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In the fall of 1998, Cisco Systems approached Ken Kragen to help capture world attention at the Telecom Conference in Geneva the following year. Cisco needed a dramatic and unique marketing event to increase global brand awareness and differentiate it from its competitors. Cisco's internal marketing team had developed several concepts, but they needed to be more compelling to capture the industry's imagination and the worldwide public.
Kragen immediately developed the idea of staging an unprecedented global charity event, merging Cisco's Internet technology with the United Nations' war on poverty. In one marketing strategy, Cisco would gain visibility, brand awareness, and market share—an unprecedented concept at Cisco.
United with Cisco’s dedicated and talented professionals, the team invested a full year in organizing and staging a genuinely significant and defining event for the Millennium. Cisco willingly increased its initial commitment of $3 million for a 'new' marketing event to $27 million for NetAid.
The 'NetAid website was launched in September 1999 by three of the world's most powerful and influential leaders: President Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Nelson Mandela. A month later, significant concerts were staged at Giant Stadium in New Jersey, Wembley Stadium in London, and the Palais de Nations in Geneva. The events were broadcast on television and radio in 150 countries worldwide.
The effect on Cisco proved to be significant and long-term. The return on investment realized from this single event far exceeded the expectations executive management thought possible by a marketing strategy. Perhaps equally important is Cisco and its executives' long-term commitment to this compelling world issue.
"Nothing like this has ever happened before. NetAid represents a defining moment for the Internet. The talented producers who put together the creative side of NetAid are the spark that ignited the phenomenal chemistry of this project. The power to end extreme poverty is now online."
"Nothing like this has ever happened before. NetAid represents a defining moment for the Internet. The talented producers who put together the creative side of NetAid are the spark that ignited the phenomenal chemistry of this project. The power to end extreme poverty is now online."
— John Chambers, President & CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. (1989)
— John Chambers, President & CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. (1989)
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