Webex is going big with new aspirations, skills, brand, and a campaign

Cisco Webex

Cisco

Cisco’s goal for Webex is to be the leading collaboration brand. The “Webex Suite” is said to be the “most comprehensive communication platform, the most cost-effective as well as the most reliable and secure tool for collaboration”. Aggressive? Yes. And today Cisco made numerous, bold announcements about the platform that I found very interesting, that I believe will increase customer value and offer even more competition in the collaboration market.

The company officially announced the rebranding of Webex, a new campaign that added new features to what is now called the “Webex Suite” and improved the price of many of its newest products. The renaming will change the nomenclature from Webex to Webex by Cisco, but I believe this business decision goes much deeper than just updating a name and logo and committing to a new marketing strategy like I see some companies do. The future of hybrid collaboration is primarily driving the decision to rename the company’s collaboration platform as we continue to have the experience of working with both office and remote workers at the same time.

Product innovations

I think Cisco is taking this rebranding very seriously. Nothing reflects that feeling more than Cisco’s goal of being the most popular brand in the collaboration. The collaboration market is an excellent market for Cisco to focus on because it is one of its core competencies. I admit I have questioned this at times, but it makes sense to me now, especially seeing that the company is “on it”. Without massive product innovations that offer a significantly improved user experience, the rebranding means little to the customer.

Cisco made the decision to invest in rebranding Webex because it believes hybrid work is possible in the long run. There were a few key metrics Cisco pointed out to help achieve this goal. According to a 2020 Global Workforce study by Dimensional Research, the number of meetings attended by at least one remote participant increased from 8% previously to 98% in the future. Additionally, 87% of executives plan to make changes to their real estate strategy in the next 12 months. Updating the company’s real estate strategy could mean moving from individual workspaces to more collaborative, open environments.

Webex suite

Cisco

With the new launch, Cisco seems to be heavily focused on creating a great user experience for hybrid work, which will be essential as it wants to be the most popular brand to work with. One of the most significant upgrades is the new Webex Suite. Think of this as a unique platform for completing various tasks ranging from calls and messages to polls and events. This version of Webex has added more than 800 new features since September. This included gesture recognition, noise reduction, speech enhancement, custom layouts, open APIs, immersive sharing, and much more. Reading the list, I can see that Webex has improved significantly compared to the previous version. I look forward to using the application for myself soon and providing a more in-depth analysis of its functionality.

Cisco also claimed that the prices for the new Webex subscription are 40% lower than la carte and competitive offers. On the hardware side, Cisco seems to be motivating customers to use their collaboration devices with Webex. Customers can save up to 50% on devices like Webex Desk Camera, Webex Desk Pro, and Room Kit when they have a qualifying Webex contract including the Webex Suite. I like this move by Cisco because it brings businesses into the Webex ecosystem for less and allows them to experience a hardware and software combination that Cisco fully manages. Assuming customers pair Webex with third-party hardware, it’s more complicated to guarantee a great experience. This aggressive pricing structure is a great way to get users on board quickly.

Cisco Webex Cloud Promotion

Cisco

I believe that a company as competent as Cisco can develop a world-class collaboration application, but leading the industry in innovation and being the application of choice for enterprise customers is not going to be easy. The effort Cisco put into new Webex capabilities from the start gives me confidence that the company is ready to fight. Some other big fish in this pond don’t want to lose market share so this is going to be a battle between giants.

renaming

Cisco understands that there are many challenges in branding. The company knows that it needs to increase brand awareness while changing the way the brand is perceived. I believe part of the brand challenge is that many Webex self-hosting customers don’t pay enough attention to quality of service and the experience suffers. I’ve already talked about the innovations and changed cloud pricing, which I think are an integral part of the top collaboration brand.

The new Webex logo looks high quality and modern. The blue-green rotating helix in the logo stands for “the harmonious flow of ideas that arise when people come together at eye level”. I see it as equality between IT and end users. The new branding embodies a deep commitment to the future of Cisco hybrid work collaboration. The company wants its branding to complement any work and acquisitions that went into the new application.

Existing users will be able to see the new logo when the updates start on 15th of June. Starting June 8, new users who download the app will have updated branding on all Webex apps. Updated Webex branding is about changing the focus and perception of Webex while supporting it with a full portfolio of hardware and software for collaboration.

Brand campaign

With this rebranding, Cisco says it will make it big with a marketing push. The brand campaign for this new appearance would not be complete without customer feedback and the focus on premium partners. Customer testimonials need to show, not tell other customers, how Webex is changing and improving the way we work together.

The McLaren F1 Racing Team is at the center of this new brand campaign. Competing at the highest level of Formula 1 racing, the company uses Webex to design and collaborate on its new racing cars; I think that’s cool. Here you can see how the McLaren F1 Racing team is using Webex to collaborate.

Adding a premium partner like McLaren goes a long way in changing how the Webex brand is perceived at a critical time for the company. I am delighted with Cisco’s great initial marketing push and believe partnering with McLaren for its first campaign is a good step.

I admit. I’m a huge F1 fan and can’t wait to see McClaren use Webex when the race takes place in my hometown of Austin at COTA.

Wrap up

I think this is an excellent move from Cisco, and it comes at the right time. I have run all of my business in a go big or stay home mentality and that’s great to see. The collaboration market is more important than ever, and as the shift towards hybrid work continues to spread, this is the right time for the company to do it all. Cisco is deeply rooted in the collaboration market and with its new brand and fantastic product, the future looks very promising.

There is no way I want to make you see the release through pink classes. I have led many large companies and led numerous product marketing teams. There’s a lot of execution and competition between the company that works together to become the most popular brand. I believe Cisco has the hardware, software, services, and many bright minds to do the job. I will continue to follow this rollout closely and look forward to sharing my first impressions of the new Webex Suite.

Note: Moor Insights & Strategy writers and editors may have contributed to this article.

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