Marketing Myopia

Marketing Myopia:
The concept of 'Marketing Myopia'  discussed in this article of Harvard Business Review in July 1960,   emeritus professor of marketing, Theodore   Levitt suggested   that companies get trapped in this situation because they omit to ask the vital question, "What business are we in?"
'short sighted managements often fail to recognize that in fact there is no such thing as a growth industry'
What does the two phrases above describe? This is what I am going to be exploring regarding this article. The article talks about various marketing behavior of different industries. The article describes that every industry starts with a growth. But what happens next is determined by their own behavior in the market. Article says that growth stops or is threatened due to failure in management. Failure of management can be described in numerous ways.

But with regard to marketing myopia   failure arises when 'marketers starts focusing on the product'. Well where else the focus should be? Towards understanding customer needs! This is what marketing myopia describes. Marketing Myopia says that marketing is not about selling products, it's about understanding what customer needs. Understanding customers needs is an essential part of marketing. To stop focusing on the product and focus on the expectation and needs of consumers and focus on the solutions.

Article uses different examples to prove the point. First it talks about the Railways. Why did Railways stop growing? Did other means of transportation like cars trucks airplanes led that happen? No. It is because Railways thought they are in railroad business rather than considering themselves as a transportation business. they failed because they were rail oriented (product ) rather than transportation oriented ( consumer wants)

Same way in the Film industry, which failed to understand that their purpose is to provide entertainment not movie business. Comparing two industries Duponts and Corning...