The document describes Cisco's marketing strategy for launching its ASR 1000 router using a virtual, viral, and visual approach on social media and the web. The strategy included generating pre-launch buzz through videos, games, and communities on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Second Life. It also highlighted registering for an online launch event to announce the new product globally at a much lower cost than previous physical launches. The strategy was seen as highly successful with large online and global reach, and became a new model for Cisco product launches.
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Building a Community with Social Media and Web 2.0 - Part II
1. Building a Community with Social Media and Web 2.0 A Cisco Product Launch Case Study LaSandra Brill, Mgr, SP Central Marketing [email_address]
2. Marketing in a Web 2.0 World Create a relationship (not an event) Build Communities (not websites) Two Way Communication (not one way) Organic (not synthetic) Integration (not interruption) Being Everywhere (not just in your domain)
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4. Building a Community in 3-Months and Driving Registration to Launch Event Virtual Launch Event Uber User Video(s) Uber User Group Feb Mar Apr “ Ask the Expert” Event Social Media Buzz Tracking Influencer Outreach PR/Blogger Outreach Social Media Release Social Media Widget Interactive 3D Game Cisco Web Uber User Post Cisco Blog ASR Announcement Topic Seeding launch Live Cisco Concert Launch Countdown Uber User Site Teaser Release Environmental/TCO Calculator Mobile Web
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13. Clear & Simple Ensure Accuracy Easy Access Build Community Attention-grabbing Embed Code for Sharing Blogger Outreach via Social Media Release
20. Lessons Learned Fish where the fish are It is OK to show your human side Avoid hidden costs Don’t rely too heavily on agencies or outside “experts” Test, test and test again Emphasize user-generated content Not everything will work Take risks
21. ASR 9000 Launch Continuing the Virtual, Viral, Visual Approach
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23. A New Mantra… Global reach Online reveal Online (addictive) game www.cisco.com/go/edgeques t Pre-launch buzz videos Blogs Source: Cisco Social Media Team VIRAL VIRTUAL VISUAL
29. Traditional vs Social Media Launch Comparison CRS-1 ASR 1000 ASR 9000 Date May-04 Mar-08 Nov-08 Budget $8 Million $1.3 Million $1 Million Tone Traditional Humorous/Higher Risk Humorous/Higher Risk Audience Emphasis BDM Ent & SP TDM/BDM SP Only TDM/BDM Web Impressions 5.9M 8.4M 9M Print Advertising WSJ, NYT, Mercury News – total of 23 newspapers, WW None None Online Advertising Forbes,WSJ,Yahoo, Techweb, CNET, Network World.. CNN, Weather Channel, ESPN, Light Reading, Network World.. Light Reading, Network World, Theatre sites # Countries Reached 100+ 128 116 Physical Events Bay Area, Canada, UK, Asia None None Online Launch Event 1500 viewers 7000 viewers 9100 first look viewers Press Coverage 87 articles, 135 press attended events 245 articles, 1000+ blog posts, 40M+ impressions 250+ articles,44.5M impressions Analyst Relations 34 analysts/14 firms briefed 137 analysts/26 firms briefed 158 analysts from 37 firms briefed Investor Relations No data available 84 Participants - TechTalk 110 participants + 1-1’s Green Factor Physical and online All online All Online
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Notes de l'éditeur
The network uber-user campaign, meant to build buzz in advance, was visited by over 50,000 and created widespread speculation in the social media as what Cisco was soon to announce and attracted over 9,000 registrants from 128 countries. Promotion : Blogs, Emails, Banners, Tell a friend, leveraged social media bookmarking and sharing sites videos posted to YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, Veoh, Meta Café; campaign specific channel views = 1,451 >> Vendor created microsite and videos (Ogilvy); posting videos to YouTube required a human resource
Over 1000 members discussions, videos, wall posts, and pictures promote events (launch event & tournament) “ Which Uber User Are You?” application Badge application – post to your Facebook profile User generated content – Top 20 List – this was the most active discussion topic Promotion : Grass roots invitation via Facebook, social media release, blogs, link from launch page >> There was no cost to create the Facebook group. Plan development included a team of 4 who met on a weekly basis to discuss changes and updates – a 3-month plan was created before the launch of the community. We also leveraged to consultative advice from M80. Changes to group and community management was done primarily by one person and took about 1 hour/week.
Interactive way to learn and have fun >450 unique visitors Day 1 >1,600 unique visitors Week 1 Tournament of Aces: 5/5-6/20 40K players from 5/5-6/13 Podcast had over 1000 listens 35+ press/blog pick-ups >> Somnio created the game – there were 3 people on the Cisco team including an IT representative to test security and to integrate into Cisco customer database.
The Second Life activities for this launch drew the largest crowd in Cisco's history in that virtual world, including six reporters with multiple interviews following the “main stage” presentation. Feedback from attendees with one summing our presence as: “Cisco gets it.” benefits come to life in 3D environment Pre-launch: Hosted a live concert – 8 bands in a 7 hour period (drew 250 avatar) Multiple press interviews in 2L Machinima video >603 views Launch Day – hosted live event with 80 avatars (largest in Cisco history) Presenter introduced the router – 6 reporters Provided guided tour of live experiences In-world briefings with 2 nd life media Promotion : Cisco blog, invitations to user group subscriptions, Twitter (Text 100), Machinima – PR pitched to 2 nd Life Media (bloggers), Pre-launch countdown clock – tunnel was sprinkled with info on the evolution of data content (hinting at what we were going to talk about) Why Second Life? > Most widely used virtual world for our audience > We look at it as a collaborative tool - have discussions and exchange ideas - reduce carbon footprint > Our customers have also formed their own user group in second life >> All internal resources. We have on Second Life developer and two leads on the project management side.
