Network equipment maker Cisco Systems aims to make its way into
Chinese consumers' living rooms with consumer-oriented gear and
services, which could generate a new revenue stream for the US tech
giant.
Cisco mainly makes routers and switches, which direct the
Internet and e-mail traffic and form the backbone of the worldwide
Internet networks.
Although it was ranked 77th in Fortune 500 this year, the firm
is much less known by average consumers as other brands, such as
Apple, Microsoft and Nokia, as it is perceived as mainly a
corporate technology vendor.
Susan Bostrom, chief marketing officer of Cisco, said in an
exclusive interview with China Daily yesterday that Cisco needs to
refashion itself as a more consumer-oriented company by changing
the way consumers communicate with each other.
"If you look back to 1990s, it's really about getting
connected," she said. "But now it's about the power of end-users.
We need to create human networks."?
Cisco has been on a buying spree, acquiring a number of
companies making consumer electronics devices including set-top box
maker Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9 billion.
Cisco now hopes gear such as set-top boxes, wireless networked
DVD players and video services could help it woo average consumers.
"Now the work-life environment is much blurred," Bostrom said.
The consumer-oriented approach would help Cisco tap into China's
booming consumer electronics market, the world's second-largest,
second only to the United States, according to the Development
Research Center of the State Council.
US researcher IDC forecast the market would hit $15 billion by
2008.
Cracking the consumer market will be a tough challenge for Cisco
as its brand awareness among average consumers remains low.
The firm is now launching a global marketing campaign to promote
its brand in the consumer space, which industry observers estimate
will cost more than $100 million.
Part of that would be poured into China. Cisco has already
conducted some interactive campaigns in some Chinese digital
communities.
The campaign, with a theme of "Welcome to the Human Network", is
aimed at rebranding Cisco and making networks more relevant to
people, according to Bostrom.
"We will make network capacities more visible to average
consumers."
The popularity of Cisco's Linksys-branded wireless routers in
Chinese households might give Cisco a leg-up.
The much-hyped Wi-Fi networks have been slow in catching on in
China's public spots unlike Western countries.
But they are popular in Chinese households as many are using
wireless routers, with Linksys being one of the preferred brands,
to set up home networks to link computers and other devices.
Linksys, a division of Cisco, mainly serves consumers and SOHO
(small office/home office) users.
(China Daily June 29, 2007)