Challenger brands need pretty shrewd marketers. And when you are competing against a market leader with over 90 per cent of the market, it is unwise to go head to head.
This was the challenge facing Sarah Wright, enterprise programme manager EMEA at network solutions provider Juniper Networks in 2008. Although a market leader in the service provider market, she knew they had to fight hard to make an impression on the market share of Cisco in the enterprise market.
Juniper Networks provides hardware and software offering secure, assured communications over a single IP network. Juniper’s JUNOS is a single operating system to integrate routing, switching, data storing and backup as well as security services.
Because JUNOS is a single, modular operating system that runs across an entire business, it has a strong advantage when it comes to managing and updating network systems. This gave Sarah and her team a unique selling proposition of simplicity and reliability – a compelling positioning for their enterprise users – but they still had to find a way of building a presence that helped them to compete against their larger competitor.
Establishing an advocacy base
Juniper approached Base One because they needed a platform to introduce JUNOS and establish it as a competitive alternative to market leader Cisco. They required a means for users to learn about JUNOS products and engage with other users. And this communication needed to be in keeping with the key strength of JUNOS: its simplicity.
The combined team of Base One and Juniper realised early on that this simplicity gave Juniper an advantage. It meant that its user base – whilst smaller than that of Cisco – was extremely loyal and knowledgeable of the advantages that it offered. What Juniper needed was a way to leverage that excellent reputation and gradually raise their profile in enterprise sectors. The answer lay in social media, and more specifically in the idea of building a JUNOS-focused online community.
Welcome to the community
Juniper wanted to engage JUNOS users outside their businesses and make them advocates for JUNOS, then train these users to become certified JUNOS specialists, thus addressing the perceived shortage of technical JUNOS skills in the market.
Base One therefore planned and built JUNOS, a microsite that delivered videocasts complete with presentations, application sharing and interactive Q&A sessions each month with JUNOS experts. JUNOS users and experts shared the community, exchanging views and tips on how to get the best out of their installation.
In addition, a remote lab was built, providing targeted accounts with exclusive access to Juniper technology so that they could try before buying. User interaction and feedback was encouraged throughout, adding user-generated content to the information already provided.
Reaping the benefits
Before long, JUNOS was buzzing with activity. The natural enthusiasm for the product – which was already well thought of for its simple, effective design when compared to the more unwieldy alternative of Cisco – was nurtured and used to encourage others. The result was that Juniper had created an online community that had three key benefits:
- It increased the (already significant) advocacy levels within the JUNOS user base increasing customer retention
- It helped more networking professionals to gain professional accreditation for JUNOS equipment, which addresses the JUNOS skills shortage – one of the key selling points that Cisco had over Juniper.
- It provided a flagship online destination for Juniper. Any competitive customer visiting the site would be left in no doubt about the effectiveness of the product and the support provided to its customers.
Alongside the building of the microsite, an ongoing email campaign was implemented to inform JUNOS customers – and curious Cisco users – of what was happening at JUNOS. The emails promoted the site’s various sections and things like upcoming live events. In addition, there were some more attention grabbing email campaigns, such as one offering free copies of a JUNOS networking book known as the networking ‘bible’ amongst technical audiences. The launch of JUNOS was also announced with a printed DM and email campaign.
From 600 to 10,000 users in nine months
The first email, inviting JUNOS users to register on JUNOS, generated 600 responses. Due to the viral effect of the activity, JUNOS now has more than 10,000 active users, including many who predominantly use Cisco equipment.
An additional effect of the campaign has seen it double the number of certified JUNOS technicians amongst Juniper’s most significant customers. Work is also now underway to create a parallel ‘J-Central’ resource for resellers. “I do not believe Juniper has ever run a more successful campaign in its history,” says Sarah Wright, enterprise program manager EMEA at Juniper. “From an initial database of 2000 contacts, we now have a vibrant and active community of over 10,000 users worldwide.
“We have seen an emormous viral and social effect from the campaign with the website, mailing pieces and offers appearing on blog sites, Linked In Groups, Twitter feeds and just being forwarded by colleagues and friends without us having to do anything at all.”
The campaign received further recognition in November 2009, when it was nominated at the B2B Marketing Awards as the most effective in its class.
