Marketing Myopia

Theodore Levitt's 1960 Harvard Business Review argument that firms fail when they define themselves by products rather than customer needs.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

Marketing myopia is Theodore Levitt's 1960 Harvard Business Review argument that firms fail when they define themselves by their products rather than by the customer needs they serve. His example was railroads, which declined by seeing themselves in the railroad business rather than transportation. The idea encourages broader, customer-led strategic thinking.