Marketing Myopia

K.Thirugnana Sambanthan,  Professor , SIMS

        Marketing Myopia is the term coined by Theodore Levitt. It is called as “Marketing Short-Sightedness”. Marketing Myopia would pave the way for a business to fail, due to the short-sighted mindset and illusion that a firm is in a so-called ‘growth industry’. This belief leads to complacency and a loss of sight of what customers want.

      Many Organization feel that their product or service is far superior than that of its competitors and they have an illusion that n number of customers are ready to buy their product or service. Having this wrong notation in their mind they fail to analyze about their product or service and they do not take any precautionary measures to handle any drastic changes in external factors.

      Organizations must ascertain and act on their customers’ needs and desires, not bank on the presumptive longevity of their products. In every case the reason growth is threatened, slowed or stopped is not because the market is saturated. It is because there has been a failure of management.

      Organizations must not fall as a prey of myths thinking that they are the superior players in the market and they can do as per their likes not taking into account of the customers’ likes and dislikes. 

         The basic concept to take away from marketing myopia is that a business will stay alive and execute better if it focuses on satisfying customer needs rather than selling specific products. Thus, this is as much about strategic planning as it is about marketing.