All: Bay's stealthy media strategy:
The following is an article from the December 15 issue of NetworkWorld.
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Bay's stealthy media strategy
By Kevin Tolly
W hether launching a new product line or unveiling a new strategy, vendors desperately need a "buy in'' from the press/analyst
community.
After all, the reaction from this influential group is critical and could make or break a new project. All prudent vendors carefully
develop strategies to make the most positive impact on the press/analyst community.
But now, Bay Networks has come up with a masterstroke. The company is trying to achieve buy in through a "buy up''
strategy. In the past few weeks, at least four visible members of the press/analyst community have been lured away from
prominent, vendor-neutral industry jobs and now are Bay employees. There, they'll be working in areas such as analyst
relations and strategic competitive analysis.
Directly, or one-job-removed, these recent hires hail from firms such as Gartner Group, TeleChoice, Network World and Data
Communications. Pretty impressive.
This is not chance, nor is it simply a trend. This clearly is a strategy unfolding. But what is the strategy? There are several
possibilities. First, Bay may have considered this august group to be thorns in their side. Hiring these folks away effectively
neutralizes them and eliminates any possibility that they might have a negative impact on Bay. I don't think this likely is the
motivation.
Most likely is that these "ultimate insiders'' were hired to help Bay achieve the kind of success in gaining media mind share that
Cisco has had over the years. Collectively, these folks (and there may be more I've not heard about) potentially are a powerful
weapon in Bay's media arsenal.
Think about it. These people have spent the last several years being briefed by all of Bay's competitors. They have studied the
firms and have contacts inside most, if not all, of them.
They know what works when companies try to influence media types. They've been on the receiving end of both highly
effective and badly botched media strategies. And, perhaps most important, they have access. This is critically important.
They have access to all their old colleagues. And I don't just mean at their old firms. The press/analyst community cuts beyond
just that. Before Bay can get its message across, it has to get media types to listen. That just got a lot easier.
Because of their backgrounds, they are likely to be perceived as being more authoritative than others in their position. And, one
wonders, will their former colleagues go easier on them?
So what does this mean? Network managers would do well to be sensitive to any changes in the media perception of Bay in the
next six months. The changes might be subtle but profound. Make sure you ignore the fluff and look for hard facts and solid
reasons for what is being stated.
Executives at Bay's competitors should add an agenda item to their next meet-ing. These recent events need to be studied
closely and followed over the next few months. Vendors that have been lax in building an aggressive and well-focused media
strategy may find it a lot more difficult to compete with Mr. House in 1998.
Tolly is president of The Tolly Group, a strategic consulting and independent testing firm in Manasquan, N.J. He can be
reached at (732) 528-3300, ktolly@tolly.com or at www.tolly.com. |
