- 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