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Why It Is Important To Understand Marketing Myopia Before Starting Any Business? Let’s Find Out

Myopia! Are you familiar with this term? Some of you might be wondering why this word related to marketing at all is? Let’s get to that point sooner; before that, Myopia is a word that describes the process of distant objects appearing very blurry. 

marketing myopia

 

When it comes to “Marketing Myopia“, it means many things, the short-sightedness of marketing goals? Failure of long term marketing tactics? It needs more explanation that; let’s take a look at the multi-layered description of Marketing Myopia and why you need to be conscious of the term in general.

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What is Marketing Myopia? Why is it Important? 

Marketing Myopia is when an organization has a limited or narrow-minded marketing approach towards its goals. Out of countless possible marketing attributes, the business only focuses on one aspect, making it nearsighted, ignoring other attributes. 

what is marketing myopia

For example, a company may only concentrate on the quality of the products and ignore other aspects like actual demand and supply. This indicates a clear sign of marketing myopia.

It is essential to notice and avoid nearsightedness because it leads to the failure of the business. Companies should focus on catching up with trends of the market and targeting the right audience. Let’s take a look at the antecedents of marketing myopia.

 

What are the Causes of Marketing Myopia? Some Deep Insights

There are many reasons that companies must focus on avoiding the adverse effects of shortsighted Marketing techniques. The causes of marketing myopia is a clear sign of poor management where people look for short term benefits rather than long term benefits.

what is marketing myopia

 

1. Companies Neglect the Possibility of Substitutes

Many companies believe that their early success defines everything. So, they fail to foresee the apparent growth factor that business needs in the future. Although sometimes, the company might gain success in a short span of time, defining the business for future growth leads to ultimate failure.

 

2. Failure to Decipher the Requirements of the Consumer

Sometimes companies are so engrossed in their products they forget about the actual needs of the consumers. Tons of effort, money, and time into a particular product without researching the target can be disastrous for the company.

One of the substantially good things to come out of this severe marketing myopia is to become customer-oriented to survive for long in the market.

 

3. Not Considering to Change the Consumers Lifestyle In the Digital Age

Another central marketing myopia that companies fail to see is consumers’ changing lifestyles in the digital age. This leaves other competitors to come in to steal the attention of your customers. Customers are going right under your nose because you weren’t ready enough to future proof of the brand.

 

4. Ever-Expanding Population Myth

Some companies have the delusional belief that if the population keeps exploring, their product will expand into the market. With an affluent economy improving, customers might be willing to pay more. But that is a fool’s thought and provides a false sense of security about the future.

Falling for this trap can be dangerous and myopic in the sense of marketing.

 

5. Companies They Are in a Successful Growth Industry

We all know that to establish a brand, it takes time, just like how a singer doesn’t become a star overnight. Sometimes, when the company does become successful in the niche, they believe they are invincible in the market.

This assumption may be blinding, letting people assume certain things are forever from what they offer the consumers. Instead of focusing on building a robust customer-centered relationship, the company becomes arrogant in what they sell.

marketing myopia examples

The shortsighted view of the market can be catastrophic as the company will only focus on its sales targets.

 

6. Excessive Investment in Research and Development

If a company is focused on high tech products, the management will most likely spend its resources on research and development. Although it is necessary to strive in the industry by inventing new things, it should be continued with the right intentions.

Instead of thinking about what to make customers buy from us, companies should focus on what a customer wants. Finding out what exactly customers want may go a long way then inventing something big.

Also read: Earn Real Money With These Money Earning Apps Now – Are They Real Or Fake? (Complete Guide)

Top 5 Examples of Marketing Myopia in the Industry You Must Know | After Thorough Research From Case Studies

Here are the top 5 examples of marketing myopia in the industry.

marketing myopia

 

1. Kodak

Do you remember Kodak Cameras? Then you know that they are out of date now. All because they decided to ignore long term plans. There was a peak time when Kodak’s camera was a leader in the market.

what is marketing myopia

And the mistake is they continue to do it for many years with the same type of camera. But when Sony introduces new digital cameras in the market, Kodak was kicked out of the market. It is one of the epic examples of market myopia in history.

