Cisco was created in 1984 out of Stanford University. In retrospect, the company was actually founded on the concept of social networking…on the concept of people wanting to be together. A husband and wife who were in different departments, utilizing different computer systems wanted to talk to each other. The multi-protocol router was created in a living room in Menlo Park, CA and Cisco was born.
In 2000, under the leadership of Dan Scheinman, the communications team at Cisco created News@Cisco, Cisco’s news site where press releases were housed and original content was produced.
In February of 2005, we launched our first external blog at Cisco. The topic was high tech public policy. Today, we have too many to count internal blogs and twenty-one external blogs, including our corporate blog, The Platform. (The new blog site launched just this month.)
Cisco, of course, LOVES video. In September of 2007, our Public Relations team started using video for press releases and blogs in earnest. We created the CSCOPR YouTube Channel. We now have over 800 videos and over 1.6 million views of those videos. While the CSCOPR channel remains active, recently, the social media marketing team created an umbrella YouTube channel to encompass the multiple other Cisco channels. You can view that site here.
In February 2008, Jeanette Gibson, then the head of the New Media team in Corporate Communications and now the director of Social Media Marketing at Cisco, asked me to run the CiscoSystems twitter account, as it seemed more appropriate for a PR person to run the “corporate” twitter account. I accepted and we’re now at about 40,000 followers and growing. We now, of course, have multiple “official” Twitter accounts and many, many employees tweeting (see here for our Cisco Social Media Policy and Guidelines for employees.)
In August 2009, we started the “official” Cisco Facebook page. We now have over 100,000 “likes” and growing. We utilize the page to share Cisco news and events and engage with Cisco fans. If you “like” us now on Facebook, you can even get a discount on Cisco Valet or a free Flip Video accessory! (Offer ends soon!)
In November 2009, we started using Ustream for our Talk2Cisco live broadcast series so that viewers could interact real time with Cisco thought leaders.
This month, the Social Media Marketing team created a social media aggregator so that you can get a snapshot of the activity going on in Cisco’s social footprint as well as in our discussion communities. (Follow us, like us…engage with us.)
And, for what’s next, I recently talked to Forbes Managing Editor Bruce Upbin about how Cisco looks at social media and this will give you a flavor of where we might be heading.
Whether creating technologies and solutions, partnering with others, or taking good ideas and making them better, Cisco knows that innovation is the key to survival. Social Media is about innovation and that is what Cisco does better than anyone. Please join us as we continue this journey.
Courage, determination and social media SUCCESS pretty much sums up the recent accomplishments of Shawn Tylka, a Field Marketing Manager for Cisco’s Service Provider group.
Shawn recently traveled to Nepal with WOGO (Women’s Orthopaedic Global Outreach)- a non-profit volunteer organization that responds to the unique needs of women who develop knee arthritis and joint disease but do not have access to treatment in developing countries around the world. WOGO is the newest Operation Walk (www.operationwalk.com), a 16-year old, private, non-profit organization.
WOGO started back in 2009 with five female orthopaedic surgeons who came together to empower, educate and engage women in third world countries -- “moving women from pain to power.”
A toothbrush, some clothes, and a Cisco Flip camera is all Shawn needed to begin her journey.
Here at Cisco, we love hooking up our loyal fans! Currently, we have deals on both Cisco Valet home routers and Flip video accessories through our Cisco facebook page! How do you receive the deals on Valet and Flip? It’s easy! Simply go to the Cisco facebook page. If you aren’t a fan of the Cisco facebook page, you will be directed to “like” the page. Once you click the “like” button, the promo codes for both the Cisco Valet and Flip Video cameras will automatically populate. If you are already a fan of the facebook page, just click on the “Special Offer” tab and the promo codes will be located under both product promos!
To purchase the products with the promo deal, go to the Cisco Valet store and the Flip Video store. Choose the products you wish to purchase and at checkout, type the discount code into the “Coupon” field. That’s it! Simple right?
What are you waiting for? The Valet promo ends on November 1, 2010 and the Flip Video deal ends on November 15, 2010. “Like” the Cisco facebook page and receive your deal now for being an amazing Cisco fan!
Note: Offer only valid for legal residents of the United States who are at least 18 years of age or older.
A major component of my job here at Cisco is to get out from behind my desk to meet with you, our partners. No matter what part of the world I’m in during these meetings, there is always one question I know will always be asked: “What are the latest trends in marketing, and how can I put them to work for my business?”
While I wish I could meet with every single one of you from around the globe, the reality is that I cannot (unless you have a DeLorean with a flux capacitor or the secret formula to human cloning). So I’ve decided to create the Marketing Minute, an ongoing series of short videos designed to help answer the most popular questions that I hear from you.
To start of the series, I’m taking a look at Twitter, one of my favorite social media tools.
The Cisco Facebook page has just hit a new milestone with over 100,000 ‘likes!’ We would like to thank all of our 100,000 fans that have been an integral part of the Cisco facebook community! As the Cisco facebook community manager I want to personally thank all of the fans for helping us reach 100,000 likes. Check out my video below to the 100,000 (and growing) Cisco facebook community and the announcement of our new Cisco SuperFan facebook program!
In honor of our facebook community, we are launching the Cisco SuperFan, a new fan appreciation program to highlight some of most active and engaged fans on our page! Read the details below to see how you can become a Cisco SuperFan!
Do you engage in active discussions on the Cisco facebook page? Comment on different Cisco content? Post photos to the Cisco fan photo section? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you could definitely be in the running to be Cisco’s SuperFan!
The Cisco SuperFan is a continuous program where the most engaged facebook fan is chosen as the Cisco SuperFan. Criteria for becoming a Cisco SuperFan includes:
Volume of comments on Cisco content
Participation and contribution to insightful, engaging discussions on the page
