Marketing plan development and strategy

Marketing Plan

The product that is being marketed is the new MLX series of routers from Brocade. The MLX series is a niche product within the router industry, characterized by a high level of performance relative to the mass market routers produced by the firm's major competitors Cisco and Juniper. The MLX series of routers has a broad set of features that deliver industry-leading performance in terms of speed, volume capability, high performance, and cost efficiency (Brocade.com, 2010). The routers exceed the performance of competing products. Thus, the primary characteristic of the MLX series of routers is its technological superiority.

The branding strategy for the MLX series is focused on building the MLX name among consumers of high-end routers. Secondary to this will be building the Brocade name. Because there are a number of routers within the MLX series, and these routers will be phased in and out of production according to market demands and technological developments, individual products will not be subject to any branding effort. The branding effort will only focus on the line and the company.

The MLX line's branding will be built around the concept of a multi-year strategy. Brand recognition for a name such as MLX can be relatively low because the name does not stand out, so the focus will be on linking specific product attributes to that brand. Concepts such as technological superiority and improved performance for the buyer's company will be specifically linked to the MLX brand. The branding strategy wishes to convey the MLX as a tool by which the buyer can improve his or her own business. The MLX brand should be associated therefore with customer success -- a typical message associated with the MLX brand would be that companies with rapidly growing traffic and business need an MLX. This can create an aspirational element to the brand by positioning it as the brand utilized by the successful and rapidly growing.

Brocade generally competes as a high-end producer of computer and network components. The MLX line fits into the broader Brocade product line as a new flagship for the company. Brocade's name will be tied to the success off the MLX, which the company expects to be a high volume product for the company and one that is strongly tied to the value of the Brocade brand as a whole. In addition, the MLX routers will be used to bring new customers to Brocade, at which point the company can also market more esoteric and specialized products.

Thus, the MLX line is expected to be a central element of the company's overall brand strategy for the next few years. Brocade hopes to build its business around the MLX line of routers, and use those routers to attract new clients. As a new flagship product, the MLX will be supported with strong spending and will become the focus of a broader campaign for the company to expand into multiple different markets.

The MLX line features products for a broad range of target markets. Individual products will have niche markets, such as small businesses, medium businesses, institutions or even home users, but the line as a whole will encompass a broad range of these target markets. This gives the MLX brand a broad exposure to a wide number of computer and Internet users. While not a loss leader, the MLX routers are expected to function in a similar manner, bringing new customers to the company by offering a superior, innovative product. The strategy is not unlike that applied by Apple with the iPod, which brought millions of new customers to the company.

The organization's broader strategy is to utilize the MLX routers to bring in these new customers. When the customers are impressed with the superior performance of the MLX, they will look to Brocade for other solutions as well. In this manner, the company will leverage its new customers to build all of its lines of business, not just its router business. MLX will serve the gateway function, therefore. Margins on the other products will likely be higher than those taken on the MLX, especially after marketing costs are considered, so the primary role of the MLX line is to increase total customer volume.

The fact that the MLX is being marketed as a line supports this overall strategy. The broad range of target markets serves two essential functions. The first is to provide the line with broad appeal, driving high sales for the MLX product itself. The second is to bring in as many diverse customers as possible. The result of this will be that Brocade can market a wide range of products to these disparate customers. This not only increases the company's business in general for its existing products, but it will also allow Brocade to have the customer base to broaden its research and development activities. The company has quadrupled sales in the past five years, and the MLX strategy is part of an overall strategy to match this rapid rate of growth over the next five years. Increasing the customer base and allowing for an increase in research and development capability is part of this strategy.

The other way in which the MLX branding strategy and target market strategy will help support Brocade's overall corporate strategy is that it will enhance the status of Brocade as a high-end maker of computer and networking equipment. At this point, the Brocade brand is not as well-known as that of its major competitors, largely because of the company's historic niche status. The company believes that in the long run, most consumers will demand high performance from their Internet devices, which will expand what is currently a niche market into the mainstream. Brocades hopes to ride this trend into rapidly growing sales and improved returns on investment.