Marketing Myopia

Marketing Myopia

What 3 actions, found in the Levitt article, can Sonic do to keep from suffering myopia?

Theodore Levitt (1960) wrote an article entitled “Marketing Myopia,” in which he argued that organizations that continue to stay in the growth stage and not capitalize on growth opportunities will become stagnant and hit rock bottom. To prevent this from occurring top management (Chief Executive Officers) must create a customer-creating and customer satisfying organization (p. 56). Managers who focus on marketing strategy, various predictive techniques, and the customer's lifetime value can help their organization’s rise above myopia. In general, “marketing myopia” is the name given to some companies that ignore the fact that to be successful, the wants of customers must be a central focus instead of its products. There are three actions mentioned in this article that can keep Sonic from suffering from myopia which include having leadership that can set its goals, be consumer oriented, and learn to adapt and keep innovation going to stay ahead in the market.

Top management is responsible for outlining the goals and policies to achieve sustained growth. Successful marketing thus requires companies to have an effective marketing strategy. Sonic’s leadership must work together as a team to outline the goals and objectives to ensure that the company is headed in the right direction. Building an effective customer-oriented company is dependent upon “a CEOs ability to effectively implement a strategic vision could be affected by the degree which other senior managers agree with and provide support for the vision” (Walden & Yammarino, 1999, p. 280). Sonic leadership must therefore be cohesive and functionally organized in order to survive as a start-up company.

Kotler and Keller (2009) state, “Marketing is about satisfying the consumers’ needs and wants. The task of any business is to deliver customer value at a profit” (p. 34). No company can achieve...