Marketing Myopia

by
Theodore Levitt
Presented by:

Dipesh
Monish
Roma
Sachin
Swapnil
Vijeta
Marketing Myopia

• Marketing Myopia is described as a firm’s

shortsightedness or narrowness when it is
attempting to define its business.

• Businesses will do better if they concentrate

on satisfying customer’s needs rather than
on selling products.
EXAMPLES: Fair and Handsome

o Fair and Handsome is a brand that created the Men's

fairness cream segment in India. Launched in 2005,
the brand became the creator and the market leader
of this segment. Emami was looking for ways to
challenge the Fair & Lovely brand from HUL.

o After two years of launch, Fair and Handsome is worth

Rs 45 Crore now commanding a market share of over
30-40% in this segment.

o Emami has moved aggressively to promote Fair and

Handsome by roping in Bollywood icon ShahRukh
Khan as its brand ambassador.
Titan

• Titan has come out with a new campaign for its thinnest
watch Edge.The ad features its brand ambassador Aamir
Khan.

• Edge is positioned as World's Thinnest watch. With a

thickness of 3.5 mm, Edge is priced between Rs6000 and
Rs.12000. The brand is targeting Business Executives and
professionals. According to a report from Television.com,
EDGE has so far sold over 75000 watches in 2006 with a
brand sales of over Rs 42 crore .

• EDGE takes the tagline "More Attention that You can

Handle". It is true also, since the watch is definitely going to
catch attention and the thin watch will not miss your eye.
 Railroads

• Fastest, cheapest and reliable mode of transport in those

days.
• Advance Technology.
• They expanded their service area and not the means
(such as transport by Bus, Cars or Airline).
• They believed that growth is assured by an expanding
and more affluent population.
• The top management failed to recognize its business
as transportation business.
 Petroleum

• Pioneered the oil resource exploration.

• Possessed advance technology and know-how.
• Enjoyed confidence of sophisticated investors.
• Financial control, Production research and
Management training.
 Petroleum

• Confined itself to the technology of oil exploration, oil

production, and oil refining.
• Didn’t think of alternatives (natural gas).
• Considering it as a generic product but failed to
realize it’s a supportive product.
• It improved the techniques of production and not the
product.

Complacency and wrong headedness can stubbornly convert opportunity

into near disaster
 Grocery Stores

• The oldest form of retail stores that catered to the needs

of customers.
• Chain of stores that were easily accessible and were
referred to “corner store”.
• New generation of super stores started entering in
market. They provided customers with variety of
products.
• Grocery stores owner believed that they were unaffected.
Grocery Stores

• Reduced their cost.

• Co-operated with the suppliers.
• Paid attention to the customers.
• Improved their service.
• Kept their pride but lost their shirts.
Photography
 What companies need to do to overcome
Marketing Myopia

• Broadly define your firm and industry.

• Monitor other industries and be aware of their marketing
strategies.
• Recruit marketing people and have brainstorming sessions
between these new and existing managers to yield new
strategies.
• Be flexible enough to apply unique solutions to the problems.
Thank You