1. PROJECT REPORTONMARKETING MYOPIA: A BIGGER DRAWBACK OFMARKETING Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for theAward of the degree ofOMKARANANDA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY(Affiliated to U.T. U; DEHRADUN)Submitted to; Submitteby;Mr. ApoorvaTrivedi RanaRatnakarAssociate Professor MBA 4th Semester

2. CANDIDATES DECLARATIONI hereby certify that work which is being presented in the dissertation report, entitled MarketingMyopia: A bigger drawback of marketing. for partial fulfillment of the requirement for theaward of the degree of Master Of Business Administration in Marketing Submitted inOmkarananda Institute Of Management And Technology (OIMT), of Uttrakhand TechnicalUniversity is record of my own work, under the guidance of Mrs. Parmoduniyal , Asst. Professor inOIMT, RISHIKESH.DATE: RanaRatnakarMBA (Marketing)This is to certify that the above statement made by the candidate is correct tothe best of our knowledge.Dr. AdityaGautam Mrs. ApoorvaTrivediDirector, Associate ProfessorOIMT, Rishikesh OIMT, Rishikesh 3. PREFACEAs an integral part of the curriculum, I student of M.B.A needed to get exposed to the actual marketingenvironment to get a better understanding of marketing management by way of undergoing practicaltraining.I consider myself fortunate enough that I had an opportunity to get practical training at the marketing(O.I.M.T.) for gaining substantial knowledge of performance management system. Where I get theopportunity to do the real life project and enhance my knowledge as to deal with the real environment(internal, external).I would express my thanks to O.I.M.T. , RISHIKESH as I troubled them through my queries at everystage of my work. I am really thankful for their patience with which they resolve my doubts amidst theirbusy 4. AcknowledgementThe satisfaction and euphoria that accompany a successful completion of any task would be incompletewithout mentioning the people who made it possible whose consistent guidance and encouragementcrowned the efforts with success.I would like to thanks my internal faculty guide ApoorvaTrivedi , OMKARANANDA INSTITUTEOF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY , ( RISHIKESH) for their guidance and motivation, whichis pivotal in completion of my dissertation report.I cannot forget the contribution of my project mentor and guide for their able guidance and supportthroughout the tenure of the report.Last but not least, I feel indebted to all those persons who have provided help directly or indirectly insuccessful completion of this study.RanaRatnakar 5. TABLE OF CONTENTS1) Introduction of Marketing myopia2) Marketing myopia analysis3) Purpose of the study4) Signification of the study5) What is marketing myopia.?Defining Marketing myopiaOccurrenceFathful purposeImpact of marketing myopiaImportance of marketing myopia6) Literature review on marketing myopia7) Research Methodology8) Cases of marketing myopia9) Avoiding marketing myopia10) conclusion 6. Marketing MyopiaIntroductionA short-sighted and inward looking approach to marketing that focuses on the needs ofthe company instead of defining the company and its products in terms of the customers needsand wants. It results in the failure to see and adjust to the rapid changes in their markets.The concept of marketing myopia was discussed in an article (titled "Marketing Myopia," inJuly-August 1960 issue of the Harvard Business Review) by Harvard Business School emeritusprofessor of marketing, Theodore C. Levitt (1925-2006), who suggests that companies gettrapped in this situation because theyomit to ask the vital question, "What business are we in?"Narrow-minded approach to a marketing situation where only short-range goals are consideredor where the marketing focuses on only one aspect out of many possible marketing attributes.Because of its shortsightedness, marketing myopia is an inefficient marketing approach.The Myopic culture, Levitt postulated, would pave the way for a business to fail, due to theshort-sighted mindset and illusion that a firm is in a so-called growth industry. This belief leadsto complacency and a loss of sight of what your customers want.There is a greater scope of opportunities as the industry changes. It trains managers to lookbeyond their current business activities and think "outside the box. 7. Marketing Myopia AnalysisMost of the major industries today were once considered as growth industrys. However some ofthe industries that are on the rise up the mountain or undergoing a boom in business may verymuch be in the shadow of downfall. Other industries which are considered as veteran growthindustries have in reality ceased to grow. In every case the reason for this stint is not because themarket is impregnated, it is because of the failure of management as they have fallen prey to aphenomenon called Marketing Myopia.Marketing myopia is an advertising strategy that does not focus on the needs and wants ofconsumers, but the desires of a company to sell specific