Ascend's Marketing Weakness
A Surmountable Problem?
NORWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 2, 1998--If one company--Ascend Communications--can find success providing access equipment to ISPs, and another company--Cascade Communications--can find success providing switching products to the carrier market, can the two merged companies double that success as an end-to-end supplier?
That's the question posed by writer Susan O'Keefe in the cover story of the June 1998 issue of Telecommunications(R) magazine, ''Marketing 101: Can Ascend Get Back to Basics?'' Positing answers--and pulling no punches with their observations--are some of the industry's leading analysts:
''They (Ascend and Cascade together) have some really exciting products, but they don't know how to tell people that. ... Right now I can explain and sell their products better than they can.'' -- Tom Nolle of CIMI
''Ascend put such a premium on the technical and engineering talent to get the products out that oftentimes they didn't have the support and marketing people to complement the message. ... Now that they are playing in a much larger space, (their) marketing weakness has become much more glaring.'' -- John Morency of Renaissance Worldwide
''It's a culture thing. They (Ascend) are not used to wearing bright hats and suits and announcing themselves to the world. Changing into that type of boisterous company isn't going to happen overnight, no matter how easy they think it's going to be.'' -- Christine Heckart of TeleChoice
In this concise yet comprehensive analysis, O'Keefe addresses the major issues facing Ascend, now a player in the billion dollar club, including the competition in the access market, the strength of Ascend's product line, and the company's voice-over-data strategy. Ascend's own people--CEO Mory Ejabat and Vice President of Marketing Bob Machlin among them--also offer insightful comments on the company, acknowledging prior marketing weaknesses and revealing corrective strategies.
To read the entire article, call for a copy or read it on our Web site, www.telecoms-mag.com (on or after June 3).
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Telecommunications(R) magazine is available on the Web at www.telecoms-mag.com. Portions of this or other articles in Telecommunications(R) may be reproduced with prior written permission. Direct all inquiries to Janice Stillman, telephone (781) 769-9750.
Telecommunications(R) is a leading monthly publication covering telecom technology, its market, and related business trends and developments. The magazine has an Americas edition based in Norwood, Mass., and an International edition based in London. Telecommunications(R) is published by Horizon House Publications Inc., a high-tech publishing company. Horizon House also publishes Microwave Journal(R) and Journal of Electronic Defense and includes a book publishing subsidiary, Artech House. |
