Imagine your business is a train, building tracks solely toward a single station—your product. But what if passengers no longer want to travel along that line? Are you still delivering, or just maintaining unused tracks?
This is the essence of marketing myopia—a short-sighted focus on the product itself, rather than on the broader needs and evolving desires of customers. Coined by Harvard’s Theodore Levitt in 1960, this concept explains why iconic brands like Kodak, Nokia, and Blockbuster missed opportunities, despite having deep pockets and massive market share.
But fear not! This guide explores signs of marketing myopia, real-world examples, and a practical roadmap to keep your strategy future-proof and customer-centric—because lenses aren’t just for Kodak; they’re for vision, too.
What Is Marketing Myopia?
Marketing Myopia is a term coined by Theodore Levitt in his groundbreaking 1960 article in Harvard Business Review. It refers to the short-sighted and inward-looking approach that companies take when they focus more on selling their product or service, rather than on understanding and satisfying their customers’ real needs.
Instead of asking “What do customers need?”, businesses suffering from marketing myopia ask “How do we sell more of what we already offer?”
It typically happens when companies:
- Define themselves by products, not customer value.
- Assume current success guarantees future relevance.
- Ignore shifting consumer preferences, industry changes, and disruptive innovation.
Example:
A once-popular pen manufacturer might focus on making shinier ball pens while ignoring the market shift toward digital writing tablets used by students and designers. That’s classic marketing myopia.
Signs Your Business Might Be Suffering from Marketing Myopia
Overemphasis on Product Features Instead of Benefits
Professionally speaking, this is one of the clearest indicators of product-centric thinking. Marketers and product managers sometimes get so enamored with specs and features—the material, the speed, the tech—that they forget to connect it to emotional or functional benefits for the customer.
For example, highlighting that your vacuum cleaner uses a 12,000 RPM motor is meaningless unless the customer knows it removes dust faster, saves time, and protects children from allergens.
Fix: Shift your positioning from “what it is” to “what it does for the user”. Use customer-centric messaging like “Save 3 hours a week on cleaning.”
Ignoring Market Trends and Evolving Customer Behavior
Another red flag is failing to evolve with the market. This is especially risky in fast-moving industries like eCommerce, edtech, fintech, and digital media.
Let’s say you’re running a chain of coaching centers. If you’re still relying only on newspaper ads while your competitors are conducting live demo classes on YouTube, you’re ignoring where the audience is.
Impact: You lose brand relevance, especially with Gen Z and digital-native users.
Fix: Conduct quarterly trend reviews. Monitor tools like Google Trends, Semrush, or even consumer behavior reports from firms like Nielsen, Kantar, or Redseer.
Assuming Customers Will Always Need Your Product
This belief is rooted in the illusion of permanence. Legacy businesses often assume that because they’ve been around for decades, they’ll continue to be relevant. Unfortunately, customer needs evolve, and so do the solutions they prefer.
Kodak assumed people would always want printed photos. But customers wanted convenience, not rolls of film.
Similarly, Indian taxi companies ignored the app-based revolution and paid the price when Ola and Uber entered.
Fix: Regularly challenge your assumptions. Ask, “If our product disappeared tomorrow, what would customers do instead?”
Lack of Long-Term Strategic Vision
Focusing solely on quarterly sales targets without a 5–10-year innovation roadmap is short-sighted. Strategic vision involves anticipating where your industry is headed, not just reacting to competitors.
For instance, Indian D2C brands like boAt or Mamaearth succeeded by balancing tactical campaigns with long-term customer loyalty initiatives and brand building.
Fix:
- Invest in future thinking and scenario planning.
- Encourage leadership to spend time on where the market is going, not just on meeting today’s numbers.
Resistance to Innovation or Change
Innovation doesn’t always mean AI or robotics. It could be as simple as adopting a new distribution model, partnering with influencers, or testing new messaging formats.
Many companies fall into the trap of “this is how we’ve always done it.” This rigidity—often seen in legacy industries like manufacturing, logistics, and traditional media—is a textbook symptom of marketing myopia.
Example: Indian music industry, where physical CD distributors resisted moving online, while others like T-Series embraced YouTube early and became global leaders.
Fix:
- Encourage a culture of experimentation.
- Empower teams to pilot new approaches without waiting for a full-scale overhaul.
- Measure success in iterations, not just final outcomes.
Duplicate: Lack of Long-Term Strategic Vision
Since this point is repeated in your structure, you can choose to merge or replace it with another key sign such as:
Replacement: Failing to Redefine Your Business Model
Sometimes companies are too focused on optimizing their current business model without asking if it’s still the right one.
