Technology Marketing in India Cisco goes Mobile

Even Technology Companies have realized that a great product is not the only basis for success you also need to market it well and Sify Reports on how Cisco is targeting SMB's in India's hinterland by direct targeted marketing to them thus creating an experience for their customers
Cisco India's mobile Network on Wheels mobile van has been criss-crossing the country for the last one-and-a-half years playing the messiah, consciously targeting the small and medium business (SMB) units in various industrial locations - first creating awareness on the benefits of technology and then spreading knowledge about its core solutions so that they can leverage the power of networking technology for business growth. Some of the solutions aboard the van are technologies for security, wireless mobility, unified IP communication and conferencing.
A chunk of Cisco's marketing budget goes into SMB marketing, as the company believes one needs marketing to reach this set of customers. While Cisco's networking solutions are well known in the high- (with the likes of Infosys and Wipro) and middle-end user markets, it is the small and medium enterprises which pose a challenge. The SMB market is diverse, scattered and hard to reach. It is also largely ignorant about how technology can make a difference to their businesses. And this is the market that Cisco is keen on tapping.
It is estimated that there are 7.5 million SMBs in India and much of this segment is not aware of the productivity benefits that technology can bring to them in terms of profitability and business. Of this 7.5 million, Cisco's addressable market around 700,000 business units which the company thinks can benefits from its solutions. As of today, Cisco sells to less than 3 per cent of that addressable population.
The NOW programme was kicked off in May last year and the van has so far covered around 3,000 SMBs across the country, with a special focus on tier-2 and -3 markets. The NOW van has every conceivable technology relevant to the SMBs including the IP phone, other collaborative tools that integrate voice mail and online conferences and enable exchange of documents, solutions for Internet security, mobility and communication.
The NOW van has travelled to 25 cities including New Delhi (NCR), Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Karnal, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The van will cover key industrial cities in the South including Kochi, Coimbatore, Madurai and Pondicherry. The van is taken to industrial clusters, individual premises and to technology events which Cisco is organising. Our target is to reach 15,000 customers in every city, town and neighbourhood by July 2008. Of course, we will continue the programme in perpetuity along with our 1,500 odd channel partners.