goods or services in the economicmarket. Classic economic theory attempts to explain that consumers will tell companies the typeof goods and services desired through the economic behavior demonstrated by individualconsumers. Companies can benefit from this behavior by actively researching how consumersare spending their money and what goods are services are currently popular in the economicmarket. Marketing myopia can distort the companys view when managers focus more on whatthe company can produce rather then what consumers are willing to buy.A classic example is seen by Ford Motor Companys development of the Edsel. The Ford Edselwas a late 1950s passenger car built under the marketing strategy that it was going torevolutionize the automotive industry. The car was designed with the intent of being a large,stylish vehicle that would meet the driving needs for thousands of U.S. consumers and families.Although the Edsel was released with much fanfare and publicity from marketing agencies andmedia outlets, it was an almost immediate failure in the consumer market. While reviews at thetime cited the vehicles poor workmanship and styling, business experts have attributed thefailure to the companys inability to understand consumer desires. The name Edsel is now abusiness term synonymous with business or marketing failure. 8. Marketing myopia may also occur when a business focuses on developing advertising strategiesfor the wrong target markets or demographic groups. Individuals in the economic market usuallyview advertising strategies or techniques in different ways; their perceptions are built uponculture, race, age, or other personal opinions. Companies that fail to understand the perceptionsof consumers when advertising goods or services usually wind up struggling.Companies in todays business environment often spend a lot of money conductingmarketingresearch before releasing new products or services. This research or focus group activity may berelated to the utter failure of the Ford Edsel marketing campaign. Rather than spending hugesums of money on national advertising or marketing campaigns, companies will use test marketsto determine the strength of consumer demand for goods or services prior to a national rollout ofnew products. These test markets may also help companies build specific marketing strategiesbased on the feedback they receive from individual consumers.Error of analysisThe error of analysis refers to the defining the industry, or a product, or a cluster of know-how sonarrowly as to ensure its untimely ageing. What is lacking is not the opportunity but some of themanagerial imaginativeness and audacity to make them great. 9. Purpose of the Study=>The purpose of this study on Marketing Myopia is to answer the basic question How can acompany ensure its continued growth? It also analyses the reasons for occurence of such aphenomenon in organisations along with the impact it has on the future of the organisation andfinally the ways to avoid it from happening.=>Narrow-minded approach to a marketing situation where only short-range goals areconsidered or where the marketing focuses on only one aspect out of many possible marketingattributes. Because of its shortsightedness, marketing myopia is an inefficient marketingapproach. 10. Significance of the StudyMarketing Myopia has been in existence for several decades now and is a result of narrow focusof the top level management in its planning functions. It is of extreme relevance in todays worldas many entreprenuers while starting their business need to plan their activities for the future andhence should ensure they dont enter the Marketing Myopic trap. Effectively speaking, anorganization should start to perceive itself not as producing goods or services but as doing thethings that will make people want to do business with them. Though being a collaborative effortthe onus in every case, lies with the chief executive who is responsible for creating a conduciveenvironment that reflects this mission. He has the burden of being aware of "marketing myopia"and have the ability to understand the complexity of the consumer-needs by developing anapproach that justifies it. 11. WHAT IS MARKETING MYOPIA?Defining Marketing MyopiaMarketing myopia is a term made up of two words: Marketing and Myopia which is used todescribe the short sighted (myopic) approach adopted by organizations which often leads totheir premature decay. The term was coined by Theodore Levitt in a paper which waspublished in the Harvard Business Review in the year 1960. This paper has been regarded byseveral industry experts as a revelation for the modern marketing era. It has set aside most of themyths and has proposed a visual modality for the modern day CEO and is being successfullyimplemented by most of the biggest corporate houses in existence today.His theory suggests that most of the industries are restricted in their thought process andimplementation of their future endeavours". He felt that the world was living in the sellingconcept, where the objective was to follow a push model instead of a pull model thereby forcingthe customer to buy whatever you produce. Profits earned in the short term were regarded as ameasure of success for the organisations. Organizations hence were hence living a lie and failedto see the larger picture. This form of marketing could fetch them profits in the short run;however, as time faded, this led to the customer being dissatisfied accompanied with brandswitching, tapering sales figures, and eventually, closedown. Levitt also advised CEOs to extendtheir horizons, delimitate their corporate objectives, and most importantly have a vision. 