Paper details:
Your Assignment: Write a review of this famous article, which has been carefully read and discussed by executives
for over fifty­five years. Consider focusing your paper on some of the following questions:
1. What is Levitt’s central thesis? Why do you think Levitt’s article made such a big impact with executives since
1960?
2. How is Levitt’s thesis consistent with a marketing orientation?
3. What is Levitt’s definition of marketing myopia and what are its distinguishing features?
4. What causes marketing myopia?
5. Is Levitt’s thesis still relevant for executives today? If yes, why? If not, what has
changed? You may also argue that Levitt’s argument was never relevant.
6. How do the concepts of product­oriÕÉ≠†Њ†ented and market­oriented definitions fit with
Levitt’s marketing myopia? See the last page of this assignment for a brief discussion
of product­oriented and market­oriented definitions.
7. What contemporary or recently deceased brands are suffering from marketing myopia or failed
because of it? You might consider Kodak Kodachrome or any other 35mm film brand, Polaroid Land Cameras,
plain old wire telephone service for homes, Smith Corona Portable Typewriters, PalmPilot, Zip Drives, the Sony
Walkman, Tower Records, or Radio Shack.
8. You might consider whether companies like Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, Research In Motion (BlackBerry), Nokia,
the New York Times (or the New York Post) or others suffer from marketing myopia. Provide examples as well as
suggestions on how these executives from these firms can recapture the vision that once made their brands great.