For example, a bookstore might try to increase footfall and in-store purchases—but what if the future lies in eBooks, audio formats, or community-based subscription models?
Fix: Use the “jobs to be done” framework. Ask yourself, “What job are customers hiring our business to do?” and “Is there a better way we could serve that job?”
Real-World Examples of Marketing Myopia
Understanding marketing myopia is much easier when you look at real companies that once dominated their industries—but later faded due to short-sighted strategy. These brands failed not because their products were bad, but because their vision was too narrow. They focused on what they sold rather than why customers bought it.
Kodak – A Missed Snapshot of the Future
Industry: Photography & Film
The Myopia: “We’re in the film business.”
Kodak is perhaps the most well-known example of marketing myopia. Founded in 1888, Kodak became synonymous with photography. But when digital cameras began to emerge in the late 20th century, Kodak resisted. Why? Because it feared cannibalizing its profitable film business.
Irony: Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975—but shelved it to protect its film revenues.
Kodak failed to realize that it wasn’t in the “film” business—it was in the “memory-making” or “visual storytelling” business. Consumers didn’t care about film rolls. They cared about capturing and preserving life’s moments.
By the time Kodak finally entered the digital market, competitors like Canon, Sony, and Fujifilm had already captured significant mindshare and market share. Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Takeaway for professionals: Never define your business by its product. Define it by the customer’s need you fulfill.
Nokia – The Giant Who Didn’t Evolve
Industry: Mobile Phones
The Myopia: “We make great phones. People will always buy them.”
Nokia once commanded over 60% of India’s mobile market in the early 2000s. It had strong brand loyalty, durable products, and a widespread retail presence. However, it was slow to adapt to the smartphone revolution, especially the shift to touchscreens and app-based ecosystems.
While Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, Nokia stuck to its Symbian OS and resisted adopting Android, thinking it could ride out the storm with its existing success.
Nokia’s leadership underestimated changing consumer behavior—users no longer just wanted sturdy hardware; they wanted connected, customizable, app-driven experiences. The brand eventually lost relevance and was overtaken by Samsung, Apple, and Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Vivo.
Takeaway for students: Innovation is not just about product upgrades; it’s about understanding the shifting habits of your audience.
Blockbuster – Ignoring the Digital Wave
Industry: Entertainment/Retail
The Myopia: “People will always prefer renting DVDs in-store.”
At its peak, Blockbuster had 9,000+ stores and was the go-to destination for movie rentals. However, in the late 2000s, it failed to recognize the growing preference for on-demand digital streaming.
Netflix approached Blockbuster in 2000 with a proposal to collaborate. Blockbuster laughed off the idea, considering it a niche business.
Blockbuster focused on store footfalls and late fee revenue, ignoring the fact that people wanted convenient, no-penalty, home-accessible content. By 2010, Netflix was a household name, and Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy.
Takeaway for professionals: Never get too comfortable with your current success model. The customer decides what’s relevant—not your legacy.
Why Does Marketing Myopia Happen?
Now that we’ve explored case studies, let’s understand the psychological and organizational reasons behind marketing myopia. Recognizing these factors can help businesses and marketing students avoid similar traps in the future.
1. Product-Centric Thinking
Companies get too focused on what they make rather than why it matters. Internal culture starts celebrating product features instead of solving customer problems.
This often happens in R&D-heavy firms where engineering drives innovation, not marketing or UX.
2. Short-Term Success Leading to Complacency
When a brand dominates the market, it often believes it’s invincible. The danger? Success creates tunnel vision. Companies stop listening to customers and assume past strategies will continue to work.
Kodak, Nokia, and Blockbuster were all leaders before they fell behind.
3. Fear of Cannibalization
Many companies resist launching new products because they fear cannibalizing existing cash cows. But avoiding disruption internally only gives competitors the chance to do it externally.
Kodak didn’t pursue digital photography fearing it would kill their film business—so others did it first.
4. Lack of Market Orientation
Marketing myopia stems from poor market sensing. Firms fail to ask:
- What does the customer need today?
- How has consumer behavior changed?
- What problem are we solving—and is our solution still relevant?
This happens when decision-makers rely on internal intuition rather than external market research.
5. Rigid Organizational Culture
In some companies, innovation is stifled by hierarchy, risk aversion, or old-school leadership. If new ideas are dismissed and digital transformation is feared, the business becomes resistant to change.
Nokia’s engineers pushed for Android adoption early—but leadership declined. The cost of that resistance was catastrophic.
6. Misunderstanding the Real Business You’re In
The most important reason? Companies define themselves by the product, not by the customer’s job to be done.
A company selling paint is not in the “paint” business. It’s in the “home beautification” business.