12. The basic ideology was to broaden the vision from a product level to an industry level or for thatmatter to a more generic level. The idea was well assimilated among the organisations andfinally realised that what they were missing was a well defined vision which could serve them inthe future. Levitt illustrated about the of oil companies several times in his publication. His standwas that, at a generic level, the oil companies were in the business of providing energy, and notpetroleum, as was the norm then. The ideology overturned the industry, which is now one of themost productive industries of the modern era.The moral to be ascertained is that thinking unconventionally and differently is what is the orderof the day to drive any business. He suggested that one has to get out of the comfort zone (ofdoing what we do) and explore the undiscovered. For an example, if performance in a particularniche is good, the concept needs to be extended further. Once this is done the next logical stepwould be to climb up the ladder and to capture the segment, then a market, and finally theindustry. Things may not always go as planned, but built on the basis of logic; they definitelyprovide the foundation to a thriving business in the long run. 13. OccurrenceThe reasons for occurrence of such a phenomenon are as stated with cited examples from theindustry:Fateful PurposesThe reason lies with the failure at the top management level where the decision making is done.The executives who deal with the policy making and who document the objectives are the onesresponsible for this. It is their myopic view of the industry or the product which often leads toreduction of scope of the product as a whole.As cited by the management guru Theodore Levitt who coined the term Marketing Myopia, therailroads did not cease to grow because the need for passenger or freight transportation declined.That was almost always increasing steadily; it was because the need was filled and capitalised byothers (trucks, cars, airplanes, or for that matter telephones) but because it was not filled by therailroads themselves. He others literally snatched the customers away from them and did notreact appropriately because they were confined to only the boundaries of the railroad businessrather than the transportation business i.e. they were oriented towards the product rather thanbeing oriented towards the customer. 14. Another example involved the Hollywood industry. The Hollywood narrowly escaped the surgeby television. In reality, all the established companies went through drastic reorganisations. Theyall get into trouble not because of TVs inroads but because of their own short-sighted vision ofthe entertainment industry. They defined their business incorrectly. They were always under theimpression that they were a part of the movie business when actually they were just a small partof the bigger fish the entertainment industry. Movies implied a specific, limited product. Dueto this misconception the movie industry never saw the TV as a threat to its business. Hollywooddespised and rejected TV when it really should have greeted it as a chance to expand theentertainment business. At last what saved Hollywood and accounted for its resurgence was theflurry of young blood who had heaps of talent in the form of writers, directors and producerswhose previous achievements in the TV industry had decimated the old movie companies.Still the bottom-line remains that the industries are now endangered not because of lack ofopportunity in the market but because of not defining their business in a broader perspective andnot having a customer oriented approach. 15. Impact of Marketing MyopiaAs already stated in the preceding paragraphs, having a myopic vision not only reduces the scopeof the industry but also leads to stagnation of the product which may have tremendous potential.It is analogous to saying that Marketing Myopia leads to falling into a trap called the Self-deceiving cycle. The cycle consists of majorly 2 end states of existence; bountiful expansionand undetected decay. The conditions which generally ensure this impact are as illustrated:This is related to the population myth that growth of an industry is ensured by an expanding andmore affluent population. This was supported by the common ideology that a market which is onthe rise will keep the manufacturer from having to think out of the box.The notion that there is no competitive substitute for the industrys major product.Having excess amount of faith in mass production and being under the impression that outputrises as unit costs decrease.Engrossment with a product that lends itself to carefully controlled scientific experimentation,improvement, and manufacturing cost reduction. 