Marketing Myopia by Theodore Levitt - Assignment Example

A Critical Response to the Marketing Myopia Article A Critical Response to the Marketing Myopia Article The article Marketing Myopiaby Theodore Levitt focuses on the marketing strategies that executives should consider for their businesses. Moreover, Levitt through his article introduces the most influential marketing ideas that seem to have been effective for the better part of the half this century (Levitt, 2004). According to Levitt, business can only succeed when the business management concentrates on satisfying customer’s needs as opposed to selling produce. Notably, customers are the backbone of any business if they do not buy the products the business can never grow (Levitt, 2004). Therefore, fulfilling the needs of customers translate to intense buying and selling products. Additionally, customers often feel comfortable to buying or engage in business with institutions that fulfill their business needs. Therefore, Theodore Levitt’s article “Marketing Myopia” is a platform that provides the management of businesses with understanding why and how to improve the productivity of businesses and the real needs of customers towards this growth. Levitt is advising the marketers to focus further on the market that shall modify products and companies instead of focusing on their own companies. Modifying products ensures that these products increase value thereby catering for the changing demands of customers and the business community. According to Levitt, first priority should be directed to the market, which is the customer. To emphasize on his new marketing myopia, Levitt uses numerous business institution (Levitt, 2004). For example, Levitt focuses on the business productivity on Hollywood and in the same concern he possess a question “if Hollywood was into television rather than movies, wouldn’t it have profited more?” The ideals presented or posted by this question are actually true. Most of the Hollywood crowd usually concentrated in making movies than in money. In the real sense, there is much money in the television than in movie making. Through this question, Levitt is challenging business to check and if possible to change their strategies. Notably, if Hollywood could have thought of the television market, it would have made more money that what they currently make (Levitt, 2004). With Hollywood and Sony among other television channels, Levitt introduces new marketing idea termed as the marketing myopia theory. The myopia marketing theory concentrates on marketing strategies where companies are not only needed to be product oriented and technically sound, but the theory also needs companies to focus on the customers. Different companies deal on different customer products; therefore, different companies have different customer needs (Levitt, 2004). Thus, according to the myopia marketing theory, Levitt advocates for companies to identify these different customer needs so that they can be brought into effect towards marinating the customer interest. Adoption of marketing myopia theory may have numerous implications to organizations. From the projected effects of the myopia theory, the theory can be applied to both marketing and advertisement to determine whether a business is catering for the market adequately, or there are adjustments to be made (Levitt, 2004). The adjustments that may be projected by numerous businesses must; thus, aim at catering for large market since Levitt is more concern in businesses making more profit than they currently make. Moreover, the myopia theory needs businesses to identify effective advertising strategies. In this concern, according to the theory, identifying new markets is not the entire solution to the entire process, after the identifying the market, it is vital of management to work out ways to reach and have effects to this newly identified market (Levitt, 2004). It is only through effective marketing strategies that the identified markets can effectively deliver. However, it may be a problem for organizations to synchronize between the market demand and capability of the business to provide the demand of the new market. Regardless the ability of the some organization to adopt and implement the myopia marketing theory has forwarded by Levitt, the theory is a legitimate avenue for executives to narrow down their marketing aims and objectives (Levitt, 2004). In addressing this concept, Levitt says that wrong concepts often lead to low revenue return in businesses. Moreover, Levitt emphasizes that wrong implementation even to the right ideas and strategies may lead to poor marketing. The myopia marketing strategies want businesses not to concentrate on their business techniques, but they should concentrate on customer satisfying processes. According to Levitt, satisfying customer’s needs makes the company develops backwards. Satisfying customers’ needs starts with satisfying their delivery demands (Levitt, 2004). Additionally, Levitt argues the businesspersons should never confuse selling with marketing so that they cannot confuse their customers’ needs. Therefore, the executive should be obligated to integrate efforts of discovering, creating, arousing, and satisfying the customer needs. Proper identification and implementation of these factors will help in creating market for any company’s products. It is pointless to create, overproduce, or even just produce averagely if the products have no market. Therefore, it means that these products will not be sold fast and effectively to translate to the intended profit or revenue. Some of the customer demands or needs that companies should fit to their products as preempted by Levitt include product efficiency, flexibility, economic value, durability, and any potential growth of the customer in the use of the product. Naturally, no one can buy something that is below his or her expectations (Levitt, 2004). Therefore, it is upon companies to improve their products to meet this customer needs, and use the myopia marketing strategies to find or create mark for such products. It will be pointless for the management to find market for a product that does not need the customers’ needs. This will be a wait of time and resources since the market for such products may not be realized; hence, it is vital for companies to reevaluate their products before concentrating on creating new markets. Levitt feels that all organizations need to feel visceral of greatness even if it means through trivial survival. Any company’s greatness depends on the vigor in leadership of such organizations (Levitt, 2004). Lazy leaders can never and shall never take a business or any company to any greatness but rather a fall. Therefore, businesses need leaders with vision grandeurs. According to Levitt, only such visions can generate eager followers and in their vast numbers. A successful business must have vast followers who are customers. Businesses can only achieve this following if the entire corporation must be regarded and viewed as customer creating as well as customer satisfying organism (Levitt, 2004). Furthermore, managements of these corporations should think of themselves as providing customer-creating value satisfying but not producing effective products. In conclusion, business entities that intend to thrive above their expectations must adopt the myopia outlook towards the daily operation. Notably, according to myopia theorem, the success of any business often depends on its resources. The competition in each business’ resources does not originate from the company itself but originates externally. The main and vital resource that any organization can boast over is the number of customers buying from the business. Therefore, organizations must adopt the myopia marketing strategies; however, they must start by satisfying the customer need before sources for the market for their products. Reference Levitt, T. (2004). Marketing Myopia. Retrieved November 4, 2012, from http://www.academia-research.com/filecache/instr/m/a/743756_marketingmyopia.pdf Read More