Summary Bullets:
• Rebranding: Multiple telcom vendors have rebranded themselves this year (some significantly more than others), but does this really help them grow mind share, while tag lines evolve.
• Targeted Messaging: It’s obvious that as market dynamics change, so finding the right messaging is critical, although too often new phrases and acronyms are invented to recast the same old concepts.
Over the past year, nearly all traditional service providers, as a group, have endorsed the idea of transforming their networks in order to capture the benefits that are promised by a more agile and flexible platform, enabling them to provide XaaS (Anything as a Service) to grow revenues and shake the somewhat “stodgy” telcom image. Network vendors have picked up on this theme of network transformation, and positioned their products, through messaging, to provide this transformation. Analysts typically evaluate, in great detail, the meaning and impact of new product capabilities and features provided by vendors, but we seldom apply the same rigor to a vendor’s messaging and positioning which has been designed to capture the eye of the operator. This blog does not provide detailed messaging analysis, but highlights some interesting new branding, tag lines and positioning that show that the vendor community is well aware of the need to market their wares in a vastly different fashion than the old “speeds and feeds” model from bygone days. Continue reading “Corporate and Product Rebranding – Useful or a Convenient Diversion and Just a Costly Expenditure?”