzed and...
Words: 361 - Pages: 2
...Now I have also talk about possible errors that could be committed by companies when they try to create and sell their news good. One possible error in which companies meet with is called "marketing myopia". One company is called "myopic" when produce wonderful goods, technologically and qualitatively advanced, but that none want to buy. For example how many functions have our telephone? How many functions we really use? A rational customer doesn't pay a lot of money to buy products that he can partially uses. A rational customer prefers buy more cheaper good with less, but useful, functions. The "marketing myopia" is a problem that starts from root. It springs from a lacks attention of company to understand real needs of customers. One possible method to pass this problem is invest on research. If companies study customers' needs they can pass the "marketing myopia". Theodore Levitt wrote and published on Harvard Business Review (1960) an article called “Marketing Myopia”. In this article he empathizes the problems that arise when a company is strongly focused on their product to lose sight of consumers and their real needs. The examples proposed by Levitt concern the rail sector, which did not perceive himself in the wider transport market, and the film industry, which did not perceive himself in the broader entertainment...
Words: 1505 - Pages: 7
