The Difference Between Success and Failure

The difference between success and failure of a product could very possibly come down to the effectiveness of its marketing. If a company fails to alert the target market of the products’ availability and attributes, sells will be adversely affected. Identifying the target market and customizing the message to fit the target is essential in receiving the biggest return on your marketing dollars (increased profits). Cisco was extremely successful with selling its components to technology manufacturers, however, lacked the name brand recognition it desired from the public. Cisco components were contained within various end products, but consumers only recognized the brand of the end product. To solve the problem on anonymity with consumers, Cisco embarked on a marketing campaign based on ingredient branding to introduce itself to the public. Surely, the aim was to introduce Cisco components to the public and therefore have consumers look for Cisco components when purchasing end products.

Cisco had to approach marketing to the public differently than marketing to other businesses. The general public may or may not understand the mechanics behind Cisco’s merchandise; other technology companies would have firsthand knowledge. Manufacturers would understand the technology of Cisco’s products and know how the quality of the components would affect the quality of their end products. Cisco decided that it would educate the public on the superiority of Cisco components versus its competitors and fuel a demand from consumers for products containing Cisco components. Marketing ingredient products to the public required Cisco to imply their components made for a better end products; marketing to businesses required Cisco to prove that their components made for better products.

Cisco decided to “humanize” (Kotler & Keller, 2012) itself in order to appeal to consumers versus attempting to educate consumers on the actual technology of