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...

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.
Overall, the branding strategy for the MLX line of routers is highly-integrated with Brocade's overall strategy of rapid growth and brand image enhancement. The company wishes to cultivate an image as a facilitator of communication and of business and create an element of aspiration surrounding the brand. This, it is believed, will help drive business, particularly among consumers less savvy about technical details but desiring the best performance, which the company sees as the future of the market as the high end moves into the mainstream. The MLX is going to be at the core of the company's marketing strategy as a means by which to increase Brocade's total brand exposure and to bring new customers to the company. The use of this extensive brand exposure to a broad range of specific target markets is hoped to create a widespread improvement in brand awareness and specific associations of MLX and Brocade as being high-performance and desirable.

Works Cited:

Brocade.com website, various pages. (2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010 from http://www.brocade.com