Top 10 global brands

Cisco in the 1980's

The early work on the router was the ability to use multiple routing protocols, i.e., instructions sets to guide traffic. Think of a router as a traffic signal at an intersection. All it does is move traffic forward, to the left, to the right, or stop. That is what a router does. But this is not trivial. Each network has its own address, and it works with a routing protocol. The Cisco router combines those elements and redirects traffic, like a Web Page, or e-mail, or a file or document across a network. It can direct traffic from one location to another; continent to continent, showed little growth in the company, this may have been due to the fact that networking operations were not driving computer sales the way they are now. The two founders Bosack and Lerner were managers of different departments at Stanford University.

The early days were difficult; at times making payroll was a challenge. It was not until 1988 that Donald Valentine was approached that things changed. Valentine was a venture capitalist and agreed to capitalize Cisco. In return he would be given stock ownership control of the company. This meant that the old management team was replaced. First he brought in John Morgridge as President and CEO. Over the next few years, while the Internet grew, the demand for Internetworking devices also grew. Cisco was, as they say, in the right place at the right time.

In 1991 John Chambers joined the company. He was brought in after having done management stints at IBM and Wang Computers. In 1995, however, he was named CEO. This was the beginning of the rise to new levels for Cisco. Since 1995, the company has exploded in growth, and it has been the acquisitions plus the basic R&D that Chambers insisted on that made the product brand a success.

Two things did go wrong. First, the company lost its innovation momentum, as it relied more on external acquisitions for new product development. Over the period 1993-2000, Cisco acquired seventy companies, including Cresendo Communications (1993), Newport Systems Solutions (1994), Network Translation (1995), Netsys Technologies (1996), Net Speed (1998), and Growth Networks (1999), etc. The problem with this strategy, however, is that it isn’t sustainable, as the owners of these smaller companies demand higher and higher premium to compensate them for the risks they assume — Cisco end up paying top prices for Net Speed and Growth Networks acquired at the peak of the high-tech bubble. Strategic acquisitions further end up being dilutive to existing stockholders when paid with the issuing of new stock — that’s how Cisco ended up with 5.5 billion shares.

Another survey, this time by Global by Design, ranked the Cisco brand as the Best Global Enterprise Technology website worldwide. This scorecard was done within a group of similar sized peers, including IBM, Xerox, SAP, Intel and Oracle, amongst others.

In another study by the same group the Cisco brand came out in the top 5 list for 2013. The reasons: a “global template that is flexible enough to support local content and promotions,” 40 international languages, and the support of locally relevant social networks. What works for Cisco customers in South Korea works equally well in South Dakota or Southampton.
Mark Yolton, VP of Digital, has been leading the charge within Cisco Marketing to deliver “a company-wide next-generation digital strategy” across all digital channels. Judging by the results outlined here, his strategy is paying dividends.

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HISTORY