21st Market Myopia
21st Market Myopia
Marketing myopia can be described as a disease for a company with many different symptoms. Some of the indications that a company has caught the illness are attitudes that say, “We’re fine the way we are, we don’t need change” or “That could never happen to us”, even “Our customers will never go elsewhere.” When a company has a viewpoint that they will forever be in business no matter what, they have thought terribly wrong. In today’s world it is important that companies evolve and adjust to the changing wants and needs of consumers. If an organization makes the mistake of sitting back and “watching developments”, they are missing out on opportunities. Eventually, if firms neglect this they will be sure to fail. Theodore Levitt explains a medicine that can help cure this disease of market myopia. According to him, instead of firms being product-oriented, they need to shift their views to be customer-oriented. Success is all about giving the customer what they want and after that you must keep them wanting more. Firms need to market their product or service by telling the customer what it can do for them, not what the customer can do with the product. Simply put, the best way I believe companies can avoid the market myopia illness is through expansion. Give customers something new to want. Conform to them. Levitt takes marketing to a new level by suggesting that companies should think outside the box. He encourages firms not to think of themselves as in a particular market, but in a broad industry. He gives great examples that are traditional with the 1960s. However, its 2012, the 21st century, there are many more different examples to be concerned with rather than railroads. In the 21st century market myopia occurs if a company refuses to innovate and accept the changing technology. That is the very reason why companies such as Blockbuster and Barnes & Nobles have found themselves fighting to stay in business. With all the success each one
Marketing myopia can be described as a disease for a company with many different symptoms. Some of the indications that a company has caught the illness are attitudes that say, “We’re fine the way we are, we don’t need change” or “That could never happen to us”, even “Our customers will never go elsewhere.” When a company has a viewpoint that they will forever be in business no matter what, they have thought terribly wrong. In today’s world it is important that companies evolve and adjust to the changing wants and needs of consumers. If an organization makes the mistake of sitting back and “watching developments”, they are missing out on opportunities. Eventually, if firms neglect this they will be sure to fail. Theodore Levitt explains a medicine that can help cure this disease of market myopia. According to him, instead of firms being product-oriented, they need to shift their views to be customer-oriented. Success is all about giving the customer what they want and after that you must keep them wanting more. Firms need to market their product or service by telling the customer what it can do for them, not what the customer can do with the product. Simply put, the best way I believe companies can avoid the market myopia illness is through expansion. Give customers something new to want. Conform to them. Levitt takes marketing to a new level by suggesting that companies should think outside the box. He encourages firms not to think of themselves as in a particular market, but in a broad industry. He gives great examples that are traditional with the 1960s. However, its 2012, the 21st century, there are many more different examples to be concerned with rather than railroads. In the 21st century market myopia occurs if a company refuses to innovate and accept the changing technology. That is the very reason why companies such as Blockbuster and Barnes & Nobles have found themselves fighting to stay in business. With all the success each one
Cited: Adidwa, D. (2012). Marketing myopia. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/Adidwa/marketing-myopia-1894577 Levitt, T. (1960). Marketing myopia. Harvard Business Review, September-October 1975 Ottman, J. (2007, June 19). How to avoid green marketing myopia. Retrieved from http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/avoid-green-marketing-myopia-ottman-stafford- hartman.asp