and 90% of them fail.

但 90% 的產品都賣得不好。

A key reason is what the late Harvard Business School

主要原因就是「行銷短視」，

professor Theodore Levitt famously

這是哈佛商學院的西奥多·莱维特教授提出的，

termed marketing myopia--

是很有名的專業術語 --

a nearsighted focus on selling products and services

只專注於銷售產品和服務，

rather than seeing the big picture

而不是顧全大局，

of what consumers really want.

忽略了消費者真正想要的東西。

As he used to tell his students, people

他曾經告訴他的學生，

don't want to buy a quarter inch drill.

人們不是想買四分之一英吋的鑽頭，

They want to buy a quarter inch hole.

而是想要有一個四分之一英吋的洞。

The railroad lines are a classic case study.

鐵路線是一個經典的研究。

They fell into a steep decline because they

鐵路業經濟急遽下滑，

thought they were in the rail business,

因為他們認為自己只是鐵路業者，

rather than being providers of transportation.

而不是大眾運輸工具的供應商。

Instead of branching out into cars, trucks, or airplanes,

他們沒有擴展業務到汽車、卡車或飛機，

they let other companies steal away their passenger

他們卻讓其他公司搶走乘客

and freight traffic.

和貨物運輸。

Or take oil and gas companies.

或是搶走石油和天然氣公司的生意。

They belatedly started to think of themselves

他們身為能源供應商，

as energy providers.

太晚才意識到這些問題。

But they still devote most of their resources to petroleum.

但他們仍然將大部分資源用於石油。

If they fail to develop alternative fuels,

如果他們不能開發替代燃料的話，

they risk becoming companies without an industry.

他們就可能成為沒有產業的公司。

Many others have made, and continue to make,

其他許多人已經且持續犯

the same mistake.

相同的錯誤。

Organizations invest so much time, energy, and money

組織投入了大量的時間、力量和金錢，

in what they currently do that they're blind to the future.

在他們目前工作過程中看不到未來。

They get lulled into thinking they're in a growth industry,

他們沉溺以為自己身處在新興的產業中，

rather than continuously capitalizing

而不是持續

on growth opportunities.

利用機會成長。

To avoid the same fate, leaders should ask themselves--

為了避免同樣的命運發生，領導者必須自我提問 --

what business are we really in?

我們真正從事的業務是什麼？

They need to understand that the goal isn't to sell things,

他們必須了解其目標並不是銷售東西，

it's to satisfy customers, and accept the fact

而是為了滿足消費者，

that most existing products and services can and will

而且必須接受一個現實，

be replaced by competitive alternatives.

大部分的產品和服務都是可以被競爭對手取代的。

Then, they can identify new offerings

明白這點後，

that meet consumers' needs sooner than any existing

他們可以比任何現有或潛在的兢爭對手，

or potential competitor.

更快地找出消費者需要的東西。

That's the cure for marketing myopia.

這就是預防「行銷短視」的方法。