Value of Marketing

I just read Theodore Levitt's Harvard Business Review article "Marketing Myopia" where he argues that every industry used to be a growth industry at some point in its history. He explains that companies go through similar life events; growth, maturity and decay and that without adapting to the world around them, companies die.

He believes that there are no growth companies, rather, companies take advantage of growth opportunities, and the better a company is able to identify those opportunities, and exploit them, leads to its growth and survival.

Companies need to spend more time looking outward and not be as focused on what is happening inward. This allows them to understand their customers; their wants, needs, and desires and then place their product in front of them in a manner that meets those needs. Companies that focus inward only work on trying to create the next big thing or to develop their product that they then try and get customers to like and buy. But, if they never understand what it is that they want, they leave themselves open to stagnation and competitors who deliver superior products.

In order to understand the customer, companies need to develop a relationship with them and engage in meaningful dialogue. This has never been easier than in the era of social media where customers expect companies to be available. A company is now able to reach their customers (or at least the percentage of their customers that use social media) and perform their own market research. They get instant feedback on their products, what is liked, what is not liked, what they wish it did, and in turn bring that information to their product developers and challenge them to make it better. This new, and customer inspired, product is then brought out for consumption and the process can begin again.

In order to avoid the declining stage of a company's life, it needs to be aware of what is happening in its environment and adapt accordingly. The old adage 'adapt of die' is very true in business. In order to stay relevant and maintain their customer base, business have to create products that customers want, improve the product over time and adapt to what the market shows.