New logo and global campaign aimed at 'mass appeal'. Cisco Systems, the $28.5 billion networking equipment major, is planning a global rebranding campaign to gel with the consumer segment this October.
The campaign includes online, print, and television ads; billboards at sporting events; product placement in movies and TV shows; and a new logo with Cisco printed in red and an updated version of Cisco's trademark -- the Golden Gate Bridge image.
"The new branding campaign aims to broaden our reach and generate awareness of our role with end users in all of our markets including the enterprise, commercial, service provider and consumer space and also help to broaden this understanding of our role in how the next evolution of networking will help collaboration. This would be true for India too," a company spokesperson said.
Cisco has always been perceived as a boring networking company -- with bridges (its current logo sports one) and routers. But for the last few years, it has had its eye on the consumer market.
The company, which has a spate of acquisitions (acquired over 100 companies) to its credit, hopes it can gain success in the consumer electronics and entertainment market with this rebranding exercise.
Since 2003, Cisco entered the consumer electronics business with the Linksys acquisition, then Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9 billion (a cable set-top box maker); Sipura Technology (maker of Net phone products); and Kiss Technology(maker of network-based DVD and DVR -- digital video recorder -- players).
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Linksys introduced the Kiss DP-600,
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