Abstract
The article, “Marketing Myopia” written by Theodore Levitt, illustrates how businesses interact in their particular industry’s life cycles of growth, maturity and decline. One of the primary focal points of the article is that businesses must know their industry in regards to satisfying their specific customer’s needs. Identifying customer needs and meeting them, allows for continued growth of the company and industry. Recognizing the necessity to satisfy customer’s needs rather than merely selling products will establish an innovative company with continued growth and profits.
Key words: Marketing, satisfaction, myopia, industry
In the article, “Marketing Myopia”, Theodore Levitt, challenges all business leaders
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The second belief that there is no competitive substitute for the industry’s major product concludes that the threat of innovation is very little if at all possible. In the article, the petroleum companies ignore the threats of competitors who are investing in innovative alternative sources of fuels to satisfy customer’s needs of transportation. They are investing in the original product and how to more efficiently extract, refine and distribute it to their customers. As in the past missed opportunities, the oil industry continues to be blinded by its narrow preoccupation with its specific product and the value of its reserves (Levitt, 2004). Other arguments of this belief suggest that companies operate within a narrow thinking of product/definition and single industry perspective (Richard, Womack, & Alalway, 1993). One example is the grocery retailer; A&P, and how its management defined the organization by the type of product it sold, groceries, and how they made decisions to not add highly profitable non-grocery items to their assortment of products as their competitors did (Richard, Womack, & Alalway, 1993). By not offering such items as national brand merchandise, delicatessens, and seafood sections, A&P allowed competitors to gain competitive advantages in their industry. The third belief that too much faith in mass production and in the advantages of rapidly
In summary, marketing is very important for a business to achieve success. Many businesses have a difficult time in this area. With the stiff competition, businesses struggle to stand out among others. Other companies resort in unethical and unfair schemes just to win the competition. But eventually find themselves in great loss and failure. As businesses all over the world enter into a gigantic marketplace, every business owner is faced with convoluted market competition. Nevertheless, any entrepreneur can be different and become successful in this matter. In every product sold and in every service provided, patience and hard work should take precedence to ensure quality. Products and services should be marketed honestly, planning should not be done with evil
Marketing Myopia is the short-sighted approach of management of focusing on a particular product and not identifying the correct industry the organization is in. (Levitt, 1975) In essence it implies that organizations should not define their business based on their products and should attempt to identify the business based on customer centric evidence. Organizations need to focus on customer wants and use customer centric evidence forming strategic decisions.
An industry product can be substituted by a substitute product which has the same or similar function by a different means. A substitute can limit industry profitability and growth. Porter (2008) gives several key elements on determining the threat.
The threat that substitute products pose to an industry's profitability depends on the relative price-to-performance ratios of the different types of products or services to which customers can turn to satisfy the same basic need. The threat of
To understand the factors that affect the competitive environment of the oil industry, a useful framework
firms It has been suggested that the disappointing performance of U.S. firms during the 1980s in technology-intensive, global markets was from failure to improve upon products and processes. It has been cited that "the U.S. makes the breakthroughs, while other countries, especially Japan, provide the follow-through." Revolutionary innovation has been contrasted with less dramatic advancements. Incremental improvement can turn products over and get more, newer models out. This may all sound dull, but the achievements can be exhilarating. American firms may have failed to follow up on their breakthroughs with such continuous improvements. Where there were successes, they were built upon a combination of breakthroughs and incremental improvements. It is the subject of yet another discourse as to what constitutes an innovation: a breakthrough or an incremental improvement, or both, and/or everything in between. 4. To take advantage of opportunity It is no surprise that surprises, often disappointing surprises, are the seeds of innovation. Take the oil companies. It is no surprise that some oil companies are becoming oil-andgas companies. Why? Because gas is found more often and in greater abundance than oil
Marketing is all about creating a really solid decision, which will lead to more money. In this paper I will give some history of my organization, and explain how each element of marketing affects the organization. In addition I will cover the industry in which the organization resides in.
It would only make sense that the company is paying attention to what their customers need, want, and think. If the company is up for it, they will create a loyal customer and a good sector in the marketplace in regards to their products.
Marketing plays the most important role for the success of a business. In this chapter, the business’ marketing objectives are laid out together with the plans or actions that will be needed to achieve these objectives. Furthermore, this chapter includes the profile of the respondents which aided the researchers to create this part of the feasibility study.
Marketing Myopia suggests that businesses will do better in the end if they concentrate on meeting customers’ needs rather than on selling products. The mistake of paying more attention to products a company offers than to the benefits and experiences produced by these products.
To be successful in business, "a consumer does not buy a whole of physical components of the product but it is usefulness, function, satisfaction of consumer's needs, solving the problem, etc" (Dubrouski, , p.1). "That is why the product is a whole of tangible and intangible components which means satisfaction of consumer's needs and desires, solving the problem"(Dubrouski, p.1). Companies and managers must learn to utilize marketing research, as well as, strategy skills to fulfill customers' satisfaction. Management has to focus on exclusive marketing challenges presented by the new era of the 21st century. Management has to be able to utilize inventive, dominant, and cost effective marketing techniques that will support the future success of the organization. Companies must meet,"the increasing importance of services as part of a product (offer, offering package) which cannot be neglected" (Dubrouski, p.1). Exploring the purpose of market research, as well as, evaluating the importance of such research, facilitates managers in realizing the importance of marketing to an organization's success and to be globally competitive.
of the understanding of marketing in regard to understanding the needs of their customers which may be seen
The threat of new entrants: According to our text, the threat of new entrants is the possibility that the profits they make in an area may be eroded by new competition. The McDonald’s by me competes with Burger King, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, and other smaller places like Zel’s. Each time a new place opens the less business they will have. For the other company, there will be a barrier to entry. They will have to use product differentiation to bring in the customers…to make them overcome their loyalty to McDonald’s (Dess, p. 53).
The concept of marketing has evolved over time. Whilst in today’s business world “the customer is king”. In the past this was not the case, some businesses put factors other than the customer first. Product focused companies define themselves by their products. For example Kodak originally defined its self as being in the photo processing business. This definition impact the culture of the company in a way that hamstrings thinking and creates impediments for action. When the shift to digital cam Kodak resisted this because of the impact on its “products photo processing”.
Article 10: Corporate marketing myopia and the inexorable rise of a corporate marketing logic: Perspectives from identity-based views of the firm