Marketing Myopia

Myopia is a marketing term that is defined as short sighted and inward looking approach to marketing that focuses on the needs of the firm and the mind of indispensability instead of defining why they exists and its product and how it must satisfy the customers’ needs and wants. Firms who have this kind of approach fail to see the rapid market change and will later on lead to their extinction.

Half a century ago, the growth of businesses was put into question because most of them failed to cope up with the market demands. During that time, CEOs of businesses like petroleum industry, car manufacturing, entertainment industry, Dry Cleaning business, corner grocery stores and others have failed to recognize the needs of the consumers. They all aimed to be at the top but their actions drag them down to nearly extinction. Why near extinction? They have focused on how to make profit by way of product enhancement and boasting that there are no substitutes with what they are offering and without considering the users demand. Focusing with the product is their way to display supremacy which leads them to drowning with their own sweat and tears it is because exerting more effort on it resulted to the marketing aspect left behind or even neglected.

In the article written by the late Theodore Levitt, he explains the failure of business executives in dealing with the market environment wherein the focus of their operation is how to improve the existing product through the use of research. I agree that research truly help the development of the product, however, excessive research will never guarantee if it will still go with the flow and changes in the environment. Given the fact that they enhanced it, are they sure that the enhancement suffices the needs and wants of the customers? Probably not because, what fits right now will no longer be fitted tomorrow and what demands we had yesterday is not the demand for today.

As explained, when the businesses focused merely on increasing their profit, they tend to produce more because they predicted that they will benefit to the increase of population because as it increases, the demand also increases and sales also increases. This may happen but not for long because at the end of the day, the consumers will think and ask what have been their benefit in having that product? Are they satisfied? Are there after sales monitoring of the product? If those questions will be answered, there is no doubt that the customers will rebuy the product.

Since then, marketing myopia has never satisfied the true marketing concept wherein the firm must not only provide product to the consumers but they must create a bridge of communication with the consumers through placing themselves at their end in order to identify their needs and want that would make them satisfied. Identifying those will create a bridge to fully understand the consumers’ demands.

Nowadays, consumers tend to look for the product and firms that seems to be more inclined to social welfare and that’s the best marketing strategy for me. Not to mention, there are a lot of firms who devoted their study on how to develop their PRODUCTS and SERVICES in order to be more friendly with the society.