Sunday, September 11, 2011

Less well known security firms stay competitive marketing online

Social Marketing Business
The web has opened up opportunities for security software brands to challenge the hegemony of Norton and McAfee, giving companies like AVG and Avast a way to gain consumer mind share, according to a new report from leading market research company, The NPD Group.

Unlike the two market leaders, the ability of smaller, less well-known companies to gain substantial market presence through PC distribution and via retail shelves is extremely limited and expensive, since this channel carries enormous setup and trade costs. Companies that can’t afford retail continue to be limited by their inability to access the vast majority of customers for security software.

“Norton and McAfee have done a great job leveraging their hard-won brand recognition into strong distribution relationships in the best places the customer can be acquired — at the store point of presence and at the point of PC purchase,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. “When it comes to selling on the Internet, however, smaller less well-known companies are managing to stay competitive.”

According to NPD’s “Security Software Topical Report,” the leading providers of security software, Norton and McAfee, have almost universal consumer recognition (86 percent each), and they use that recognition to deliver their products over a wide range of channel choices.

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