Marketing Imagination: New, Expanded Edition

Though it was first released in 1983, I still do not believe there is a better book on marketing that The Marketing Imagination. It's not a "marketing fad of the week" kind of book, but rather a practically worded treatise on basic concepts that are more often than not overlooked or ignored by those who chase fads and wonder why they're not more successful. Chapter 4, "Differentiation---of Anything" should be tatooed on the forehead of every marketer.

Of the more than 27 billion books on marketing now in print, none has had a greater impact than has this one. It is truly a masterpiece. By way of background, in 1960 (in its July-August issue), The Harvard Business Review published "Marketing Myopia" in which Levitt ties marketing "more closely to the inner orbit of business policy." Specifically, "Management must think of itself not as producing products but as providing custom-creating value satisfactions." Companies should be marketing-led rather than production-led. That will happen only if and when there is a total commitment by senior management (and especially by the CEO) to satisfying current customers so that they remain loyal, and, to attracting new customers. Only marketing creates or increases demand. Without demand, there are no customers. In the same article, Levitt makes an important distinction: "Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariably does, view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer needs." Given this background, you can now place The Marketing Imagination in a proper context. "Marketing Myopia" is reprinted within the revised edition, first published in 1986.The chapter titles correctly suggest the scope of the subjects Levitt discusses: 1. Marketing and the Corporate Purpose 2. The Globalization of Markets 3. The Industrialization of Service 4. Differentiation -- of Anything 5. Marketing Intangible Products and Product Intangibles 6. Relationship Management 7. The Marketing Imagination 8. Marketing Myopia 9. Exploit the Product Life Cycle 10. Innovative Imitation 11. Marketing and Its Discontents I now ask you to re-read this list of chapter titles, keeping in mind that Levitt's comments on each subject were formulated 15-20 years ago. That is, pre-WWW. That is, prior to the widespread understanding and appreciation of positioning, paradigms and paradigm shifts, "customized mass production," Marketing Value Added (MVA) to create Economic Value Added (EVA), brand equity, product and service differentiation, etc. In essence, marketing means "getting and keeping customers in some acceptable proportion relative to competitors." That was true in 1986 when Levitt wrote those words and remains true now. However, even if Levitt and all the other major thought leaders in marketing were to collaborate, their collective genius could not create demand for shoddy goods, nor overcome mediocre customer service. The corollary is also true: neither product superiority nor operational excellence has compelling value to customers unless and until "the marketing imagination" manages their perceptions of them. If you need to clarify your own thinking on key issues which include but ar

This is a collection of classic Ted Levitt articles from "Harvard Business Review." This is where you go to understand the concept of `total product' or `whole product' used by both Moore & Davidow in their marketing books. Those two authors, both of whom I recommend, are more oriented to high-tech. Don't limit your reading by ignoring one of their important influences.I strongly recommend supplementing industry- or market-specific books with Levitt's foundational classic. Every Product Manager and Engineering Manager should own this and read it. Levitt is mind expanding--once you've comprehended him, you realize that virtually everything a company does is relevant to marketing. Take its lessons to heart.

I read Ted Levitt's awesome article 'Marketing Myopia' some years ago and promised myself then that I would find out more about the thoughts of this unique writer. This man is a Guru of the old school - shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Deming, Drucker and Mintzberg. He is referenced by Tom Peters and other 'modern' writers. As a non-marketeer I did not know quite what to expect - what I got was an (at times breathtaking) insight into areas of the marketing 'black art' that I didn't know existed! He covers Relationships, Service, Product lifecycles, Differentiation and much more. He writes with such style and passion for his subject that you cannot help but be infected by it. Anecdotes of marketing genius and stupidity are peppered throughout the book. Key words, concepts and phrases are repeated over and over, to the point that the words hit you like a blunt instrument. You don't forget them - you wouldn't dare! Some parts are quite detailed and technical, but your attention cannot wane lest you miss the next part of the roller coaster ride. This is an old book of old articles, but the ideas are as fresh as ever - seasoned marketeers should read it just to recharge their enthusiasm if nothing else. Levitt uses several metaphors to illustrate his ideas - the most prevalent being sex. At times I found this to be a bit irritating but it was always used with taste and humour which mitigated my irritability. I first got this book from the library and had to own one - Levitt is the Stephen Hawking of Marketing - buy it, read it ENJOY.

This is, simply, the best marketing book ever written. Ted Levitt, a Harvard B-School professor, previously wrote "Marketing Myopia," where he told us the railroads went belly up because they thought they were in the train business rather than the transportation game. You cannot buy a product. Rather, you buy the feelings you expect to receive from your vision of the product -- and generally your vision is fuzzy. People are not rational decision-makers -- we judge books by looking at their covers. An astute marketer never sells a commodity. Only fools sell on price alone. Add some service to the mix and transform what you're selling into something else altogether. The Marketing Imagination is not a how-to book like the various Guerilla Marketing tomes. Levitt gives you frameworks for thinking about things and making sound decisions. I have a couple of decades of marketing under my belt, and this is the only marketing book I ever reread. Do yourself a favor. Join me