The ‘Kodak Moment’ Question
It’s one of the most deceptively simple, yet complex business questions you will ever encounter.
One that may cause sleepless nights. Endless head-scratching. Considerable inner frustration, angst and soul-searching.
A question that (if not answered in the right way) can topple the mightiest of business empires. The graveyards of commerce are filled with corpses of corporate behemoths who once reigned supreme, before they came crashing down. Primarily because of utter and shameful failure at the very top to answer this most profound, thought-provoking question.
“What Business Are You Really… REALLY IN?
It’s a question Ted first started asking in 1960. For those who were paying attention, the uncommon clarity acquired through that single question has proven to be central to all forms of growth, innovation and disruption. In my own first-hand experience, I dare say it’s impossible for CEO’s and senior leadership to harness the full potential of their enterprise without grasping the nuance and implications of Ted’s killer question. How it dramatically helps any company fully understand their true purpose, core identity, define their market space and achieve sustainable, long-term success.
Theodore Levitt coined the phrase “Marketing Myopia” to describe what is still a most common affliction of executive shortsightedness. Levitt argued that companies should never define themselves by the products or profits they make, but by the inherent value and unspoken needs they deliver to their customers. This single, yet massive shift in perspective is what spells the difference between Blockbuster and Netflix. Between Amazon and Sears. Between the Yellow Pages and Google.
Levitt was a Harvard guy who dared to challenge status quo back in the day when newspapers dominated mass media and Kodak ruled the film business. Sixty-five years later, the merit and strength of Ted’s arguments still hold true. If you are responsible for running a company or part of a senior leadership team, it’s well worth considering the implications of how you would answer THE ‘KODAK MOMENT’ QUESTION on this segment of Leaders & Legends.
“People are not really buying a power drill. What they’re really buying is the quarter-inch hole in the wall”
p.s… In his landmark 1960 essay, Ted Levitt used the railroads as a prime example of Marketing Myopia. The old white guys who were the rail barons at the time honestly believed they were in the railroad business. Consequently, they focused much of their executive attention on building better locomotives, laying new tracks and upgrading fancy dining cars where people were drinking coffee and smoking big cigars. In other words, the tycoons of the early 20th century defined their entire business model by being in the rail business when, in fact, they were in the transportation business. It wasn’t about running trains. It was getting passengers and freight moving from Point A to Point B. Once airplanes, transport trucks and automobiles came along, the railroad companies lost significant market share they could have owned had they invested in those new technologies. Their myopic view of being product focused as opposed to customer focused prevented them from taking advantage of new markets, new ways to serve and ultimately were forced to settle for a much smaller share of the transportation pie.
Three Timeless Takeaways
Three Timeless Takeaways
Next time you walk into the office, try this exercise. Just for fun and as your own experiment, start asking your colleagues “What business are we REALLY in?
Pay close attention to the answers and how they reflect a massive echo chamber focused on products, widgets or services you make or sell. Notice how the vast majority of the responses will be internally driven and product-focused. They won’t be externally considerate and customer-focused. To get super-duper clear on the business you are actually in, spend some quiet time to reflect on the following:
1. Customers DO NOT care about the products or services we provide. They only care about what those products and services can DO for them
2. What are the unspoken, emotional reasons our customers buy from us? How do we make their lives easier, joyful or more fulfilling?
3. In what ways are we truly positioned as being DIFFERENT-ER than our competitors or are we just peddling the same product-focused marketing speak and sales language that everybody else does?
Never forget that real human beings do not buy smart phones. They buy a device that can be stuffed in a pocket or purse that plays music, allows them to check the weather, watch YouTube videos, scroll social media, get driving directions, check e-mail, Facetime with their grandkids, take selfies of themselves at a Taylor Swift concert, get dining recommendations and talk to their friends while driving.
The more invested you are in acquiring deeper insight into the emotional lives of your customers, they more likely you are to create marketing and business models that no competitor could ever hope to copy or comprehend.
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