About the client company
Juniper Networks provides hardware and software that enable secure, assured communications over a single IP network. At the core of Juniper’s offering is JUNOS, a single operating system that integrates routing, switching, data storing and backup as well as security services.
Strategy
Making an impression and getting noticed for offering something different is an ongoing challenge with a giant like Cisco dominating the market. So Juniper understood that the best way for customers and potential customers to really understand how they represent a true alternative to Cisco was to get them to interact with JUNOS and learn about the system. Ultimately, they would go on to gain certifications which would give them confidence when using or recommending Juniper’s unique single operating system.
To achieve this, Juniper’s strategy has been focused on helping their audience reach that proficiency by communicating with them on a regular basis, offering many opportunities for learning, from face-to-face training boot-camps to online live events, from videos from Juniper’s top experts to online live classes and virtual lab environments to safely practise what’s been learned, as well as a solid informational platform.
By engaging their audience with such an interactive programme, Juniper was able to create an army of advocates that understood the system and went on to certify. In doing so they also addressed the shortage of technical JUNOS skills in the market at the time.
Having experienced such phenomenal success with all these activities and especially with the live online events, Juniper wanted to push the boundaries even further and offer users yet another opportunity for learning by giving them the chance to participate to a ‘virtual school’.
The ultimate objective: to gain 100 new JUNOS certifications.
The objective of the campaign
The objective of the campaign was to gain 100 new Juniper certifications.
The added, longer-term value to the business, however, rests in the fact that this initiative gave Juniper yet another opportunity to increase their competitive advantage by establishing an even stronger foothold in the market, thus gaining more ground from the leader.
The Schools also helped to reinforce the already widely felt perception that Juniper is truly dedicated and committed to providing their audience with what they really need. They did this work through the provision of impressive technical expertise, informational and educational platforms and practical tools to help them in making them even better at their everyday tasks.
The target audience
The campaign was aimed at a highly technical audience:
– Network engineers, network managers, network architects, field engineers, technical engineers
– Technical Influencers (with some JUNOS and Cisco certification). This is an audience that does not respond warmly to a salesy approach and quickly switches off when faced with an obvious marketing-styled message. They want practical tools, technical information and educational platforms delivered in a concise and direct manner, online.
Media, channels or techniques used
All communication was carried out via email, and invitations were sent out to all those who had expressed interest in Juniper in the past. A dedicated Summer Schools website was also designed and developed containing everything students needed to help them complete the course and gain certifications, to include: study material, course notes and places to JUNOS virtual lab sessions to ractise what they had learned.
All available places, for all four-course streams, were booked within one hour of the invitation being broadcast!
Those who were lucky enough to enrol were sent out a welcome pack including – among other things – course information, a JUNOS for Dummies book (aka: The technical Bible) and a T-shirt.
Weekly email reminders were sent to all students with details of their own course timetable as well as their personal login, prompting them to book live chats slots with Juniper tutors and encouraging them to take their certification upon course completion. Students were also incentivised with a voucher, entitling them to reduced fees for their final certification exam.
The totally online communication approach was chosen because this was considered by far the best way to reach this very specific audience and because, given the frequency of communication that was necessary for this campaign, it was viewed as also the most costefficient way to reach the ultimate objective.
Timescales of the campaign
Base One had only five weeks for planning, design, copywriting, production and build and development of all that was necessary to support this initiative.
Budgets
The total budget was £50,000. This included scoping and technical specification, data management, digital and account management, creative/design development, copy development, building and testing, for all email communications and microsite, creation and management of online survey, course packs.
Results
The results were fantastic. The original target of 100 certifications was surpassed by 70 per cent. At the end of the courses a total of 171 certifications were achieved. The attendance target was also smashed by 155 per cent in July and 128 per cent in August and the online survey revealed that over 80 per cent of respondents thought the schools ‘exceeded’ their expectations, with zero negative comments received. Given the certification is a very laborious, time-consuming process this was a massive achievement for Juniper and Base One.
Client testimonial
“I really want to thank you for all the time and effort and blood, sweat and tears you put into the Junos project. It will remain for me the most exciting project I ever worked on and the most fun. I really think we changed the game and I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
Sarah Wright, enterprise programmes marketing manager EMEA
