One of the most influential business books of all time is The Marketing Imagination, by Theodore Levitt. The book includes his award-winning essay “Marketing Myopia”, originally published in 1960 in the Harvard Business Review.
Marketing Myopia is a term coined by Levitt describing a shortsighted approach to marketing where companies focus on their own products or services rather than understanding and fulfilling customer needs. Marketing Myopia can limit the category a business operates in by causing a narrow focus on current products and services instead of understanding and catering to evolving customer needs, potentially hindering long-term growth.
Levitt argued that companies often mistake their product or service for the industry itself, leading to a failure to adapt to changing customer’s needs and market dynamics. Failing to recognize the evolving needs of their customers and the emergence of new technologies or competitors leads to missed opportunity and eventual decline.
Levitt famously used the railroad industry as an example, arguing they focused on being in the “railroad business” rather than the “transportation business”, thus the myopic point-of-view led to missed growth opportunities, and losing customers to airlines and trucking.
Candidly, I believe the publishing industry suffered the same myopic fate. Historically the industry mistakenly defined itself by the medium on which they published (newsprint/newspaper) rather than defining themselves by the broader definition of being in the news and information business. As an industry, might they have responded more swiftly to the opportunities associated with online content delivery if they defined themselves in that way? A successful newspaper company, confident in its loyal customer base for physical newspapers might be slow to develop a strategy for the digital age.
Generally, Marketing Myopia is caused by several factors including prioritizing product over customer needs, insufficient market research, overconfidence in current strategies, and ignoring competitors and evolving disruptive technologies.
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Other fatal examples of Marketing Myopia include Kodak who failed to adapt to digital photography; Blockbuster Video who ignored the rise of streaming services; and Nokia who lost share to Apple by failing to adapt to smartphones.
Marketing Myopia can potentially plague local business as well. Focusing on short-term gains, neglecting customer needs, or failing to adapt to changing market conditions can lead to a disconnect between the business and its customers, and eventual decline.
Here are some of the symptoms of marketing myopia that can challenge your local business:
- Focusing on “What” instead of “Why”: Business might get so caught up in their products or services that they forget to understand the underlying needs and desires of their customers.
- Product-Centric vs. Customer-Centric: A product-centric approach prioritizes the features and benefits of the product, while a customer-centric approach focuses on the customer problems and how the business can solve them. Ted Levitt offered that “People don’t want to buy a quarter inch drill, they want a quarter inch hole.”
- Ignoring Customer Feedback: Failing to actively solicit and analyze customer feedback can lead to a disconnect between the business and its target audience.
- Poor Market Research: Insufficient or outdated market research can prevent businesses from understanding evolving customer preferences and emerging trends.
- Not Understanding the Bigger Picture: Businesses might focus on immediate sales targets without considering the long-term implications of their strategies, neglecting the importance of building customer relationships, brand, and loyalty.
- Prioritizing Quick Wins: Focusing solely on immediate sales and profits can lead to neglecting long-term growth strategies and customer retention efforts.
- Resistance to Change: Businesses that are unwilling to adapt to changing market conditions or customer preferences may become stagnant and vulnerable to competition.
- Lack of Long-Term Goals: Without clear long-term goals, businesses can easily lose sight of their overall vision and make decisions that are not in their best long-term interests.
- Ignoring External Factors: Businesses may become so focused on their internal operations that they fail to monitor and respond to external factors like competitive activity, technological advancements, disruptive innovations, and changing customer trends.
- Lack of Innovation: A lack of focus on innovation and new ideas can lead to businesses becoming outdated and less competitive.
These symptoms can lead to missed opportunities, stagnation, and failure over time. Marketing myopia can negatively impact local businesses in the following ways:
- Missed Opportunities: A myopic approach can cause businesses to overlook potential new products and new market segments that could otherwise drive growth and profitability.
- Poor Marketing ROI: Focusing solely on products or services instead of customer needs can lead to inefficient marketing spending as campaigns might not resonate with the target audience, resulting in low return on investment.
- Stagnations and Decline: Failing to adapt to evolving customer preferences and market trends can lead to stagnation or even decline, as competitors who focus on customer needs gain market share from you.
To avoid marketing myopia, small businesses should focus on customer needs and market trends rather than solely on products, conduct thorough research and continuously adapt and innovate their strategies. Your checklist should include:
- Always put customers first.
- Define a clear and realistic plan and vision.
- Conduct thorough research.
- Keep focusing on great marketing.
- Keep a close eye on competitors.
- Embrace change and innovation.
- Track and measure results.
Businesses who effectively avoid marketing myopia tend to experience sustained growth, increased market relevance, and improved customer satisfaction. We’d like to help you be one of them.
Working with an agency partner can help to challenge you and your business to break from a focus on short term promotionally based marketing and toward a longer-term strategic approach that works to effectively brand and position your business and its products and services to sustain and grow in the long term.
To learn more about how to effectively market your business, give us a call here at Sentinel Solutions. We are experts in successful multimedia marketing strategy and can help you build a program that engages your audience, wherever they are, and drives sales. Visit us at our website (here) or give us a call at 603-352-5896 or email Advertising@SentinelDigitalSolutions.com.
We’re here to help you succeed.
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