WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:07.470 --> 00:00:11.190 Every year, some 30, 000 new consumer products are launched, 00:00:11.680 --> 00:00:13.280 and 90 percent of them fail. 00:00:14.290 --> 00:00:17.810 A key reason is what the late Harvard Business School professor Theodore 00:00:17.850 --> 00:00:20.270 Levitt famously termed, Marketing Myopia. 00:00:20.880 --> 00:00:25.280 A nearsighted focus on selling products and services rather than seeing the big 00:00:25.290 --> 00:00:27.130 picture of what consumers really want. 00:00:28.020 --> 00:00:31.840 As he used to tell his students, people don't want to buy a quarter inch drill. 00:00:32.379 --> 00:00:33.989 They want to buy a quarter inch hole. 00:00:35.270 --> 00:00:37.290 The railroad lines are a classic case study. 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:40.930 They fell into a steep decline because they thought they were 00:00:40.940 --> 00:00:44.210 in the rail business rather than being providers of transportation. 00:00:45.279 --> 00:00:48.669 Instead of branching out into cars, trucks, or airplanes, they let 00:00:48.730 --> 00:00:51.400 other companies steal away their passenger and freight traffic. 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:54.610 Or take oil and gas companies. 00:00:55.149 --> 00:00:58.530 They've belatedly started to think of themselves as energy providers, 00:00:58.830 --> 00:01:01.629 but they still devote most of their resources to petroleum. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:06.030 If they fail to develop alternative fuels, they risk becoming 00:01:06.050 --> 00:01:07.490 companies without an industry. 00:01:08.750 --> 00:01:12.230 Many others have made, and continue to make, the same mistake. 00:01:12.880 --> 00:01:16.749 Organizations invest so much time, energy, and money in what they currently 00:01:16.749 --> 00:01:18.399 do, that they're blind to the future. 00:01:19.030 --> 00:01:23.049 They get lulled into thinking they're in a growth industry, rather than continuously 00:01:23.049 --> 00:01:25.129 capitalizing on growth opportunities. 00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:29.679 To avoid the same fate, leaders should ask themselves, what 00:01:29.730 --> 00:01:31.160 business are we really in? 00:01:32.300 --> 00:01:35.200 They need to understand that the goal isn't to sell things, 00:01:35.570 --> 00:01:37.170 it's to satisfy customers. 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:42.709 And accept the fact that most existing products and services can, and will, be 00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:44.419 replaced by competitive alternatives. 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:49.869 Then they can identify new offerings that meet consumers needs sooner than 00:01:49.869 --> 00:01:51.949 any existing or potential competitor. 00:01:52.839 --> 00:01:54.730 That's the cure for marketing myopia. 00:01:56.090 --> 00:01:56.579 Transcription by ESO. 00:01:56.579 --> 00:01:56.699 Translation by