Marketing Myopia is mental tunnel vision whose symptoms include:
- Having a short-sighted approach to business;
- Being inner-focused instead of outer-focused;
- Resisting change instead of embracing it.
Marketing Myopia prevents companies from achieving maximum success.
The concept of marketing myopia was first discussed in an article (titled “Marketing Myopia,” in July-August 1960 issue of the Harvard Business Review) by Harvard Business School emeritus professor of marketing, Theodore C. Levitt (1925-2006), who suggests that companies get trapped in this situation because they fail to ask the vital question, “What business are we in?”
You might have marketing myopia if…
- You want a quick fix to generate some short-term money and you aren’t sure what you want long-term…
- You want someone to do it all for you as you watch from the sidelines…
- You give up easily when something doesn’t work exactly as you expected…
- You’re constantly looking for the next “bright, shiny object” as a miracle cure-all…
- You suffer from “paralysis of analysis” and are stuck in the realm of conventional thinking…
- You look at marketing as an expense…
- You are happy with the status quo and are reluctant to change your ways…
- You try to second guess people you’ve hired to give you advice and guidance…
- You have no problem taking up other people’s time whether you’re paying for it or not…
- You want a guarantee of results…