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W
hen a company has a
fixed idea of what
products or services it
wants to sell, and a narrow idea of
who it is selling to, it runs the risk
of failure because it is not easily
able to adapt to changes in market
conditions. It will miss opportunities
to expand and conquer new market
areas. Harvard Business School
professor Theodore Levitt dubbed
this lack of foresight “marketing
myopia,” a term he first used in an
article of the same name, published
in the Harvard Business Review in
- He stressed that a company
needs to look ahead and constantly
evaluate new openings in the
market. If it does not, growth will
stagnate and, ultimately, decline.
In Levitt’s view, when a
business is concentrating on how
to sell its products and is blind to
the changing circumstances and
desires of customers, it will not be
prepared for shifts in the market.
For example, a sudden change in
the economy or government policy,
a new technology, or a social crisis
can have an almost immediate
effect on the buying public. If a
company is prepared for suchMARKETING MYOPIA
Demand for Product A dries
up and growth slows.Demand for Product A
continues to fall.The company cuts
production costs and
boost profits.Product B is already in
development; customers
say this will suit them
better than Product A.Production of
Product A is replaced
by Product B.The company continues
to grow.The company struggles
to survive.IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Customer serviceKEY DATES
1874 French mathematical
economist Leon Walrus
recognizes that small changes
in consumer preferences have
a big impact on business.1913–1914 Henry Ford, US
industrialist, installs the first
production line, and informs
companies that cheaper
per-unit costs are the key to
their sustained growth.1957 US marketing theorist
Wroe Alderson stresses that
a business needs to grow and
adapt to changes in order
to survive and thrive.1981 US marketing thinkers
Philip Kotler and Ravi Singh
coin the term “marketing
hyperopia” to describe the
problem of businesses having
a clear view of distant issues
but not of close ones.changes, and flexible enough to
adjust, it can find ways to tempt
customers and prosper. The astute
approach, Levitt said, is to build a
business around the customer,
rather than around the company.
He proposed that “an industry is a
customer-satisfying process, not a
goods-producing process.”Grow or die
Underlying Levitt’s idea is the
inevitable growth pattern of a
business. At first a business enters
the market with a product or
service and may enjoy rapid