Interactive tools were quoted in press and blog reports Help drive key launch messages
Widget: >11,000 unique views Week 1 / 35K+ in first month Promoted on Cisco.com and embedded in Social Media Release Embed code allows for sharing - picked up by bloggers including Network World Widget Blades included - Video player, Image library, Literature and what’s new >> Somnio created the widget using Cisco guidelines and branding requirements.
Posts on both The Platform Blog & SP360 Blog Posts were done both in text and video pre-launch, at launch and post launch Blogger tracking of tonality and influential bloggers - Blogger outreach starting in April >> Blog entries were submitted by a number of people involved in the launch both in text and video.
>30 articles written Overshadows Juniper product announcement Rampant blog buzz Sampling: Light Reading chat room: “…in this case Cisco has a big chip, now all we need is some salsa :-/ … seems like Cisco is taking Juniper’s lunch money this time.” More than 45 business press articles, 200 trade press articles and 1,000 blog entries resulting from launch activities. >40 million impressions
By providing official multimedia elements and basic news facts, without spin, the company that issues a news release can ensure that what gets “out there” is at least the accurate content. Two press releases (traditional, social media) Three feature articles 45 articles written Day 1 >250 articles written Week 1, generating >40M media impressions Sampling: Bloomberg.com: “Cisco Debuts Router That Handles Work of Six Machines” Light Reading: “Cisco Takes Hold of the Edge” The Register (UK): “Cisco takes routers to the edge-Green-wrapped box saves planet and destroy rivals” Forbes: “Cisco Seeks An Edge” Wall Street Journal: New Routers Catch the Eyes of IT Departments >> Social Media Release was developed in addition to the ‘traditional’ press release – since much of the information is the same creation time is incremental and done by our PR lead
Seeded discussions for launch day – encouraged pick-up and conversations are fed via RSS on product page Post launch ‘Ask the Expert’ event held May 2, 2008 – tech forum allows for customer interaction and Q&A >> NetPro Technical Discussion forum is an internal resource so there is no cost to participate. Cisco ‘Expert’ dedicates time to respond to questions within 24-hours during a 2-week window of the ‘Ask the Expert’ event.
Front page banner Abbreviated data sheet Product photos >> Cisco already has a mobile web and internal resources to develop new pages so presence on this site required minimal resources.
The Online Launch Event, a television-stylized production, was broadcast four times in a follow the sun approach with 128 countries represented and with the first event generating more attendees than any other online event in Cisco’s history . 128 countries represented >4000 viewers (over 7000 registered) >250 questions Good use of executive time since event is pre-recorded and patched together in editing. So for example, John Chambers is featured in the beginning, middle and end of the launch event but only an hour of his time was required to create this video. >> Event hosted with 3 rd party with live Q&A for each session. Cost to record and edit launch event was still just a fraction of what a live event would have cost.
TelePresence EBCs around the world were scheduled immediately following the launch events with executives >> All internal resources
One of Cisco’s top 5 launches in company history 1/7 the cost and 90Xs the reach
Objective: Build pre-launch buzz; reactivate communities from ASR 1000 Tactics: Integrated social media plan featuring new Tech Edge Weekly mock blog Results: 9,000+ registrations, 40,000+ visitors Best Practices Social Media Plan Integrated Communication Plan for Twitter, Blogs, Facebook etc Monitoring and response process
“ This is fantastic” – Kit Beall -- Client Director Verizon Wireless “ Love it” - Brendan Gibbs (CDO) & Jay Garner -- SEM for USSP “ I shared it with my customer’s CMO…” - Jason Deck with WEP “ Keep them coming. This is sure to attract the right kind of attention for us.“ – Jason Deck with WEP
WHAT : NEW video series designed to clearly articulate ASR9k differentiators WHY : ASR 9k platform competitive ingredients are explained clearly, succinctly and modularly – you can “deep dive” when the customer needs it. Provides entrée for further discussions during the sales process WHO : Service Providers and YOU (field) HOW should you use these? Use them in your presentations. Share them with your accounts Bring these as an ongoing part of your discussions as you showcase that the ASR9k is a platform with many unique ingredients that individually and together distance us from the competition HOW will Service Providers benefit? You showing them. Use them as an entrée to discuss some of the attributes as compared to the competition Available on the website (URL on slide) Upcoming featured marketing Of course, as our sponsor for FY10, you’ll hear about more going forward WHEN : First three (3) available NOW ( www.cisco.com/go/asr9kexplained ) Beautifully Engineered – Power of the ASR9k platform Right on Queue – Traffic Management Intelligence and Excellence Non-Step Content – IOS XR WHAT’S NEXT This is just the first in what we hope will be a long series. Some of the topics showcasing the true excellence of the ASR 9k that are coming in the first quarter of FY10 Visual Quality – focusing on Vidmon and VQE “ Green”/Power … and, more…let us know what you would like to hear!