1.

We are aware that Levitt`s ~Marketing Myopia has been downloaded more
than 500,000 times. We know that people have been reading the article since it was
published in 1960. Why is this article so salient for business?

Lets start to understand the term marketing myopia`, which was credited to ProIessor
Theodore Levitt. It would be appropriate to explain the phenomenon oI marketing
myopia`. Excessive attention to production or product or selling aspects at the cost oI the
customer and his actual needs, creates this myopia. Levitt`s idea explained that during the
ongoing change in the market there is some Iundamental characteristic in each business
that maintains itselI through the changing times, which invariably relates to the basic
human need, which the business seeks to serve and satisIy through its products. In order
to companies survive, their products and services had to be marketed diIIerently
according to the customers' needs. According to Levitt's research, companies go out oI
business because they take the customer and market Ior granted. Businesses must not
remain stagnate but must constantly change as the market and its needs change iI they
want to stay in business.

Ted Levitt's "Marketing Myopia" has had a great impact on the world oI marketing. More
Iamously, the article argued that Executive management suIIers Irom marketing myopia.
Managements Iocus on the products their company produces, not the customer needs they
serve, and consequently tend to deIine the business too narrowly railroads instead oI
transport, movies instead oI entertainment, oil instead oI energy. Levitt's halI-century-old
search what kind oI business companies is really looking over and continues to inIluence
entire schools oI thought. Levitt "Marketing Myopia" always oIIers a way oI metrology
everything Irom thinking green to libraries. Its impact has lasted many years. Levitt
works and writings have changed the way companies think about their businesses,
organize Ior innovation and creativity, and market their products and services.

II we would like to ask why has "Marketing Myopia" lasted so well over a 50-year-period
when many management big ideas have gone the way oI the Iailed industries Levitt cites
in his classic? The answer is very easy: Its clarity and its ambition. Levitt makes a case
Ior placing the consumer at the middle oI marketing. The consumers as the best way to
transIorm businesses into powerIul marketing organizations are to move towards some
Iorm oI proximity.

Levitt`s paper is important but more then that give subtle message: that our consumer
understanding needs to be similarly broad, rather than narrow. This concept calls
consumer myopia. It illustrates ways in which this paradigm is alive and it jointly explore
the limitations oI this paradigm, and put Iorward a broader Iramework in which
consumers are allowed to exist as dynamic individuals within contextualized spaces. The
Iorgotten value oI context really challenges some oI Iixed notions oI who or what the
consumer is, but also potentially unlocks the ability Ior companies to innovate and
compete more successIully in the Iuture.

. To what do you attribute the longevity of Levitt`s essay?

Levitt has used various critics to put across the theme oI longevity in this essay. The
article is Iairly long because oI the extensiveness with which the author has explored this
topic. In order to show how longevity still exists in the market, the author has pointed out
the diIIerent aspects oI marketing and business Iailures within his reach. The author
addresses in detail concepts such as obsolescence, population myths, production
pressures and the dangers oI research and development. As an example, the author shows
how businesses like dry cleaning, electric utilities and grocery stalls have rendered
obsolete with time (George, 2009). In addition, he explores how population growth has
not necessarily aIIected the petroleum industry. In his concluding remarks, the author
provides well elaborated suggestions on how business can sustain growth and remain
relevant in the market. For instance, gives suggestions such as, vigorous leadership,
customer satisIaction among others (Terblanche, 2005). In addition to his contributions,
several other individuals have oIIered comments on this essay.

Indeed, the author has used diIIerent companies and businesses as examples to elaborate
his points. For instance, the author uses the railroads management to show how they were
product oriented rather than customer oriented. The same argument is explored
extensively under the Hollywood business (Levitt, 1975). This helps to bring out the real
picture more clearly. In analyzing these aspects, the author tries to explain the belieIs
underlying them, the history and possible insights oI how they can be tackled (Paul,
2005). The author explains how Ford engaged in massive production to satisIy customers
without bringing new products to the market and shows the lessons learnt Irom it. In
reIerence to the petroleum industry, the author points at the advancements made in
reducing petrol usage like electric storage batteries and solar energy (Ruseel, 2001). This
helps show the origin oI a problem and the measures that can taken to address it.
Generally, the essay tackles the issues in reIerence to existing companies and at the same
time oIIering suggestions on how to address them.

