Don't Be a Railroad
Posted on Thu, May 27, 2010 @ 01:48 PM
If you've ever taken a marketing class, then you probably know the example about the passenger railroad industry and how it contributed to its own downfall by defining itself too narrowly (Marketing Myopia, by Theodore Levitt). It continued to focus on being in the railroad industry rather than the transportation industry. It didn't evolve and adapt to a changing world.
It's time to drag that example out again and apply it to local television... well, any media really. Are you in the local television business or are you in the business of providing local information? It seems as if many stations are still narrowly defining themselves, and then have a few things going on the side - like a website or cell phone delivery. These things are seen as separate add-ons.
But if you want to survive this technology/media revolution, it's going to take full integration and an all out culture change. Survival in the future (right now, actually) will require embracing a broader consumer-focused definition. Now... who's still working at a television station?
Brush up on Marketing Myopia and why it's so deadly to your business by reading this article. http://management.thinkahead.net.in/marketing-myopia-definition-example-and-explanation-theodore-c-levitt-theory-of-marketing.html
-Donna Petersen