I have discovered that we relate best to events or circumstances that transpire and exist around us, everyday. In our insistence on the major examples of the world, the big companies that we study, analyse and dissect - and then become a part of that vicious cycle of providing solutions, countering our own solutions to come out with better ones - we miss out on the tiny examples in our locality that have the ability to teach us more than just what is written in the text books. Enough said. I bring you instances straight from the beating heart of Bengal - Caluctta.

My job description is that of a market researcher - I conduct primary research on upcoming office spaces in order to study the market potential in and around Calcutta. As a result, I have to travel a lot. Take for instance the restaurant that I came across the other day, close to Garia township in East Calcutta. Clearly a restaurant targeted to attract LIG to MIG individuals, they had two sections - the AC and the non-AC sections. Now when you are targeting these segments predominantly in Asia and mostly in the Indian subcontinent, you are looking at the most value conscious customer segments. If you are not delivering magnificent value at low costs, you are potentially looking at losing them. While catering to that demand, most such businesses would not focus on expanding the scope of their operations to the same. Today however, customers have become increasingly self conscious - anything that does not appeal to their ego or seems to ruffle it will result in an opportunity loss. So, this clever restaurant deals with the entire AC - non-AC situation in a very simple fashion. They call their non-AC section the open-air, close to nature section. Now, that is improvisation. You see they are not only purveyors of food items, they are delivering you the experience of sitting in the open and enjoying the lovely sunshine (and the heat, but then that's the trick - to not mention the obvious.) The CVP of the restaurant is the experience, and the memories that you will create and take back from the place - in addition to the good food at dirt cheap prices.

Let's take you somewhere slightly south. One look at the CVP of the dentist's - you see he is offering you more than just the cure to toothache or tooth decay. That's his core service. Beyond the core service, lie the actual service, the expected service, the augmented and the potential service. Now you could be the biggest fish in a little pond by miles - but if you do not think about tapping the higher offering that you can diversify into, you will be eaten by the next big fish that comes along because now, you are in an ocean. So, it is no longer the cure to the toothache or the tooth decay. His office is called the Smile Solution center - he promises you: relief from dental issues (that have been plaque-ing you ), whitening of your teeth, and value for money. He has diversified his business and has renamed his office so that it communicates the diverse range of solutions that he has to offer to you.

There's so much that a profoundly thought out positioning statement, a slightly thoughtful tag line can do for your business. I think the positioning statement of one's offering is what ultimately goes a long way in establishing the foundation for a much vaunted, much sought-after brand equity that we are ready to pour millions for.

Now, we have two examples of where and how you can go wrong. The furniture shop that promises to deliver the best metal furniture to your house, is named - and wait for it - Irony. Seriously? While I am a sucker for tongue-in-cheek humour, I think this is taking it a tad too far. I will, at the end of the day, have a laugh about it - but I am most certainly not going to be very gullible while buying my furniture. Ironic, hm.

And then there's the newly opened restaurant - called "Yummraj". Its positioning, the most that I can make out, is that it offers yummy food to its customers. They could have stopped there. No, they took it up a notch by naming their restaurant after the feared God of Death in Hindu mythology. What did they do? They drove away the particularly superstitious generation of the city. Now I realise that their offerings are aimed at certain target segments. But is there a point in being * to such an extent? Or are they being plain naive? I am for one, not eating at that direct portal to hell. God save me.

Enough brand-bashing for the day.

Marketing Myopia was the title of a paper published in HBR in 1960. The concept differentiates the new age marketing from the old age concept of selling, in the way that it emphasizes on the need to concentrate on the needs of the consumers, instead of focusing on selling the goods. When the businesses focus simply on selling as many products, without being considerate of the needs of the consumers, they lose the sight of what generates their sales, and in the process, end up losing customers and sales.

While making decisions a company should develop an insightful view of what is best for all its stakeholders. these include: employees, shareholders and customers. To continuously grow and prosper, a company must have the foresight to make long term decisions that benefit all the stakeholders.

Marketing myopia is a term which is used in corporate world to describe the top management's inefficiency to foresee the future of their business. As per this term an organization focuses only on short term objectives and their every strategy is limited to this period. This inefficiency of the top leaders leads to the disastrous results so it is always advisable that everything should be planned keeping the future prospect of business in mind.

The concept of Marketing Myopia was introduced by Theodore Levitt. He asked this question, "What business are you really in ?". This concept , 'Marketing Myopia' won him the Mckinsey Award 1960.
This article is as much about strategies as it is about marketing. It says that the business that doing exceptionally well today might be unaware that there awaits a decline. Levitt says businesses would have done much better had they concentrated on meeting customers instead of selling products.
Most often it so happens, the industries that have always been known as seasoned growth industries, actually stops growing. The reason growth is inhibited is not because the market no longer exists, but because of the failure in the management.
Levitt says the failure in the top management leads to the termination of growth for a business. The group of executives who deals with the policy making are to blame.
For instance Hollywood barely escaped being trodden by the television. They identified their business wrongly. They suffered due to myopia. They thought they were into movie making when their actual business was 'Entertainment'. Movies were but a product only. Hollywood ridiculed and rejected TV, when it should have welcomed it warmly. It was a brilliant opportunity to expand the entertainment business.