Effective marketing remains the most critical aspect of a business, following that the success of a business heavily relies on the marketing strategies such as advertising, promotions, and successful execution of sales and public relations. The implication is that without proper marketing strategy as part of the business plan, an organization with the great services and products can fail to succeed. Overall, employing the marketing concept and avoiding marketing myopia can significantly contribute to the success of a business.
The marketing concept refers to the idea that firms need to analyze their customers’ need and then make informed decisions aimed at satisfying such needs, better than the competitors. In other words, the marketing concept can be described as a business belief that argues that long-term viability can best be realized when firms focus the coordinated undertakings of a business towards fulfilling the market segments’ demands. According to Tadajewski (2018), the marketing concept maintains that a business achieves its objectives by realizing the desires and wants of its target markets as well as by delivering the anticipated satisfactions. Notably, the marketing concept is heavily reliant on marketing study to identify and explore market segment, the size of the market segment, and the needs of the target markets (Tadajewski, 2018). As such, the marketing concept is a vital approach for any business that seeks to realize success, particularly in the modern competitive business world.
By definition, Marketing Myopia refers to an inward looking and short-sighted approach to marketing that tends to focus on satisfaction of immediate needs of an organization instead of focusing on marketing from the point of view of the customers (Gallo, 2016). As such, marketing myopia assumes a limited marketing view, which largely concentrates on the needs of the business and not those of the clients. Also referred to as the shortsighted marketing approach, the focus of marketing myopia is usually to sell products, hence is profit-driven. It is in light of this argument that Balmer (2011) notes that the theme surrounding the concept of marketing myopia is that most organizations have narrow visions of their enterprises. Notably, if a business suffers from Marketing Myopia, then such a business is missing significant prospects to grow and scale. Nonetheless, once the issues are addressed, it becomes easier to deliver customer-centric services, which will ultimately appeal to the need of prospects.
The railroad industry is a typical example of marketing myopia, as it assumes that it is engaging in railroad business and not transportation business. The implication is that the railroad industry is focused on railroad rather than being concerned with transportation, implying that the industry is product oriented instead of being customer oriented. In the view of Balmer (2011), the railroad industry was extremely stable in terms of its development in that it was used to transport people as well as freight. Currently, however, railroads are increasingly becoming less prevalent compared to in the past, as a result of the manner in which they view the business (Gallo, 2016). The tendency of the railroad industry to view the business as part of the railroad trade and not the transportation commerce has made other transportation businesses to favorably outdo them.
The marketing concept is related to the marketing myopia in a number of ways. While the concepts are different, they both necessitate similar steps. What is more, just like in the marketing myopia, the marketing concept necessitates advertising, promotions, public relations, and sales as its important aspects (Tadajewski, 2018). Additionally, like the marketing concept, marketing myopia attempts to carry out marketing research initiatives and makes use of marketing approaches that are created with consumer feedback in mind. To this end, both the marketing myopia and the marketing concept are relevant to the contemporary businesses.
It has been established that business tend to suffer from the detrimental marketing myopia due to limited time and resources. As such, one commonly cited way of overcoming the challenge of marketing myopia is to invest time in having a detailed understanding of the buyer persona (Gallo, 2016). The water-tight buyer persona need to be created from very reliable information. The process should entail exploring the background of the buyers from both personal and business angles. The prospects’ greatest challenge and their shopping preferences are also important aspects when creating the buyer persona. Avoiding marketing myopia requires that businesses acclimatize to the demands of the market (Gallo, 2016). It is also vital to employ a dynamic leader whose drive and vision set the pace in motivating other organizational employees.
In conclusion, adopting the marketing concept while dealing with marketing myopia is an effective way of realizing business success. The reason is that it is best practice to value the benefits rather than the features of the products and services offered. Essentially, no one cares about a business unless the business can meet his or her most pressing needs. Business persons therefore owe it to their businesses to spend ample time to create the buyer persona.
References
Balmer, J. M. (2011). Corporate marketing myopia and the inexorable rise of a corporate marketing logic: Perspectives from identity-based views of the firm. European Journal of Marketing, 45(9/10), 1329-1352.
Gallo, A. (2016, August 22). A Refresher on Marketing Myopia. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2-5. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=d75d7089-9bd6-4c00-a6e7-a1b680885089%40sessionmgr4007
Tadajewski, M. (2018). Critical reflections on the marketing concept and consumer sovereignty. The Routledge companion to critical marketing studies. London: Routledge, 1-34.
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