Works Cited
George, J. (2009) Principles oI Marketing. London: Routledge
Levitt, Theodore (1975) Marketing Myopia. Harvard Business School
Copley, Paul (2004) Marketing Communications Management: Concepts and Theories,
Case and Practices. Butterworth-Heinemann
McCalley, Russell W. (2001). Marketing Channel Development and Management.
Westport, CT: Quorum Books
Terblanche, N.S. (2005). A Century oI Marketing: Achievements, Mishaps and Future
Challenges. Management Dynamics, 14(2): 13-24

. Give three examples of what you consider to be Levitt's most lasting contributions
to business and/or marketing practice.

According to Theodore Levitt`s 1975 essay on 'Marketing Myopia, Iirst and Ioremost, it
is vital that businesses remember that they are in the business oI serving consumers,
rather than serving their own ends. Hollywood is not in the motion picture business,`
rather; it is in the entertainment business. The Iact that 21st century Hollywood
understands the need to be customer-oriented is maniIested in the many tie-ins
Hollywood has orchestrated with its DVD, video game, and celebrity-related promotions,
which are tailored to meet consumer demand and the rapidly-changing media economy.
Most successIul companies are not known Ior producing a singular product, rather they
have learned to morph and to change their product to respond to current consumer needs.
Being product-Iocused means that once the product and/or a speciIic mode oI product
delivery are obsolete, then there is no need Ior the company`s existence. Today, the
Apple Corporation`s shiIt to hand-held, mobile technology away Irom computer
companies` previous Iocus on desktop PCs has been the key to its success.

Secondly, there is no such thing, says Levitt, as a growth industry, or an industry with
inIinite potential to expand. New technology will always step in and change the
marketing dynamic (as maniIested in the decline oI Blockbuster and rentable movies, Ior
example). Even the oil industry, Levitt councils, is not immune to the pressures oI
change. You cannot rely upon an inIinitely expanding population and mass production.
Substitutes are always available and tinkering` with the product in a narrow way is not a
substitute Ior real innovationno amount oI product innovation could have saved the
buggy whip industry.

Although Levitt`s predictions about electric cars were somewhat premature and the oil
industry still remains highly proIitable, it is not impossible that green energy will make
inroads on its proIits someday. There is certainly a demand to do so, given that, as Levitt
notes, people have no aIIection Ior gas stations. Gas stations are a means to an end, and
gas is not a pleasurable, diIIerentiated purpose. Because it is not customer-Iocused,
people wish they could avoid patronizing gas stations.
Levitt`s principles regarding the oil industry are more clearly maniIested in the American
automotive industry. GM`s Iocus on SUVs, its lack oI investment in hybrid vehicles, and
its Iocus on tinkering with improvements in mass production and the same, core product
is a clearer example oI these principles. In contrast, during the early days oI the American
automobile industry, Henry Ford showed a customer-Iorward philosophy. Although he
was the originator oI mass production, this was with a clear, customer-Iocused aim oI
lowering prices, not simply because Ford believed in mass production as an absolute
value, like so many producers today. This should not be conIused with an overreliance
on market research, which Levitt also condemns. Companies must understand the
customer and anticipate their needs, rather than simply be reactive.

Finally, Levitt proclaims the dangers oI an overreliance on R&D, versus customer
service. Although this may not seem to be borne out by the extent to which technology
has changed modern liIe, his ideas are supported by the Iact that it is communication
technology or consumer-Iocused technology that has become so successIul. Apple has
become highly proIitable because it has created products that are user-Iriendly and have
sleek designs that please the eye. Apple did not invent portable music technology, but it
did Iind a way to make that technology better suited to the needs oI listeners when it
created the iPod. The appeal oI the iMac is in its customizable color as well as in its
capabilities.

Works Cited
Levitt, Theodore. (1975). Marketing Myopia. Harvard Business Review.

. Give Three examples of firms (other than those mention in the article) that have
failed to heed Levitt's advice. What was the outcome?

All the major industries once showed growth potential, however currently, majority oI the
industries are on the brink oI collapse. Indeed, even the industries that were regarded as
seasoned industries have stopped growing. UnIortunately, the threatened growth or slow
growths witnessed in these industries have been attributed to managements` Iailure.

However, Theodore Levitt advocates Ior broader deIinition oI organizations so as to
beneIit Irom growth opportunities. Arguably, companies must establish and take action
on customers` desires and needs, and avoid the presumptive endurance. FateIul purposes
by top executives who develop broad industry objectives and policies have been blamed
Ior industries decline (Levitt, 1975).

