ABSTRACT
Theodore Levitt’s “Marketing Myopia” has proven to be a timeless work. Perhaps as an indirect response to some of these critiques, Levitt wrote a commentary on the work after “Marketing Myopia” first appeared. In “Marketing Myopia,” Levitt relied heavily on the use of real-life case studies to define the problem of obsolescence. Levitt clearly distinguished between selling the product and marketing to the consumer. In this article, also published in Harvard Business Review, Levitt offers specific examples of how his work had a dramatic impact on businesses. Levitt illustrates how sensitivity to customer needs has led businesses from shoe retailers to glass companies to grow in volume, earnings, and return on assets. Levitt also expands on the conditions that lead to obsolescence. The noted academic and marketing guru Peter F. Drucker supported Levitt’s argument that companies should define what business they are in, agreeing that the customer must be the starting point of any business.
