Marketing Myopia

As I was reading the article, I became curious why the author used Marketing Myopia as the title
of his journal article. I researched about the word and found out that Myopia (near-sightedness),
in medical terms, is a medical condition in the eye wherein you can clearly see objects that are
near to you but farther away objects are blurry. A person with myopia can see things clearly
that are near to them and has a hard time seeing things from a distance. In a figurative sense, a
myopic person has trouble seeing things from a different perspective and often does not
consider the bigger picture of a situation. The journal article, written by Theodore Levitt which is
entitled Marketing Myopia, talks about how a myopic perspective can lead to the downfall of
businesses and what should be done about it.

As described by Levitt, Marketing Myopia is a "near-sighted" approach to marketing that focuses

on the needs of a company rather than what the consumer needs and wants. Marketing Myopia
occurs when businesses focus only on making sales and profits instead of satisfying their
customers. The article talks about how Marketing Myopia has led to the downfall of companies.
It mentions that failure of management and not market saturation is the cause why some of the
businesses stop growing. Businesses that failed are product-oriented and not customer-
oriented.

The author mentioned four beliefs that contribute to a myopic perspective of a business. These
are the following:

1. Growth is guaranteed by a multiplying number of customers

2. There is no competitive substitute for major products

3. Dependent on mass production to minimize cost through increasing production

4. Focus on Product Development

Focus on No
Mass Competitive
Production Substitute

Growth of
Product-
Market is
Self- Oriented
assured
Deceiving
Cycle
These four reasons why a company fails to adjust and be relevant are all related to the
importance of being customer-oriented. Levitt always reiterates that Companies should be
customer-oriented and not product-oriented.

It is hard to believe that this journal was written more than sixty years ago. Levitt’s message and
vision are still relevant until this present day. His revolutionary thinking that companies should
build themselves as effective customer-oriented company is what most successful companies
are doing today. In the author’s example, he mentioned that if railroad companies think of
themselves as a transportation business instead of a railroad business, they would still be
relevant until today. As the table below shows, companies have expanded from being product-
oriented companies to market-oriented ones.

By being market-oriented, a company does not limit itself and they would be open to new
changes and opportunities. By providing the customer what they want and need, companies
would strive in making innovations and adapt to new changes. That is the essence of
Marketing, identifying and fulfilling human needs.

One company that I can consider to be myopic is Kodak. Kodak is an imaging company that
began in the 19th century. They are considered pioneers in the world of photography. Their
products are so popular that they are used by the majority of the population. Even movie
industries are dependent on using Kodak's products and this gave them a monopoly on the
photography industry. Their main product is the film that is used in a camera. This is the main
source of the income of the company.

However, due to the development of digital technology, the film became obsolete, so as their
company. What is ironic here is that Kodak was the one who pioneered digital imaging. But
because they do not want to lose their profit on producing the film, they did not focus on digital
imaging. Because of this, other companies capitalized on digital technology and capture the
market that was once with Kodak.

The lesson here is that Kodak's goal was not customer-oriented. The company was afraid to
lose sales on their film that is why they did not pursue the development of digital imaging which
was first discovered by them. Kodak made its company a film-producing business rather than a
photography business. They were a product-oriented company and not a customer-oriented
company.
The journal article of Levitt emphasizes the importance of a company being customer-oriented.
In the case of our organization (we are an educational institution), meeting the needs of our
students and parents is very important. It is the main responsibility of a school to provide total
quality education to its students. The drive of the school in satisfying its customers is what
makes the institution relevant even during the pandemic. And by doing this, our population grew
because satisfied customers became our main marketing objective. In other words, focusing on
meeting the needs of your clientele will lead to the success of an organization.

Marketing Myopia's message and vision are still very relevant and applicable even to this day.
However, the article is still focused on how to create profit. In my opinion, Levitt's idea of why a
company should be customer-oriented is still profit-driven. Being customer-centered will indeed
lead to a success of a business. But the true success of a business is to be of service to its
customer and providing their needs. The article lacked the focus on corporate social
responsibility (CSR). Although sustainable products such as solar panels and alternative energy
resources were mentioned in the article, it did not focus on how they can be beneficial to the
environment and society.

CSR should be one of the main priorities of businesses, especially during the pandemic. CSR
taught us that caring for the society and environment is of utmost importance to have a
sustainable future. Besides, it is a trend for customers to patronize companies who practices
CSR which can make a company still be profitable. As the saying goes, "The true purpose of
business is to serve society and profit is just a reward for a job well done.”

References:

Nearsightedness. (2020, April 2). Retrieved April 2, 2020, from

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nearsightedness/symptoms-causes/syc-
20375556#:~:text=Nearsightedness%20(myopia)%20is%20a%20common,instead%20of%20on
%20your%20retina.

What is Holistic Marketing and should your business use it? (2019, Dec. 9). Retrieved Dec. 9,
2019, from https://smallbiztrends.com/2019/08/what-is-holistic-marketing.html

How to Pivot successfully in business. (2020, July 3). Retrieved July 3, 2020, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/07/03/how-to-pivot-successfully-in-business/?
sh=282001827316

What is Marketing Myopia, definitions, and examples. (2021, Feb. 20). Retrieved Feb. 20, 2021,
from https://www.feedough.com/marketing-myopia/

A brief history of Kodak. (2017, March 13). Retrieved March 13, 2017, from
https://www.1ink.com/blog/history-of-kodak-a-brief-look-with-1inkcom/

Kerin, Roger A. & Hartley, Steven W. (2016). Marketing: The Core (6 th ed.). USA: McGraw Hill
Education.
Kotler, P. & Keller K. (2012). Marketing Management (14th ed). Harlow, England: Pearson
Education Limited.