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.
Most, if not all, of the tag lines, slogans and messages below are intended to address the new market dynamics that have developed under the umbrella of SDN, NFV and ICT. They represent just some examples of the new tag lines and slogans that we have noticed through the year. Most are self-explanatory, and can be grouped based on those that address service velocity, new network possibilities, the need to change traditional organizational thinking, time being of the essence, the need for solutions not simply technologies, or the need to forge more collaborative vendor – operator partnerships.
Service Velocity: “at the speed of ideas”, “moving at internet speed”, “a Digital Tsunami is on its Way…”, “on the brink of a networked society”.
New Possibilities: “Expanding the human possibilities of the connected world”, “increasing role of telecoms in society”, “the Networked society”, “Thinking Ahead”, “Changing the Game”, “Unlocking possibilities with the power of information”, “The Internet of Everything”.
Organizational Change Needed: “Building the right culture”, “One Juniper”, “Empathetic and willing to listen”.
The Here and Now: “TOMORROW starts here”, “Tomorrow Never Waits”, “Reimagine. Reinvent. Reignite”.
Solution Level Tags: “Leading Provider of High-IQ Networks and Best-in-class Cloud Builders”, “enabling the programmable world”, “Ultra Broadband: Foundation of the New Digital World”, “ICT transforming all industries”, “Mobile money”, “CGO” (Cool, Green and Open), “the Intelligent Transport Network”, “the Coriant Transcend SDN Solution”, “Building the Virtualized Scalable Network”.
Vendor – Operator Relationship: “Building Strategic Partnerships with Telcos in ICT Transformation”, “the Trusted Partnership”, “Approachable Leadership”.
For 2015, expect to see more in terms of new tag lines that continue to sharpen the focus on network and operator transformation toward obtaining ICT goals, as well as an elevated awareness of the need for vendors and operators to continue to dialog to communicate their needs (operators) and solutions (vendors) in order to satisfy the next chapter in the networks’ evolution toward delivering the services that enable operators to reach their goals whether ICT-based or not.