16. Importance of Marketing Myopia=>Through Theodore Levitts work, it clearly states that it plays an important role in marketingand gave a crucial knowledge to company owners, managers, etc. The organizations found thatthey had been missing opportunities which were plain to see once they adopted the wider view.The short sighted approach is one of the main reasons that people feel that they cannot accuratelypredict the future. The major example of Levitt in his paper are oil companies. It redefined theircompany as the supplier of energy, not just petroleum.=>While according to Stephen Largo and Robert Lusch in their paper entitled Evolving to aNew Dominant Logic for Marketing, viewing the world at a highly abstract level will make adifference also called as a service-dominated view (Service Dominant -SD) . It explained thatservice is very important but they focus more on goods. They build-up the goods their selling forit to be able to reach customers expectations.=>According to the 2 papers I read, both topics practically agreed about thinking outside thebox. It is is very interesting because it helps managers realize that there is a greater scope ofopportunities as the industry changes. It also stated that it is best if a company use a whole newrange to predict techniques for future circumstances.=>From what I understand, logic is very important in marketing. What you see is not alwaystrue, you should also look behind it, or if possible dig deeper for you to see and realize thattheres something more to it. Through logic, it will make you know more about your product, ifyou know your product well, it will sure help you gain customer satisfaction that will help you inthe long-run. 17. LiteratureReviewonMarketingMyopiaEvery major industry was once a growth industry. But some that are now riding a wave ofgrowth enthusiasm are very much in the shadow of decline. Others that are thought of asseasoned growth industries have actually stopped growing. In every case, the reason growth isthreatened, slowed, or stopped is not because the market is saturated. It is because there has beena failure of management.1. An industry is a customer-satisfying process, not a goods-producing process. Businesses willdo better in the end if they concentrate on meeting customers needs rather than on sellingproducts.2. Companies stop growing because of a failure in management, not because the market issaturated but because of MYOPIA.Example: Railroads declined because they were railroad oriented instead of transportationoriented; they were product oriented instead of customer oriented. They declined not becauseof cars, trucks, airplanes, and even telephones, but because of their own myopia.The article is as much about strategy as it is about marketing, but it also introduced the mostinfluential marketing idea of the past half century: that businesses will do better in the end if theyconcentrate on meeting customers needs rather than on selling products. 18. Levitt presented quaternion main conditions which could lead to this failure:(1) The belief that growth is informed by an expanding and more affluent population;(2) The belief that there is no competitive substitute for the industrys study product;(3) Too much faith in multitude production and in the advantages of rapidly declining unitcosts as output rises;(4) Preoccupation with a product that lends itself to carefully controlled scientificexperimentation, improvement, and manufacturing cost reduction.Levitt argued that firms strategies should evolve with the consumer, paying more attention totruly listening to and marketing to consumers instead of blindly selling to them, and case theforesight to see what new innovative services or products may be lurking on the horizon thatcould be interpreted advantage of to benefit both the individual firm and the market as a whole. 19. