CritiqueThe Article Marketing Myopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CritiqueThe Article Marketing Myopia - Essay Example Companies should satisfy customers through inventiveness and skill. The dry cleaning industry is currently an industry that is in turmoil. Innovations such as synthetic fibers and chemical additives have cut the need for dry cleaning. Utilities may be natural monopolies now, but in the future the rise of renewable energy sources such as solar can replace the need for the electric grid infrastructure. The supermarket industry is extremely competitive and has many participants. Market changes can alter the longevity and profitability of an industry. According to Levitt (2004) there is no such thing as a growth industry since there are only companies organized and operated to create and capitalize on growth opportunities. The oldest growth industry is the petroleum industry. The population myth is the belief that profits are assured by the expanding and more affluent population. In an expanding market companies often fail to apply imagination in its decision making. The petroleum indust ry is an example of an industry that has become complacent in its business practices due to the fact that the petroleum industry’s efforts have focused on improving the efficiency of getting and making its product, not really on improving the generic product or its marketing. This has cause innovation to be stagnant among industry participants. The development of superior alternative fuel has come from outside the oil industry. The oil industry is convinced that there is no substitute for its major product, gasoline. The most important innovation that had a great impact on the demand for crude oil was the invention of the combustion engine. The combustion engine created the demand for gasoline. An industry that is competing with the oil industry is natural gas. Natural gas serves as a substitute product of heating oil. The U.S. production of petrochemicals accounts for 2% of the demand of all petroleum products. The industry is growing at a rate of 10% per year. There is no g uaranteed for obsolesce of a product in the future. When companies focus too much on production their marketing efforts get neglected. Unit costs decline as production increases. Mass production creates greater pressure to move the product. Marketing oriented companies try to create value-satisfying goods and services that customers want to buy. The seller is supposed to get input from the buyer to determine what goods the seller should offer to its customer base. The automobile industry spends millions of dollars annually on consumer research. The Detroit auto industry has not been doing enough to satisfy the needs of the customers. Some of the weaknesses of the U.S auto industry are point of sales, automotive repair and maintenances. The mentality of the Detroit executives is that marketing is a consequence of the product instead of vice-versa. Henry Ford is the most brilliant and senseless marketer in American history. A concept discussed in the article that I believe is extremel y important is the emphasis on customer orientation instead of product orientation strategy. Focusing on the customer has become more important than ever in order to improve the customer retention rate of the enterprise. Competition is tougher than ever in virtually every industry. Today American companies face major competition from foreign companies. An advantage of the globalization movement is access to a large supply of