Marketing Mytopia

What was the result of the railroad industry not defining its correctly;

The reason was that they were railroad oriented instead of transportation oriented.  They were also product oriented instead of customer orientated.

 In Levitt’s article, what did the oil industry continue to do and what was its consequence?

The oil industry continued to be optimistic and did not continue to grow.  They appeared to have no competitive substitute.  It is an example of how complacency and wrongheadedness can stubbornly convert opportunity into near disaster.

They really focused on improving efficiency of getting and making its product, not really on improving the generic product or its marketing.  Therefore, more developments of superior alternative fuels from outside the oil industry came in.  Major innovations in fuel marketing, new oil companies were influential body’s that came into play.  They emphasised on large and clean layouts and quality gasoline at low prices.

 List the reasons Levitt gives for the demise of myopic industries over time.

The reasons for the demise of the myopic industries are the slow growth and the continual avoidance of competitive substitutes in the industry.  Not realising that there are other competitors out there that are thinking of new and innovative ways for their products to be more attractive to others is a big issue.  There are other industry’s out there that are thinking of better substitutes and lower cost to attract the consumers.

What other examples can you suggest, of industries/corporations failing to adapt new ways to meet old needs?

Examples of industries failing to adapt new ways to meet old needs would simply be losing touch with customers and failing to adapt to new technology.  Old companies are too busy on what was working right for them in the old ways, however new technology and innovations come about.  So these corporations need to find ways to adapt to these ‘new ways’.  Also keeping in touch with customers to see what their needs and wants are, so they can market their products effectively to the new generation.

 What lessons does the article give about sport?

The article provides insight into how the sport industry works.  In sport there are many competitive substitutes to try and sell their product to different companies.  And an organisation needs to adapt to these new innovations and competitive advantages that other corporations possess.  For the sport industry to grow you cannot afford to not look at competition in sporting organisations.  Marketing these products effectively to gain that competitive advantage will allow that sporting organisation to grow.