For 30 years, Cisco has built a reputation in the tech industry of being steady. They’re a safe bet. They stay true to themselves and are conservatively secure to the point of never needing to step outside of the box. When you’re as stable as any other tech company in the world, why shake things up?
Last month, they shook things up.
Companies like Redbull, Tesla, Apple, and Zappos are hip and in touch with the younger generation. Proctor and Gamble has entered the viral marketing arena with their “Old Spice Man” campaign. Now Cisco, the steady tech giant, has gone out on a limb and brought a 6’7″, rapping, tweeting, dunking, vlogging intern into the mix, pushing him to the forefront of their own viral marketing efforts.
Greg Justice, the self-proclaimed “World’s Most Interesting Intern”, doesn’t fit the corporate mold that Cisco has established. That’s the point. The company has been stale for years with limited press and even more limited conversation surrounding them. Justice is here to change that.
Just over a week after coming on board in mid-June, he released this rap as the first step towards proving his claim:
Ep. 1: “I Am The World’s Most Interesting Intern”
The response has been strong with over 70,000 views and 173 likes on YouTube. The response that they’re hoping for, from Justice himself, is a challenge to any who want to stake a similar claim:
“Post a video response if you think your internship is more interesting…or if you think you’re better than me.”
One thing will be clear once you watch videos 2, 3, and 4 below: he’s in touch with what’s hot right now. With references to Pete Cashmore, Justin Bieber, and even the infamous double-rainbow guy, Justice seems well on his way to bringing Cisco into the Web 2.0 buzz machine.
Ep. 2: “World’s Most Interesting Intern (Vegas)”
Ep. 3: “World’s Most Interesting Intern (HealthPresence)”
Ep. 4: “Double Rainbow: World’s Most Interesting Intern”
Justice will be our guest tonight (July 22, 2010) on the Social Blade Show at 7:00 PM Pacific.
About Cisco
by Erin Ryan
What began as an experiment of connecting detached networks, from computers within Stanford – beginning with bridges than routers, the creation of Cisco Systems was born in 1984 by Stanford University Scientist students Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner. However, in order for their idea to come to life and for networks to truly intertwine, they needed a technology to be invented that could deal with the disparate local area protocols and with that innovative thinking the multi-protocol router was born.
It wasn’t until 1986 when they hired their very first employee; long after a move, a creation of a logo and the first ever .com was created. It was that same year that Cisco began working with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) – with 1,691 Internet hosts that year – to aid with network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers. It was also the year that Cisco forever changed the networking communications industry and the Internet by launching AGS – a multi-protocol router.
In 1988 Cisco had its very first President and CEO, John Morgridge and as a formed business, they celebrated their first company picnic. It wasn’t until two years later on February 6th 1990 that Cisco was available to the public, with an offering of $224 million dollars.
Over the next few years Cisco hired a Vice President, more employees, and gained momentum by opening offices around North America and the World. It wasn’t until 1992, when Cisco.com’s predecessor, Cisco Information Online was launched to serve its customers with an FTP download and bulletin board of known bugs and technical issues. It was also a big year for them, since they earned their first patent Interior Gateway Routing Protocol – a method and apparatus called a gateway that connected networks between computers. Two years later, Cisco launched its first website, gaining 10,000 registrants by years end.
By 1997, Cisco earned more patents and opened additional doors around the world. They also appeared as #332 in the Fortune 500 for the first time and launched a Networking Academy to enable high school and college students to become educated on how to install, design, and maintain computer networks. The following year, Cisco became the first in history to earn $100 billion dollars in a 14 year span.
After 30 years of innovation and having the ability to change with the times, Cisco has done it yet again. With Social Media being an integral community for businesses to take part in, two weeks ago Cisco hired an Intern by the name of Greg Justice.
Having already established Social Networks, they clearly weren’t getting the overwhelming response that they were use to, so they took a bold leap and gave creative control to a younger generation of genius. Justice, in charge of creating vlogs, stepped outside the box, and began rejuvenating Cisco’s name to this generation. Unbeknownst to Cisco and even Justice himself – who wrote a rap about his first 8 days at Cisco – The video went viral, earning shares, retweets, and recognition. This one minute and forty-two second video spawned a fresh look with new eyes upon this 30 year old company that began with humble beginnings.
Today, Cisco has approximately 69,000 employees, yet with the assistance of social media, it only took one employee in 2010, to personalize a business, brand the Cisco name even further, creating a younger feel that was sure to impress Generation Y and all it took was hiring the World’s most Interesting Intern and an open mind.
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