Brocade Mlx Routers Marketing Plan

Brocade MLX Routers

Marketing Plan

Brocade MLX Routers: Advertising

Marketing Plan

The high-speed routers have become the need of a common person in an era where high-speed internet connections are required to fulfill the high-scale objectives of large enterprises. Nowadays, extreme competition has emerged in the market for all types of network-based equipment. Multinationals are continuously upgrading their products to ensure market survival. Every now and then, there is a launch of an upgraded version of networking equipment. One of the most common equipments in the present network market is the router. Its function is to select the appropriate path to transfer data packages between different networks. Due to continuous up-gradation in the internet speed worldwide, companies are ensuring that they develop and manufacture the best of routers to ensure strong connections. Brocade MIX series routers are a part of this development. Most of the Internet Service Providers and transit networks rely on these routers to ensure that they meet high-level traffic requirements (Brocade, nod.).

Since Brocade MLX series is a technological product with innovative features, effective advertisement is essential. The reason is that the firm not only needs the required objective of persuading customers to buy their routers, but also it needs to familiarize and demonstrate their product to the potential customers. With the technology being updated every day and the variety of networking products available in the market, efficient advertising is an essential pillar in the success of Brocade MLX router series.

Advertising Strategy and Marketing Goals

Advertising at times, is not considered very important for technical products like wireless internet routers. The reason behind this is perhaps these are more product -- oriented commodities and therefore firms believe that it is their real technology that people are willing to pay for and not the "image." However, the fact remains that in the contemporary world where a new technology enters the market every now and then, the internet router market is as much competitive as any other fast moving consumer good. This is why effective advertising is as much necessary for internet routers as any other product. With so many routers out there in the market, consumers have a lot of choice. As a matter of fact, most consumers are not very technology savvy and they are just concerned with getting connected to the internet (List Building Toolkit, 2010). Under such circumstances, a company cannot afford to depend only on its product's technology, no matter how unique it is -- effective advertising is need for the day.

Since the product is technology driven, the advertising campaign for MLX routers has to be both persuasive and informative. In order to capture the attention of potential customers, the ad campaign has to be visual, mainly television based. The advertisement must highlight the fact that what makes Brocade MLX routers stand out in the market from its competitor routers. As part of an initial launch, some buying incentive can be given so that it provokes the customer to opt for the product over its rivals. These incentives may include complementary gifts, discounts on purchase of other Brocade products, Brocade membership, discounts in router installation fee and extended warranty or guarantee of the router.

The advertisement's focus should be on the unique selling point of the MLX router. In this case it should focus on Brocade's latest high-end technology, cost efficiency, operational reliability and high speed of the internet router. It should highlight the fact that how the Brocade MLX routers are more reliable than other networking products available in the market. For this reason, the advertisement needs to be demonstrative and that makes television the ideal medium. Animations and sci-fi special effects can be used to highlight the advanced technology of the router.

While television remains the best medium for the products promotion, other important mediums like magazines and newspapers and the internet itself should not be ignored to make sure that all potential consumers are reached effectively. Advertisements can be published in technology and science magazines and magazines that target young potential internet users such as teenagers; on the electronic media, teenage channels, music channels, science and educational channels, and in some cases news channels, which have wide viewership. When selecting what television channels the advertisement will be run or what magazines the advertisement will be published in, the viewership and the readership of the respective marketing media should be considered.

Awareness will also be created through social networking websites such as Facebook in order to capture target audience. These social networking websites can also play an effective role in assisting the firm to carry out pre-launch and post launch tracking studies for the effectiveness of the ad campaign.

Measuring Effectiveness

In order to test the effectiveness of the MLX router's advertising campaign, a market survey would be carried out before formally launching the campaign. This will test how much awareness about the router is already there in the market and what is the scope of further sales. After formal launching of the advertisement campaign, another market survey would be carried out. This will test the awareness level in the target market about the router. The difference between the pre-launch and post launch survey will be used to measure the overall effectiveness of the campaign.

Additional Promotional Activities

Although the regular advertisement campaign will be launched and continued as per the plan mentioned above, however, on a parallel side other promotional activities will also be carried out. One of these promotional activities includes referral incentives and discounts on installation fee for limited time. This will attract the customers to get the router installed as early as possible to save the installation cost. There is also a chance that customers who otherwise will opt for other network options due to price factor, they will consider going for the Brocade MLX Router. Another possible promotional scheme may be sponsoring events that will be attended by potential customers of the MLX routers. Demonstration stalls can also be set up in large shopping malls and trade fairs in order to increase the familiarity about the product.

Assessing Customer Satisfaction

Considering the fact that the Brocade MLX Router is a technical product, assessment of customer satisfaction is very important in order to ensure quality management. In order to do so, efficient after sales service system will be introduced. Customers will be called on weekly and monthly basis to find out if they are satisfied with the performance of the product and if the product meets their expectations. Moreover, customer service and complain system will also introduced both at the retail outlet and online so that customers can promptly launch any complains that they have with the product. A complain form can be made abailable on Brocade's official website and surveys can also be carried out through Brocade's official page on Facebook.