Marketing Myopia

"Marketing Myopia" has strengthened my understanding of effective marketing. While I was aware of Levitt's argument that marketing is about the buyer versus the seller, I have always primarily associated marketing with the product rather than the consumer. Levitt makes it clear this is incorrect, and companies must listen to the customer before producing a product rather than producing an item which caters to their own preferences. Through focusing on the consumer's preferences, a company will adapt/change to satisfy these demands and be successful. It is important to observe the environment your company is performing in. Failing to do so may give a company the perception their product(s) are good enough to maintain and increase its current customer base and sales levels, but this is not the case. Regardless of how  amazing your product is, when the market changes, you will need to as well.

I found Levitt's "stepchild treatment" theory very interesting. Marketing is a process assumed to be taken care of, and tends to be forgotten about. I believe companies do not prioritize the factors included in effective marketing (such as researching and understanding consumers' demands / reasons for these desires), resulting in their tendencies to forget about the customer and focus on the product, therefore prohibiting growth.