Final Tip:
Whether you’re a marketing student, entrepreneur, or a brand manager, look beyond the product. Build your strategy around what your audience values today—and tomorrow.
How to Avoid Marketing Myopia
Avoiding marketing myopia is about shifting your mindset from “What are we selling?” to “What value are we creating?” In today’s dynamic market—where consumer preferences change rapidly and disruptive innovation is the norm—adapting early is your best strategy.
Here are five actionable steps that brands, marketers, and entrepreneurs can take to stay customer-centric and future-ready:
1. Focus on Customer Needs, Not Just Products
Instead of asking, “How do we improve this product?”, ask:
- “What problem is the customer trying to solve?”
- “Is our current product still the best solution for that problem?”
Example: A company selling fitness equipment should shift its focus from selling “dumbbells and treadmills” to helping customers achieve long-term health goals. This could open up adjacent solutions like virtual trainers, wellness apps, or habit trackers.
Professional Tip: Use surveys, social listening, and customer support queries to understand the pain points, not just usage patterns.
2. Reframe Your Business Vision
A classic mistake is defining your business too narrowly.
Don’t say: “We sell cosmetics.”
Say: “We help people feel confident and express themselves.”
When you reframe your business around the customer’s aspiration, you unlock a broader horizon for innovation and relevance.
Example: Nykaa didn’t just sell makeup—it built a beauty ecosystem, including tutorials, influencer marketing, and content commerce.
Action Step: Craft a vision that’s customer-first and future-focused, not one stuck in product categories.
3. Embrace Innovation and Flexibility
Markets evolve fast. New technologies, new channels (like WhatsApp commerce or voice search), and new formats (like reels or AI-driven product demos) emerge every year. Businesses that fail to adapt become outdated quickly.
Even traditional sectors like real estate and finance are moving toward AI tools, AR/VR walkthroughs, and fintech partnerships.
Fix: Encourage a culture of test-and-learn, where your teams are empowered to experiment with content formats, platforms, and distribution channels.
4. Involve Cross-Functional Teams
Product teams think about what can be built. Sales teams focus on what can be sold. Marketing teams think about what can be positioned.
If these teams don’t talk regularly, you risk building something technically impressive but commercially irrelevant.
Example: A mobile app may have excellent UI designed by developers, but if the marketing team isn’t involved early, it might miss out on what resonates most with the customer.
Professional Tip: Build customer journey maps with input from across departments—this ensures you’re not optimizing in silos.
5. Invest in Market Research Continuously
Marketing is not static—it’s a living, breathing function that evolves with the market.
Don’t assume you know your audience just because you’ve been in business for 10 years. Preferences shift, competitors innovate, and technology transforms behavior.
What to do:
- Use tools like Google Trends, Semrush, and Think with Google.
- Track competitor messaging on social media.
- Run customer interviews every quarter.
Tips: Familiarize yourself with research frameworks like PESTLE analysis, SWOT, or Jobs-To-Be-Done to strengthen your marketing mindset.
Common Beginner-Level Questions About Marketing Myopia
Is marketing myopia only about outdated products?
No. It’s a mindset problem, not just a product issue. You might have the most advanced product on the market—but if you fail to align it with evolving customer needs, it can still flop.
Example: Google Glass was highly advanced but failed because it didn’t fit any clear consumer need.
Can small businesses suffer from marketing myopia?
Absolutely. In fact, many small businesses fall into the trap of thinking:
- “We’ve always done it this way.”
- “Our customers love us—no need to change.”
- “We don’t have the budget to innovate.”
But even low-budget companies can adopt a customer-first mindset by staying active on social media, talking to customers, and being flexible.
Example: Local salons in India that shifted to online bookings and Instagram marketing thrived during and after the pandemic.
What industries are more prone to marketing myopia?
Industries with legacy systems, rigid structures, or slow innovation cycles tend to suffer more:
- Print media
- Cable TV
- FMCG brands focused only on distribution
- Traditional banking
But in truth, no industry is immune. Even fast-paced sectors like edtech and fintech can fall behind if they ignore changing user expectations.
How is marketing myopia different from a failed marketing strategy?
A failed strategy might mean a wrong choice of campaign, poor creative, or incorrect targeting.
But marketing myopia is deeper. It’s a strategic blind spot—an inability or unwillingness to acknowledge that the market and customer needs have shifted. It’s not about bad execution; it’s about having the wrong goal altogether.
Conclusion
Marketing myopia is one of the silent killers of great businesses. It’s not always obvious—because it hides behind current success, brand familiarity, and strong legacy.
But if you continue to define your brand by what you sell instead of what customers truly value, you’re vulnerable to becoming irrelevant—even if you’re a market leader today.
