Cisco Systems Case

Building a brand in a business-to-business (B2B) context is different, in some ways, than building a brand in a business-to-consumer (B2C) context because B2B purchases perhaps matter more that B2C purchases. Forbes.com article, Why B-To-B Branding Matters More Than You Think, uses the example that if the consumer buys a tube of toothpaste and does not like it that consumer could buy a different brand. But, if a company buys the wrong turbine that company’s earnings could suffer for years and someone could be out of a job (Claye, Crawford, Lehman, & Meyers, 2013). This same article discusses a 2012 survey of 700 executives with considerable influence on supplier selection in the United States, Germany, and India which revealed business buyers’ use vendors reputations as a short cut to simplify the evaluation process and reduce risks (Claye et al., 2013). Cisco Systems, although extremely successful, decided to build a stronger brand by developing well known partnerships with Sony, Matsushita, and US West to co-brand modems with the Cisco logo for name recognition and brand value (Kotler & Keller, 2012). In 2003, Cisco also launched an international campaign ad targeting corporate executives and used the soft-sell approach to highlight its critical role in a complicated technological system (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Also in 2003 Cisco acquired Linksys which entered them into the consumer segment and they begin offering home entertainment solutions which included wireless capabilities for music, printing, video, and more (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Because of this new market segment, Cisco launched a rebranding campaign to “humanize” itself and communicate its critical role in connecting people through technology and show that it is more than just a supplier of switches and routers (Kotler & Keller, 2012). For Cisco as a B2B, they wanted to be seen as a juggernaut and the most powerful. When they entered the consumer market, it is