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:An exploratory research has been carried out to study the behavior of businessmen, entrapreneurand some case study. To meet the research objective a research formats, to collect informationfrom the respondents was made & the information was collected through individual interactionwith the researcher. The data was collected using scientific method as per the questionnairesample elements have been chosen by observation techniques.Research DesignResearch was conducted to know the scope of MarketingMyopia, so it was designed asAnalytical.1. Sample Design: Data for this study has been collected from primary sources. For thecollection of data CONVENIENCE SAMPLING has been used.2. Sample Size: Sample size for the study was 100 for the universe of the urban area.Primary data: Primary data was collected with the help of:1. Questionnaire2. Personal Interviews 20. CASES OF MARKETING MYOPIAThe effect of the marketing myopia syndrome has been in existence for several decades now.There are various cases pertaining to this phenomenon which is illustrated below:The Indian Classic Vintage car: AmbassadorAmbassador entered the fray in 1958. The great Hindustan Motors (HM) launched the Indianversion of the classic Morris Oxford as the Ambassador in the year 1958. From then on forabout three decades the Ambassador was the king of the road. At that point in time there wereonly two stalwarts in the Indian market - Ambassador and Premier Padmini. Issues like thelicensing, lack of capital and less conducive economic policies ensured that the above mentionedenjoyed a healthy duopoly. All said and done the year 1983 saw the emergence of a new epochin the Indian car market. During this period MarutiUdyog Ltd surged into the market with theirepic Maruti 800 model. Eventually the Ambassador lost its numero-uno position to Maruti.Ambassadors major target audience the family segment which was the largest segment in thecar market embraced Maruti. The Ambassador was soon reduced to a marginal player a shortperiod of time. One of the major market segments for Ambassador was the Indian Government.More than 16 % of the brand sales was courtesy the Government. So much so to say theAmbassador was used as the Prime Ministers car till 2002.Soon the officials at Hindustan Motors also lost interest in the brand. With other automobilemakers entering the Indian scenario resulted in a substantial drop in the orders from theGovernment. For four decades, the brand has not taken its customer seriously. Reasons areplenty for brands failure, the fundamental issues related to the product and price.From the products point of view, the Ambassador never changed with time. There were a lot ofminor changes to the appearance of the model from 1958-2000 in the form of three majorupgrades namely as Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV without any significant value addition 21. between these upgrades. It still looked like a rock with four wheels and the architecture neverchanged. However one of the major transformations undergone by this brand was in their 1800Isuzu engine. The new and improved Ambassador with the Isuzu engine managed to increase thesales marginally. But the euphoria was short lived. HMs inability to offer product changes withchanging times and with the onset of new players in the market made the brand stale.The other issue which that worked against them was the price of the vehicle. HM never botheredto rationalize the price of the brand as they were of the ideology that decreases in price wouldcorrespondingly mean decrease in quality. Even now Ambassador costs more than Rs 4,80,000 aprice at which one could afford a grander Indigo sedan.Reports suggest that, the HM plant had achieved full depreciation by the year 2000. But it nevercrossed the minds at the company to pass on this reduction in cost to their customers. If thecompany had rationalized the price of Ambassador in 2000, the brand could have fought ofcompetition.A final hammering came with the launch of Indica which took away the taxi car market fromAmbassador which was then the mainstay for the brand. Now even their Unique SellingProposition of producing diesel run cars was lost as individual consumers had a better affordablemodern car in Indica as compared to the ageing Ambassador.In another attempt to boost their sagging sales, HM launched a radically designed Ambassadorvariant named Avigo in the year 2004. Even with this radical styling, there was a cold responsefrom the customer.The automobile industry today has so much to offer that the Indian consumer is now notrestricted to choices .Competition has increased manifolds with new and improved modelsrolling out of showrooms by the day.In todays scenario considering the value proposition domain, Ambassador never even figures inthe radar of the consumers. The reduced price gap between diesel and petrol has also eroded thevalue in investing in an outdated Ambassador. To top it all of HM never thought of investingsurplus cash for this brand and hence closed all doors of escape for this product 22. .Once KING of the Indian Roads is now a history !The Rise and Fall of AmbassadorAmbassador the car with a British legacy was the first car to be made in India. Ambassador wasborn in 1958. Its design was based on British car model Morris Oxford; build by MorrisMotor Co at oxford United Kingdom. Ambassador borrowed not the design but technology aswell from Morris.Hindustan Motors Limited (HM), Indias pioneering automobile manufacturing company andFlagship Company of the C.K. Birla Group, was established before Indian independence, in 1942by B.M. Birla. When the Birlas wanted a new model to replace their