Levitt explains that the railroads never stopped growing when the need Ior transportation
and passenger declined, neither is the current problem based on availability oI other
modes oI transport such as trucks, cars, and airplanes. The problem was nonetheless
caused by the railroads themselves when they Iailed to Iill the existing gap, which
allowed other players in the transport sector to entice customers away. The players in the
railroad business Iailed to deIine their business correctly, indeed, they were railroad-
oriented instead oI transport oriented; product oriented instead oI customer-oriented
(Levitt, 1975) Ior instance the Royal Dutch Shell company that regretted Ior diversiIying
its business activities into nuclear power production aIter losses (Donovan, 2011).

There is also the population myth where industry players believe that expanding aIIluent
population guarantee proIits. Certainly, iI consumers continue to buy products, the
manuIacturers Iace the Iuture with certainty than when the market is shrinking. Some
manuIacturers Iail to think imaginatively or harder when their markets are expanding,
creating the belieI oI indispensability. Such wishIul thinking may lead to mass storage oI
products with aim oI selling to an expanding market; nevertheless such products only
have value when there is market (Levitt, 1975) Ior instance Baldwin that was overtaken
by General Motors in the manuIacture oI steam engines as a result oI poor organizational
capabilities (Chandler, 1978).

Finally, managers who are wholly transIixed by research and development proIit
possibilities suIIer Irom the dangers oI marketing myopia. This insidiousness way oI
thinking that is common in most industries is hazardous. Companies that rely oI research
and development create an illusion that products produced, would be superior that they
sell by themselves. Moreover, even when superior products are developed, managers
orient themselves more towards the products than the consumers oI the products due to
the belieI that a product`s growth depends on improvement and innovation. Managements
Iail to realize that consumers are varied, unpredictable, Iickle, stupid, bothersome and
shortsighted. Consequently, most companies have been struggling to Iill and not Iind new
markets by Iailing to discover what customers need or want. Other companies that
witnessed customers` deIections included the Microscan a microbiology diagnostic
company in the United States that Iocused more on research and development at the
expense oI customers (Reichheld, n.d).
Works Cited
Chandler, AlIerd Jr. (1978). Review oI David Noble, America by Design, in Technology
and Culture
Donovan, John (2011). Royal Dutch Shell plc.com. Retrieved Irom
http://royaldutchshellplc.com/
Levitt, Theodore (1975). Marketing Myopia. Harvard Business Review
Reichheld, Frederick. (n.d) Learning From Customer DeIections. The Customers You
Lose Hold the InIormation You Need to Succeed. Harvard Business School.

5- Look at the mission statements of three energy firms. Do the mission statements
reflect a marketing orientation?

American Petroleum institute
This is a company that was created in 1959 to celebrate its hard work in the discovery oI
oil in Titusville Pennsylvania. The company contained 21-Ieatured articles, which
described the company`s achievement and success. However, only one oI these articles
had talked about the company`s issue on marketing. By then, oil did not play a big role in
America as it would soon change in recent years and bring about competition. The article
however did not include on better ways to sell and market the oil. By then electronics did
not hold revolutionary potential Ior petroleum. To market its oil, the industry started by
identiIying the needs Ior its consumers, then the search Ior oil came later.

Once a goal is identiIied and set, it is important to generate mass production to enhance
the move oI the product, which is deemed most important as selling (Levitt, 1975). Mass
production must always Iollow hard thinking about the customer and then design a
production system set to meet the market need.

One oI the best ways Ior a company to succeed is set its luck on high standards
(Clemente, 2009). This requires knowing what makes a business successIul.

Centralized oil heating
This is a company that was build aIter a case oI necessity. It was build when the
expansion Ior gasoline began to level oII. This was the time when the market Ior gasoline
weakened and it took chance and came to the rescue.

Petro chemical industry
This industry did not originate Irom the leading Iirms that were there (Kumar, 2009). The
products Irom this industry will be easily marketed because petro chemical product have
grown as technology continue advancing since older sources that used to produce coal
like coal are slowly being put out (Smith, 2009).

Organizations must learn not to thin oI themselves too much; they should always keep in
mind that they are buying their customer when they make good products.

Works cited.
Clemente, N, M, (2009) The Marketing Glossary: Key Terms, Concepts and
Applications. New York: ClementeBooks.
Kumar, R, S, (2009), Consumer Behavior And Branding: Concepts, Readings And Cases-
The Indian Context. Mumbai: Pearson Education
Levitt, T, (1975), Marketing Myopia. PdI.
Smith, C, N, (2009), the New marketing Myopia, Retrieved Irom
http://Ilora.insead.edu/Iichierstiwp/inseadwp2009/2009-08.pdI ~. Accessed on
November 17, 2011.