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Netstat -vat by Sean Michael Kerner (bio)

A command line view of IT



The irony of Juniper Networks' new branding

juniper_new.gif
From the 'Competitive Irony' files:

In 2006, networking giant Cisco Systems revamped it's corporate logo and its branding. At the time, rival Juniper Networks, put out its own anti-Cisco branding marketing initiative, printing up T shirts with a press release type letter on the back.

The gist of the letter was that Juniper, unlike Cisco, wasn't going to spend its money on new logos and branding. Instead Juniper (at the time) said it was sticking with what it does best, namely high speed networking.

Well, today three years later, in the midst of the worst economic slowdown of the information age, Juniper updated it logo.

Seems a bit ironic doesn't it?

Three years ago, when the economy was booming they criticize Cisco for spending money on a re-branding effort and now today they do the same thing, albeit in much more difficult circumstances. They've had to eliminate jobs (including a few that I'm aware of in PR) and cut costs, yet they manage to find the money for a corporate re-branding.


juniperwhite.jpgThe former Juniper logo (left), wasn't all that bad, but Juniper is trying to re-invent itself today with new technology including silicon, systems and software.

It makes sense to invest in research and development and that's what Juniper has done. It also makes sense to have a marketing effort to get the market aware of the new developments. So bringing this full circle, even though it is ironic that Juniper is now spending money to rebrand, the timing does make sense.

Make no mistake about it, branding does matter for technology companies. Though speeds and feeds matter, so too does the brand of the company that is making the technology.

In my view, technology brand equity is an equation involving the reality of performance with the perception of value that is inherent in the brand itself.

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2 Comments

John Furrier said:

totally agree with you on the value of the brand. The issue with Juniper is that they are a major underdog in terms of dollars Cisco is 15-1 in cash reserves. What interests me about this positioning is that it's very Spartan-like. Lets see if they can put a big dent in Cisco. It looks like they have the sweet tech and products.

Prem YPI said:

Looks like juniper is going to have a bright future and that is indicative of their aggressive strategy!

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