2. Nokia

Huh, Nokia! I had a Nokia phone once; in fact, my whole family had Nokia phones ten years back. Even though it had the entire market share in early 2000, the changing technology slashes the brand with new phones from Samsung and iPhones. 

marketing myopia

3. Blackberry

Blackberry is another company like Nokia that lost its majority of market sager before the advent of smartphones. After introducing smartphones, the company lost its fan base and now holds 0% of the smartphone industry market. Why? Because of marketing myopia.

marketing myopia examples

4. Google Glass

Google has become a verb in our wordbook around the world. Due to its success in search engines, billions of people worldwide have a user base. So, they launched Google Glass to take a step in the hardware industry because of the popularity of the brand name.

marketing myopia

Well, they could be more wrong, as the product receives many negative reviews regarding security issues and no use to customers.

The mistake here is Google invested plenty of its resources in research and development to come up with a great pair of glass that serves as an optical head-mounted display. Just because they have a firm brand name, they decided the product will sell itself. But it did not.

5. Oil and gas companies

Another best example of marketing myopia is oil and gas companies who live off petroleum. We all know petroleum is not going to last long in a few decades. Petroleum usage is diminishing every year because of population explosion and people’s need for more energy. 

what is marketing myopia

Fuel and are already moving towards alternatives people are releasing the harmful side effects of using. If the companies fail to map the next-generation energy resources, there is an eventual failure of the whole industry.

Also read: Why to Throw your old books When You Can Sell them and Earn Real Money With the Help of Amazon

How to Avoid Marketing Myopia? Can You Overcome it?

There are multiple ways to bring out your organization or management of a company to avoid marketing myopia. Let’s take a look at possible solutions-

marketing myopia examples

 

  • Focus on designing customer-oriented strategies
  • Discover new ideas and approaches
  • Make sure to know customer’ demand
  • Discover products and services that add value to customers’ lives and solve problems effectively.
  • Avoid being too product-oriented.
  • Promotional tricks and good intention is not going to give a successful business.
  • Make decisions with a clear vision like Elon Musk, who has laid out the future of the world and enriches consumers’ lives.
  • Conduct market research through surveys for customer feedback emails to discover deep insights about the consumers’ minds.
  • Scrutinize what your competitors are up to and make great efforts to keep up with the trends.
  • Diversify your business by offering various products to customers
  • Create disruptive innovation that creates an entirely new segment of the market.

Also read: Educational Business Ideas and Opportunities of Coaching Students Online in 2020

How Can Customer Development Survey Help in Clearing Marketing Myopia?

Customer development surveys and feedback emails help in understanding what exactly the customers want from the market. It is a smashing way to find out missing gaps and loopholes in possible target audiences’ lives.

marketing myopia

 

The questions can be essential, where you can ask your existing customers about how they feel about using your product or survey. Instead of sending its entire customer base, you can divide into segments based on psychographic qualities, demographics, behaviors, and many more.

  1. Ask open-ended questions
  2. Keep them short and simple to the point
  3. Don’t write too much explanatory text
  4. Request a phone follow up
  5. Optimize it for particular users

What is People’s Opinion on Marketing Myopia? According to Internet research and Case Studies.

Here are some of the screenshots on what people feel about marketing myopia. Let’s take a look at these screenshots.

marketing myopia examplesmarketing myopia

The Bottom Line

The truth is, Marketing myopia happens all the time caught in their web of innovation and short-sightedness. The term coined by Theodor Levitt serves right in many ways. The inward-looking approach only focuses on immediate needs rather than the future growth of the company.

Organizations must start concentrating on customers’ needs rather than selling their product as the ultimate goal. Being shortsighted in business is detrimental to your marketing strategy, and to become successful in the end game, you need to play for the long term.

Improve and evolve your company by meeting human needs rather than being product-centric.

FAQs

1. Is Marketing myopia still relevant?

Yes, according to Deighton, marketing myopia is still very applicable today.

2. How to overcome marketing myopia?

Here are the significant pointers to avoid marketing myopia

  1. Understand the market and tailor it to customers’ needs.
  2. Run customer development surveys continuously to keep with shifting consumer trends.

3. What is new marketing myopia?

The phenomenon of new marketing myopia is the following-

  1. A single-minded focus on many customers by excluding other stakeholders.
  2. A failure to recognize the changed societal context of business 
  3. A narrow definition of customers’ needs. 

4. Who coined the term Marketing Myopia?

Theodore Levite coined the term Marketing Myopia in his business paper.

If you have found this article helpful, do let us know in the comment section below !!

Joshua Gabriel
Joshua Gabrielhttps://www.whitedust.net
I left PC-MAG in 2015 and joined WhiteDust Team as a manager and an author. I fascinated by the idea of doing all time blogging and having a dream to become a great entrepreneur in my upcoming days.
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