What is Marketing Myopia & Why you should Avoid it?
The best way to learn about marketing is not always to focus on things you should do, but sometimes to learn things you should not. Today’s blog topic is one such thing that you should absolutely avoid in your marketing strategy lest your business faces severe consequences.
The term we are talking about is Marketing Myopia. It is a phenomenon which may cause the downslide of your business. Though not instantly, but eventually. That’s what makes it so dangerous. Because you never know when your brand falls into the vicious hands of “Marketing Myopia” and you set to lose everything you worked hard for. That’s why just like the COVID pandemic, let’s learn about Marketing Myopia so you can avoid it.
What is Marketing Myopia?
Marketing Myopia is a failing strategy of concave approach to marketing that is short-sighted and focuses more on the business rather than customer needs. This leads to taking major decisions that might seem beneficial to the entity but are not in the best interest of the customers. Be it any brand or business, customers should always be at the forefront of priorities. It is them who are running & determining your business growth. It is definitely not wise to disregard their likes & dislikes.
What Causes Marketing Myopia?
1. Disconnection Between Business & Customers
The most common mistake that leads to Marketing Myopia is when a business fails to connect with its customers. This happens when they pay more attention to their ideas rather than listening to what customers want from them. This is caused by the lack of market research and businesses’ false belief that they know everything they need to know about their target audience.
2. Reluctance to Transform
If you have ever previously read our blogs, the most important lesson we always stress is that “Marketing is an ever-evolving beast“. You need to keep on adapting to the changes that happen constantly.
When a business becomes too comfortable with its products and services they don’t pay heed to adapt to new trends and technologies. This puts them at risk of falling into the trap of Marketing Myopia.
3. Focusing on Past Glory Instead of Future Opportunities
Many business enterprises descend towards Marketing Myopia because they are too unwilling to let go of the past. They may not want to change their process or improve communications or their offerings even when it is much needed.
How to Avoid Marketing Myopia?
1. Listen to Your Customers
Has it ever happened to you that you liked a dish in your childhood so much that you wanted it all the time, but now as you grew up you hate it? Preferences change daily. That’s the custom of the world.
That’s why you need to listen to your customers and try to find out what they like about your products & services and what they don’t. Consumer behaviour also keeps on changing. You can’t use the same formula for different generations of consumers. Millennial customers are very different from Gen Z. You need to invest well in consumer behaviour research to get good understanding of your customers’ needs. This will surely give you an edge over your competitors.
2. Make Way for Innovation
The saying “If it ain’t broken, why fix it?” doesn’t apply to businesses that want to grow constantly. This frame of mind leads to Marketing Myopia.
To avoid it, you need to foster the need for innovation within your team. It doesn’t have to be something huge that transforms industries. True success lies in small details. Create small rooms for Innovation on:
- Allowing new ideas
- Experimenting various strategies
- Encouraging risk-taking
- Accepting failures but learning from them
- Hearing different perspectives
Open-mindedness and flexibility can help avoid Marketing Myopia.
3. Bring in Competitive Intelligence Analysis
Getting a hold of the market evolution is not an individual effort but a collective one. Competitive Intelligence Analysis is to acquire strategies and planning of your competitors in ethical and legal ways, of course. Keeping an eye out for your competitors’ marketing techniques may give you ideas on tweaking your strategies. Plus, it gives a healthy competing boost to your relevant industry.
Examples of Businesses which were hit by Marketing Myopia
1. Blockbuster
In the video rental industry, Blockbuster was the reigning king for a big chunk from the 80s to the early 2000s. Everything was going their way. At its peak, the company was operational in 24 countries and had a net profit of $268 million in 2010. In the same year, it filed for bankruptcy. What made a company sizzling with profits file for bankruptcy? The inability to adapt to digitization.
While its rival company Netflix was quick to change its services to the online medium, Blockbuster remained stuck & dependent with brick and mortar stores for sales. Although both companies started with the same service ideology, Blockbuster failed to transform at the right time and became obsolete. The company closed its door to customers in 2014. Now, only one store remains operational worldwide in Oregon, USA.
2. Kodak
Kodak had a similar experience in the camera industry. It is the first camera company in the world that enjoyed the numero uno position for more than a century! But when the camera industry also transformed to digitization for the better, it refused & failed to adapt.
As digital cameras started becoming popular among consumers, companies like Sony, Canon, Nikon started gearing up their digital camera production. Kodak still stuck to its classic films and print style which ultimately led to its downfall. This is the reason why the company filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Marketing is a vast field across various platforms and media. Diving into it without fair knowledge and experience can hurt your business badly. Therefore, it’s wise to have an experienced advertising & marketing agency with proven results by your side to help you grow your business. Don’t wait anymore because the right time is now! Start gearing up for your brand’s success.
About Author
Sandeep Hati is a copywriter at Sanket Communications. He is passionate about advertising trends and stories. He aims to explain the many intricacies that run the advertising and marketing world. When he’s not working, you’ll find him buried in a book or watching period cinema or failing gloriously on the same level of video game infinitely.
