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Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KYA27 who wrote (24890)	5/5/1999 11:00:00 AM
From: Freeflight	Respond to of 77400

Associated Press Online - May 04, 1999 17:01 By MARTHA MENDOZA AP Business Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - First they figured out a better way for linking computers together. Then they made a fortune selling it to virtually everyone doing business on the Internet. Now Cisco Systems wants to become a household name. "My mother still thinks I'm working for the food service industry," chief executive John Chambers joked during a speech to local business leaders, alluding to SYSCO, a company that delivers meals to hotels, schools and hospitals. An identity crisis for the third largest company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange? Yes indeed. Cisco is to networking gear what Microsoft is to operating system software, but don't expect your neighbors to know that. A survey of business owners and technology service providers conducted by Cisco found that bigger companies, those with 100 or more employees, knew the name Cisco, but it was obscure to the rest. "One of our goals is to convey Cisco's key role in this new Internet world, and convey the 'urgency' and 'opportunity' behind this change," said Keith Fox, Cisco's vice president of corporate marketing. Cisco was started in 1984 by two Stanford University graduates, Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, who had a plan for connecting computers. Cisco shipped its first router in 1986, and today controls roughly 85 percent of the world's market for routers and switches - which direct data around computer networks. When the company went public in 1990, it had $69 million in revenues and 254 employees. Last year, it had about $8.5 billion in revenue and 18,000 employees. "We're changing the way people work, live, play and learn," said Barbara Beck, a senior vice president in human resources who joined Cisco in 1989. "We see ourselves doing a great thing and making a difference." But Cisco has plans for the future as well. It wants to become a major player in the telecom equipment business, going up against companies such as Lucent Technologies and Nortel. So what to do about that brand-recognition problem? Cisco last fall launched a $60 million worldwide ad campaign - half of which is being spent in the United States - for a series of advertisements. In one TV ad, Cisco takes credit for the World Wide Web. "Virtually all Internet traffic travels along the systems of one company, Cisco Systems. Empowering the Internet generation," the ad boasts. Giving Cisco credit for backing the entire Internet takes "a leap of faith," said Mark Fabbi, research director at the Internet analyst firm Gartner Group, "Clearly they played an important role in helping the Internet roll out, but this is a little bit of marketing hype," he said. To gain further recognition, the company is pushing a marketing program that allows companies using Cisco products to put a small "Cisco NetWorks" label on their television, computer or other device - similar to the "Intel Inside" marketing campaign that Intel puts on computers containing a Pentium microprocessor. And the next step will be getting the world's microwave ovens, pianos and toasters - anything that can hold a computer chip - wired with Cisco's products. "Our vision is to create an Internet ecosystem that will eventually connect everyone to everything," said Don Listwin, the executive vice president heading Cisco's push into the mainstream consumer market. Can it be done? In March, Cisco announced plans to build a $1 billion facility for more than 20,000 workers on 400 acres in a largely undeveloped area of San Jose. "I get pretty pumped up when I talk about our vision," said Mike Volpi, who joined Cisco five years ago and worked his way up to vice president of business development. "It's as much preaching as it is selling."