already old Hindustanmodels based on Morris Oxford Series II (aka Hindustan Landmaster), they scouted for the then-new Morris Oxford Series III. Thus an Indianised version was launched by Hindustan Motorslaunched in 1958.The car initially came with a side-valve engine but was later improved to anoverhead-valve engine. Also the car at that point was quite an innovation with a fully enclosedmonocoque chassis, which is why it is spacious inside.1955 Morris Oxford Series III was launched in India in 1957 as Ambassador Mark I 23. The car was a runaway success. Ambassador ruled the Indian market till 1980s. The only othercar which was in market was Premier Padmini. The licence raj, lack of capital and theunfriendly Indian economic policies ensured that no automobile manufacturers entered theIndian market, and Ambassador was enjoying a good market share.Premier Padmini 24. In 1983 MarutiUydog Ltd, launched its flagship product in collaboration with an unknowncompany Suzuki Motors of Japan. Maruti 800 offered some never before seen features & aradical design. Soon Ambassador lost its leadership position to Maruti. With brilliant marketingstrategies & a radical design Maruti 800 made inroads into the family segment in the car market& the segment reciprocated by embracing Maruti. Ambassador starting losing its leadershipposition to Maruti.Maruti 800 DX of the first generationAmbassador had some advantages over Maruti 800 which made it dearer to certain segments. Itwas the only Indian car with Diesel option during that time. There was a significant difference inthe prices between Diesel and Petrol, and the other big advantage it offered was the space andsturdiness. These two factors propelled the brand to become popular among big families andamong the Taxi & tour operators. 25. The brand was perceived to be less expensive to maintain & was ideal car for Indian roads.These were only perceptions, as Ambassador lacked in quality & refinement. Rusting was acommon problem faced by its owners.Ambassador was perceived to be a car ideal for Indian roads. The brand also had a positiveperception of being less expensive to maintain. In fact Ambassador was expensive to maintainand even though the car looked sturdy it lacked the quality and refinement. Rusting was commoncomplaints. The only reason consumers bought the car was due to the economy of diesel carswhich made buyer to compromise on other parameters.Another significant market for the brand was the Government. Over 16% of the brand sales camefrom the Government. Ambassador was the first choice for most bureaucrats.However theofficials also lost interest in the brand. With the emergence of new and better models from otherauto-makers, there was a significant drop in the orders from the Government.The fall of Ambassador from a leadership position to a marginal player is a classic case ofmarketing myopia. For decades the brand had been taking its customers for granted.Out ofall the fundamentals & techniques in marketing, its failed in almost all which led to itsfailure. Lets analysis themOfficial Ambassador cars parked outside North Block, Secretariat Building, New Delhi 26. Product:If we look at the product, Ambassador never changed with times. The brand made manycosmetic changes from 1958-2000 and three upgrades was made which was named as Mark II,Mark III and Mark IV. Beyond these so called cosmetic changes there was no significant valueaddition between these upgrades. The look and the built quality remained the same. A majorchange happened when the brand introduced an 1800 CC Isuzu engine. It did lift the sales of thebrand. But the euphoria was short lived. The apathy of Hindustan Motor to offer productchanges in tune with the times made the brand stale.Rear view of facelifted 800, with a reshaped trunk lid and taillights, and license platemoved down into the bumper 27. Price:Hindustan Motor never bothered to rationalize the price of the brand. Ambassador was costingaround INR 4, 80,000. At the price a consumer could afford a more luxurious & comfortablecars. According to reports, the Hindustan Motor plant had achieved full depreciation in 2000.But the company did not even think about passing on the reduced cost to the consumer. Had thecompany rationalised the price of Ambassador in 2000, the brand might have survived thecompetition.People:The Company failed to understand the mood of the people. Indian consumer was spoilt withchoices. The competition was immense and the quality of cars has also gone up. Consumers nowhave new set of purchase considerations like quality, brand, drivability, luxury, cost ofmaintenance etc.Promotion:The Company did not promote the brand at all. With already declining market and no promotionat all, made the matters worse. The brand has almost zero recall value. 