WHAT'S IN A NAME?, Cisco to start branding service providers' networks

Thanks to aggressive marketing and advertising, most people have heard of "Intel Inside" and "Nutrasweet," even though they are just ingredients in more complex products. Now, Cisco Systems wants to do the same thing for its equipment inside carriers' networks.

Cisco told Telephony it will start an ingredient branding campaign on Tuesday called Cisco Powered Networks, kicking off with full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal and London's Financial Times.

Service providers with mostly Cisco networks can apply to receive kits that include the rights to use a Cisco Powered Network logo in advertising, marketing and collateral materials. Four service providers have already signed up for the program - BT, @Home, CompuServe and Digex.

"Cisco has a very positive name in the routing community. In the Internet industry, they have as close to a monopoly as you can get," said Clyde Heintzelman, president of business Internet connectivity for Digex, the only national Internet carrier to use 100% Cisco gear in its network. "It provides for us a launching of our name with a premier, worldwide, recognized router provider."

Cisco intends to focus first on the business market, targeting information services managers, information technologists and others who make network buying decisions. The kick-off ads are running on the same day as Cisco-sponsored executive service provider forums in Washington and London.

Cisco's plan is to eventually reach consumers as home networking becomes more important, said Keith Fox, Cisco vice president of worldwide corporate marketing. In conjunction with the Cisco Powered Networks campaign, the company has already begun a corporate branding strategy of its name and bridge logo.

Service provider participants in the campaign must meet certain criteria, Fox said. The network must be about 75% Cisco equipment - depending on product lines - and the service provider must buy at least $5 million worth of infrastructure equipment per year.

Service providers will also be required to maintain certain levels of network quality that Cisco will track through customer satisfaction reports and independent research reports.

For CompuServe, meeting the minimum buying requirement was not a problem, said Jason Comstock, group manager for Internet protocol connectivity services at CompuServe Network Services.

The Cisco campaign is another way for CompuServe to strengthen ties between the two companies as well as add Cisco brand name equity, he said. Business professionals with data needs are starting to look at the technology underneath their networks. They want to know about reliability, quality and dependability, and Cisco has a good reputation, Comstock said.

@Home is still figuring out how to best use the brand and marketing but sees the advantages to the concept, said Don Hutchison, @Home senior vice president and general manager for the commercial side of the company. "The Cisco name tends to add credibility - it's a favorable reference," he said. "However, it's not going to make me what I'm not. If I don't follow through with services, a Cisco brand won't help.

"Intel was concerned people didn't realize [its] value inside a PC. They had a pretty specific notion in mind and it worked well for them," he said.

Cisco plans to support its service provider partners with higher levels of marketing and program support, promotion on Cisco's Web site, and later with sustained advertising.