Anytime you see a market share leader on the verge of a potential loss of reputation equity, it's a rare opportunity for its competitors to go on the offensive and exploit the actual or perceived vulnerability. These days, it has got to be a great time to be a Cisco competitor.
I'm not simply talking about the potential loss of reputation equity based on the recent theft of Cisco's core intellectual property, their IOS operating system, I'm talking about the inherent vulnerability in their entire branding strategy built around their concept of 'self-defending networks'.
Cisco's 2004 brand promise is dependent on the success of their self-defending networks initiative and associated branding campaigns. The basic idea of a 'self-defending network' is that security capability must become an organic ingredient of the network, designed into it at every level. One obvious question for competitors to be asking now is this: "How self-defending can a Cisco-powered network be if it's key operating system is in the hands of international cyber-criminals?" Answer. Not very, so please buy our stuff instead.
But an equally important question and the one Cisco marketers need to be asking themselves is this: 'Was 'self-defending networks' a smart brand promise for Cisco to be making in an age of always-on hacker attacks?'My own view...So glad you asked. It's just plain self-defeating for a marketer of Cisco's stature to lead with a brand promise that is inherently this vulnerable. Didn't their marketing leadership pay attention to the wave of hacker attacks and security guru negative comments on Oracle's 'Unbreakable' ad campaign? I guess not.
But Cisco's problem is more than just a marketing tagline.
When your core intellectual property is stolen, calling into question the underlying brand promise, you want to get out in front of the situation, as did Johnson & Johnson executives during the 1982 Tylenol scare.
To date, I haven't been able to find a single press release issued by the company on this issue of the IOS theft. Here's the Cisco news page.............if you find one that I missed before today let me know. In fact, the theft was first reported on a message board and only later confirmed by the company with the following comment: "It appears that this occurrence was not the result of any exploitation or a vulnerability in any product or service offered by Cisco to its customers, nor do we have any reason to believe that it was the result of any malicious action by any Cisco employee or contractor." Uh no.....but we're talking marketing now so it's not the reality but the perception that counts.
While this is not in the same ballpark as the Tylenol scare (yet), the absence of any corporate communications and pro-active reputation defense that gets out in front of this issue points to an even bigger problem in Cisco's operating culture. The lack of response is particularly problematic when you read commentary like this one from Gartner pointing out the simple fact that the source code theft, while perhaps not immediately dangerous on the scale of a Windows code theft, poses a potential threat to enterprise networks, and recommends IT professionals take defensive actions.
A company driven by a culture of asymmetric marketing would immediately escalate this issue to executive priority status, accept the worst case scenario as fact, speak with candor to the marketplace, self-organize internally across multiple departments, and own the marketing, brand and crisis communications issues arising from this serious breach. It would become a 'self-defending enterprise'. But I don't see that.
So in the absence of a concerted communications strategy driven by a candid operating culture, the industy trade press is left to criticize Cisco for its lack of responsiveness or speculate on the potential outcome.
So what are the back of the envelope lessons for up and coming asymmetric marketers?
Lesson 1: Asymmetric marketers target competitor vulnerability. If you compete with Cisco, GO HEAD-TO-HEAD NOW. Don't miss the opportunity to showcase your security products or network infrastructure in this time of vulnerability.
Lesson 2: Don't do product attribute-based branding, like 'unbreakable' or 'self-defending'. Instead, sell an intangible vision of the future with related emotional association like Microsoft's 'potential' campaign. It leverages what Sun Tzu calls 'formlessness'. Harder to attack in a crisis.
Lesson 3: Murphy's law is operating alongside Moore's Law and Metcalfe's Law. Asymmetric marketers are prepared for massive uncertainty and activate their operating culture to defend their reputation in all potentially damaging circumstances. Cisco has not done this, or if they have, it's invisible. Hey I'm here to help so call me Mr. Chambers before one of your competitors does.
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