The core ideas in Marketing Myopia, as introduced by Theodore Levitt, are deeply interconnected with the adages “Perception is Reality” and “The Medium is the Message”. These concepts, though arising from different disciplines (marketing, communication theory, and psychology), together shape how businesses, media, and the Professional-Managerial Class (PMC) approach strategy, branding, and audience engagement. Below is an integrated explanation of how they relate.
1. Marketing Myopia: The Core Idea
•Levitt’s thesis: Businesses fail when they focus too narrowly on their products rather than customer needs.
•Key Example: Railroads declined not because people stopped traveling but because rail companies saw themselves as railroad businesses instead of transportation businesses.
•Lesson: Companies must see reality from the customer’s perspective, not just their own.
Connection to “Perception is Reality”
•Levitt’s concept aligns with the idea that what customers perceive is what defines business success.
•Example: Kodak believed it was in the “film business” and ignored the rise of digital cameras because it didn’t perceive itself as being in the “memory business”.
•Customers perceived digital photography as more convenient, and that became reality.
•Kodak’s internal view (film > digital) didn’t matter—the customer’s perception dictated reality.
Conclusion:
Companies that ignore perceived customer needs get left behind. Marketing Myopia is essentially a failure to recognize that “perception is reality” in business.
2. The Medium is the Message: A Shift in Communication
•McLuhan’s thesis: The way a message is delivered (the medium) shapes its impact more than the content itself.
•Example: Television changed politics—people didn’t just hear what politicians said; they judged them based on how they looked and presented themselves on TV.
•Lesson: Businesses must consider not just what they sell but how they deliver their value.
Connection to Marketing Myopia
•If marketing is focused solely on the product, it ignores the medium through which customers experience the brand.
•Example: Newspapers thought they were in the “news” business, but they were actually in the “information delivery” business.
•When digital platforms (blogs, social media, search engines) became dominant, newspapers suffered because they failed to recognize that the internet was changing the medium.
•The medium (digital news, social media, mobile apps) transformed the way people consumed content, rendering traditional newspapers outdated.
Connection to “Perception is Reality”
•If mediums change how messages are received, then perception itself is shaped by the medium.
•A company that fails to adapt to new mediums risks becoming irrelevant because it loses control over how it is perceived.
Conclusion:
Businesses trapped in Marketing Myopia not only fail to see how customer perceptions shape reality but also ignore how the medium of communication redefines the market itself.
3. How These Ideas Shape the PMC (Professional-Managerial Class)
•The PMC (Professional-Managerial Class), which includes marketing executives, consultants, and policymakers, is responsible for navigating these shifting realities.
•To remain effective, the PMC must balance all three insights:
1.Recognizing and adapting to customer perceptions (Perception is Reality)
2.Avoiding product-centered thinking and focusing on broader needs (Marketing Myopia)
3.Understanding that the way information is conveyed transforms consumer behavior (Medium is the Message)
Examples of PMC Decision-Making Using These Concepts
•Tech Industry (Apple vs. Microsoft)
•Apple succeeded because it saw itself as a design and lifestyle company, not just a computer company.
•Microsoft, for a long time, focused only on software products rather than user experience, putting it at a disadvantage.
•Apple’s brand perception became reality, and its superior medium (user-friendly design, iconic marketing, retail stores) solidified its dominance.
•Political Campaigns
•Modern politics follows McLuhan’s “Medium is the Message”.
•Obama’s 2008 campaign leveraged digital media and social networks, while traditional campaigns relied on television ads.
•Trump’s rise was fueled by Twitter, a new medium that changed how political engagement worked.
•Politicians who ignore how mediums shift perception suffer from Marketing Myopia in politics.
Final Conclusion
•Marketing Myopia → Businesses fail when they focus on their own view instead of customer needs.
•Perception is Reality → Customers’ beliefs define what a product or company actually is.
•Medium is the Message → How something is communicated influences its impact more than the content itself.
•For the PMC, mastering these concepts means:
•Recognizing market shifts in perception.
•Avoiding short-term product focus and instead anticipating long-term needs.
•Adapting to new communication mediums to control narratives effectively.
Companies and professionals that successfully integrate all three concepts not only survive but thrive in rapidly evolving markets.