28. Brand Management:The Company also never invested in the brand. Without investing in either brand or product,Hindustan Motors had sealed the fate of this brand. In the brand management perspective, itssuicidal not to continuously invest in a brand. Often heritage brands wait till it becomes dated.Once the brand becomes dated, its virtually impossible to rejuvenate the brand.The task is to prevent the brand to become dated. For that the brand has to go to the consumer forideas. Changes in product or promotions can sustain the brand even in the light of emergingcompetition.Present model of Ambassador launched in 2005 as AvigoAmbassador should have learned from Maruti 800. The brand survived because it madechanges along with the changing consumer values. The brand rationalised its price in thelight of emerging competition which makes Maruti 800 relevant even in the current market. 29. Kodak Failed By Asking The Wrong Marketing QuestionFor 40 years, you couldnt walk through Grand Central Station in New York without admiringthe Kodak Coloramas. These 1860 foot photographs showcased the Kodak brand to commuters,highlighting the creativity of great photography in a series of Kodak moments. Kodakmarketing executives were adept at weaving the brand into the fabric of America for generations.In fact, at its peak, Kodak captured 90% of the US film market and was one of the worlds mostvaluable brands.Immensely successful companies can become myopic and product oriented instead of focusingon consumers needs. Kodaks story of failing has its roots in its success, which made it resistantto change. Its insular corporate culture believed that its strength was in its brand and marketing,and it underestimated the threat of digital. 30. Kodak did not fail because it missed the digital age. It actually invented the first digital camera in1975. However, instead of marketing the new technology, the company held back for fear ofhurting its lucrative film business, even after digital products were reshaping the market.Unfortunately, the company had the nearsighted view that it was in the film business instead ofthe story telling business, and it believed that it could protect its massive share of market with itsmarketing. Kodak thought that its new digital technology would cannibalize its film business.Sony and Canon saw an opening and charged ahead with their digital cameras. When Kodakdecided to get in the game it was too late. The company saw its market share decline, as digitalimaging became dominant.This blind faith in marketings ability to overcome the threat from the new technology provedfatal. Kodak failed to adapt to a new marketplace and new consumer attitudes.The essence of marketing is asking first, what business are we in? and not how do we sellmore products? Had early 20thCentury railroad executives seen themselves asbeing in thetransportation business rather than the railroad business, or had Hollywood moguls in the 1940sunderstood that they are in the entertainment business, not just the movie business, theirindustries wouldnt have been decimated by air travel and TV shows, respectively.Kodak made a classic mistake: it didnt ask the right question. It focused on selling moreproduct, instead of the business that it was in, story telling. 31. Whats the lesson to other companies on how to avoid Kodaks fate?Companies have to adapt to the requirements of the market, even if that means competing withthemselves. Technology has the potential to be disruptive of markets and companies, at the sametime that it is benefiting consumers. Survival is not a likely strategy in todays marketplace. Inthis environment, marketers should strive for entrepreneurial greatness and innovation, not to justdetermine preference among existing options.Marketing is not the art of selling products, as Kodak thought. Smart marketing is aboutproviding a companys customer base value satisfaction. In short, marketing is tasked withkeeping the company relevant to their customers needs. In an age in which the consumer is incharge, approaching marketing from the perspective of products or services alone is not enoughto make consumers want to engage. 32. Dettol and Proctor & Gambles Safeguard soapDettol was market leader for a very long time because of its multi uses and category leadershipstrategies. For years, it reaped profits without the need of innovating and giving its customersthat extra bit of value. This strategy worked fine for them until there werent other strong playersin the market. In came Proctor and Gambles Safeguard soap with a completely new approachthat not many would have thought of. They came out with a soap having better fragrance andlaunched a campaign that targeted kids.The campaign was based on a super hero cartoon character called Commander Safeguard thatcreated waves amongst children. Children, being strong influencers worked as wonders forSafeguard and their sales saw remarkable rise. Eventually, because of the un-reactive approachof Dettol and the extremely customer centric and creative approach of Safeguard, it gainedmarket share and market leadership from Dettol; a clear case of marketing myopia on Dettolsbehalf.Hence, it is essential companies