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 he 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 Levity 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 tit 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. Levity 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 sass. 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 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 of these companies has had for years and years, no one, not even them, thought there might be a day when they would be struggling to stay alive. Blockbuster limited themselves to being a physical on-site rental video store. Now, companies such as Nettling and Redbook have managed to gain the upper hand by granting customers the convenience they have always wanted.

If Blockbuster had paid attention to what loud make customers happy, instead of their actual product, they may have been able to gain that first-mover advantage. Just as in the case of Barnes & Nobles, they considered themselves to be in the book business rather than in a business that provided people with knowledge. The main point here is that companies must always be aware of what is changing around them. They cannot look at an evolving industry and see it as a threat. They must look at it and see it as an opportunity. Take Coca- Cola for example.

When someone first thinks of Coca-Cola they think of that fizzy brown drink. However that is not all Coca-Cola is. They have expanded into other flavors of sodas, Juices, and water! One can say that this is a company that did not think of themselves as being in the soda business but the refreshment business and 21 SST Market Myopia By measles More than 50 years have passed since Theodore Levity wrote “Marketing Myopia. ” Having said that, because today we are such a fast-paced industry, there is no doubt that principles of Levity have changed over-time.

For example, Levity suggests that thinking is an intellectual response to a problem. Without a problem, there is no thinking and no need to be creative and innovate. Although this could possibly be rue within some companies, I believe most companies today are always looking to put themselves one step ahead of their competition. Constant awareness and new ideas are becoming a regular strategy in companies today. Levity also states, “What usually gets emphasized is selling, not marketing. Marketing, being a more sophisticated and complex process, gets ignored. (Levity, 1960, p. 7) Although marketing may be more complex than selling, I believe it is anything but ignored today. With the thousands of different ways for companies to market, it is extremely rare to see any company neglecting the opportunity to market their product or Irvine somehow. In fact, most firms have a department strictly dedicated to marketing. Another principle discussed by Levity is that he believed that companies spend too much attention to research and development. I personally believe that research and development are essential to a business’ future today.

Because technology is expanding so rapidly development needs to be a continuing factor implemented and research must be constantly updated. In 2012 there is no such thing as too much research and development. Lastly, Levity’s idea that management is more oriented toward the product itself, as opposed to the people who consume it, mess outdated. Management in many companies are willing to offer some solution to any unhappy customer, management pays people for their opinions, and gives away prizes to customers who take the time to fill out a survey.

Bottom line, management cares today about a customer’s opinion. It is highly valued. A very interesting article I found titled, “How to Avoid Green Marketing Myopia,” by Jacqueline Ottoman, suggests a type of 21st marketing myopia. This specific marketing myopia started to emerge in the late sass when “going green” first came about, but was not very popular. Ottoman states two specific objectives that must go along with “green marketing. ” First the product must offer some type of improved environmental quality. Second, it must deal with customer satisfaction.

The marketing myopia occurs when either one of these objectives are misjudged or overstated. If a product proves to show no environmental benefit, consumers will either turn to a substitute product that does or refuse to purchase from that company. A great example provided by Ottoman was that of the “Researching,” which was introduced in 1994 by Philips. When Philips introduced the new light bulb they failed to design it according o the customer’s convenience. The light bulb was incompatible with most traditional lamps, had a confusing package, and the bulb itself was in an abnormal shape.

Sales during this time were extremely weak. However, Philips reintroduced the bulb in 2000 under a different name called, “Marathon. ” This time the bulb offered a new shape and promised a $20 cost savings to consumers because of its five-year life. Sales skyrocketed. Overall, no matter how many cures we come up with, market myopia will always be around. There will always be that one company that is too narrow-minded or to Customers need to be a company’s main tool to success. After all, without the customer there is no success, no business.