TY  - BOOK
AU  - Mamali, Elizabeth
AU  - Diderich, Monique
TI  - A Macat analysis of Theodore Levitt's marketing myopia
SN  - 9781912127337
U1  - 338.521 
PY  - 2017///
CY  - London 
PB  - Macat International 
KW  - Marketing
KW  - Consumer behavior
KW  - Demand (Economic theory)
N2  - Theodore Levitt’s 1960 article “Marketing Myopia” is a business classic that earned its author the nickname “the father of modern marketing”. It is also a beautiful demonstration of the problem solving skills that are crucial in so many areas of life – in business and beyond.

The problem facing Levitt was the same problem that has confronted business after business for hundreds of years: how best to deal with slowing growth and eventual decline. Levitt studied many business empires – the railroads, for instance – that at a certain point simply shrivelled up and shrank to almost nothing. How, he asked, could businesses avoid such failures?

His approach and his solution comprise a concise demonstration of high-level problem solving at its best. Good problem solvers first identify what the problem is, then isolate the best methodology for solving it. And, as Levitt showed, a dose of creative thinking also helps. Levitt’s insight was that falling sales are all about marketing, and marketing is about knowing your real business. The railroads misunderstood their real market: they weren’t selling rail, they were selling transport. If they had understood that, they could have successfully taken advantage of new growth areas – truck haulage, for instance – rather than futilely scrabbling to sell rail to a saturated market
ER  -