In: Operations Management
Is Cisco’s plan to reach out to consumers a viable one? Why or why not
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Is Cisco’s plan to reach out to consumers a viable one? Why or why not
Until joining the consumer market Cisco was widely recognized as a regional networking and equity pioneer for companies within the technology industry. With internet infrastructure, software, and hardware, the company was known in the market for its groundbreaking technological solutions. The market capitalization of the company rose from 1 billion to 300 billion between 1991 and 1999, which was faster than any other company in the past. Although Cisco had gained proven success as a business-to-business service-oriented company, Cisco had no business to understand the customer company. The organization understood the need to expand into a wider audience and Cisco decided to branch out to clients and create a household name with its products. The business is in the same development field as Microsoft, Apple and IBM but, unlike its rivals, the general public was less aware of Cisco. Microsoft and IBM were on the top ten most popular companies listed in 2007. As a name, Cisco became practically unknown to customers but it capitalized on the market sense.
ALTERNATIVE ANSWER:
According to the case study, Cisco achieved a global ranking of 18 in 2008 with revenues of $39.5 billion dollars thus making its consumer based plan a seemingly viable one (Cisco). In reviewing the market conditions of the 90's which were wide open for internet technology and comparing that to the 21st century which has now been saturated with internet technology, Cisco is making a wise strategic move. By transitioning to a consumer based marketing company, Cisco is placing itself up against some very tough competition against Microsoft, Apple, and Dell, however, their continued growth seems to demonstrate they are holding their own with consumers (Cisco). Some of the key transitional actions from business-to-business into consumer based marketing that Cisco has made was to develop a message. In 2003 the company began pushing the message of "This is the power of the Network", a catchy phrase consumers could relate with. Also, Cisco has consistently used television ads and other media outlets to help push its brand name to consumers and help the company gain market space successfully (Cisco). So, for Cisco, changing its business model to consumer based and making smart marketing decisions is helping the company refocus its efforts on the future.
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