now keep innovating and designing all their strategies keepingthe customers ever changing needs and value requirements in mind because if you dont,someone else surely will. 33. The Business Smartphone: BlackberryThe brand was officially launched in the year 1999 and made its presence felt in India by 2004. Itdidnt find the need for advertising because it was a product which clearly satisfied a need.During the time of its launch, the definition of a smart phone or web enabled phones wasunknown, thereby offering a solution to stay connected while travel. Suiting the businessenvironment, the product was almost immediately absorbed by Corporate India.The year 2007 witnessed a huge paradigm shift in its product with Blackberry repositioningitself. It was no longer a brand that was targeting the CEOs and high rank officials in thebusiness world but had set their sight on the Gen Next. This move made Blackberry come intodirect contention with big players such as Nokia and Motorola. When Blackberry startedbusiness their devices never looked like phones, they were in fact pagers. The shape wasdifferent and the instrument had a QWERTY keypad with its iconic Track Wheel + Clickfeature. Slowly they emerged into the cell phone market. By doing so they have grabbed theopportunity to make it big. The numbers speak for themselves as the sales increased considerablydue to the paradigm shift. 34. AVOIDING MARKETING MYOPIAOver the past half century, markerters have given their advice on how to avoid MarketingMyopia. They primarily focus on the fact that the customer is the most important element inmarketing and hence the sole focus should on them. The problem with this approach is that theadvice has been taken too seriously thus resulting in a new type of myopia, which may causedeformation in strategic vision and could possibly lead to business failure.The result of doing so would however lead to other consequences as listed below:A single-minded focus on the customer could lead to the exclusion of other importantpeople in the organisation like the stakeholders.Narrowly defining the customers needs.A failure to recognize the changed societal context of business that necessitatesaddressing multiple stakeholders.Thus having an extremely customer scopic view is not the solution to this marketingsyndrome. 35. The following are the measures which could be adopted to avoid or mitigate the problem:Mapping the companys stakeholders to show who influences or should influence thecompany and what issues most concern them.Determining stakeholder salience.Researching the stakeholder issue, their expectations and the measure impact.Engage with stakeholders as they are also an integral part of the decision making processand in most cases fund the particular programme.Embedding a stakeholders involvement. 36. Findings1- Most of the industries are restricted in their thought process and implementation of theirfuture endeavours2- The moral to be ascertained is that thinking unconventionally and differently is what isthe order of the day to drive any business3- Things may not always go as planned, but built on the basis of logic; they definitelyprovide the foundation to a thriving business in the long run.4- The reason lies with the failure at the top management level where the decision making isdone.5- Too much faith in multitude production and in the advantages of rapidly declining unitcosts as output rises; 37. CONCLUSIONConclusionTo build an effective customer-oriented company entails much more than good intentions ormarketing gimmicks; it demands unfathomed matters of human organisation and leadership. Acompany has to do whatever it takes to survive in the market. In addition, it should have theability to conform to the requirements of the market, and it needs to be done quick before it is toolate. Just survival can also not last forever hence the catch is to survive chivalrously, to feel theheaving impulse of commercial supremacy; not just to experience the sweet smell of success, butto have the intuitive feel of entreprenuerial greatness. In business, the followers are in most casesthe customers and in order to produce such customers, the entire organisation must be deemed asa customer-centric and customer-needs-fulfilling organism. Management must have theideology of not just producing products but as providing customer creating value satisfactions. Inshort, the organisation must learn to think that it is not in business only for producing goods orservices but as buying the customers, as a result doing the things that compels people want to dobusiness with it. 38. BIBLIOGRAPHY1) Kotler, Philip, Marketing Management, Delhi: Pearson Education, 20122) Marketing Research Naresh Malhotra3) M a r k e t i n g M a n a g e m e n t - K o t l e rNewspaper and magazinesBusiness WorldBusiness TimesBusiness TodayWebsites: www.incrediblecharts.com www.script.com www.wikipedia.com www.slideshare.com www.businessdictionary.com www.studyzone.com www.marketingmanagement.com