3Com Corp chief, Eric Benhamou has revealed the company is about to launch one of the most aggressive branding and promotions campaigns ever mounted by the networking firm, centered around e-business. One proposal might be to drop a dot in the middle of the company name and call itself 3.Com, he said. The 3Com press office was completely flummoxed by this off-the-cuff remark and a spokesperson said there were no plans to change the company name. One analyst said this was further testament to the troubled networking firm’s lack of direction and strategy.
Benhamou outlined his agenda at the VARBusiness channel vendors event in Florida this week. The 3.Com idea might be the easiest way for the company to increase its P/E ratio, Benhamou said. 3Com, of course, had its name long before the dot com boom was even thought off, but although staring it in the face the firm has failed to cash in on the phenomenon and it is probably too late now.
3Com is still toying with the idea that it would be better off promoting its Palm products instead of 3Com products as the Palm brand is doing well, whereas 3Com’s growth in the majority of its other businesses has slowed down quarter on quarter. The Palm name, Benhamou said, must take center stage. He added that the company needs to promote the value of its products more aggressively and not necessarily the technical capabilities they include. New alliances to be announced with major carriers can be expected in the fall, he said. Analysts agree that the company is still attempting to juggle too many balls at one time and that it should pare back its business and concentrate on just the profitable, high growth areas such as the Palm platform. รก
