Cisco was seeking new ways to improve customer relationship management (CRM) efficiency without sacrificing effectiveness. They wanted a solution that would get more out of their marketing, not only reducing the cost of campaigns, but also increasing customer satisfaction through better targeting. Critically, the company wanted to be able to prove that it was achieving this - by linking sales data to corresponding marketing campaigns.

"Atos Consulting has enabled us to construct, process and deploy campaigns far faster then we would have been able to do otherwise. And this market is all about speed."

Ian Redfern, manager, Internet marketing, Cisco Systems, EMEA

Business Challenges

Cisco asked Atos Consulting to help it implement the campaign management element of the solution. A prototype of an integrated eMarketing solution (eMS) was developed based on several proven CRM applications. Atos Consulting assisted Cisco in the initial roll-out and later designed a set of roll-out activities and processes to support a new centralized model.

Since then, Atos Consulting has provided a centralized bureau service to Cisco Systems, which involves supporting business users, providing training on the entire eMarketing suite of applications and delivering all the necessary assistance to marketing managers in planning and executing campaigns. We have helped to roll-out the solution out to eight countries, dealing with integration and customization issues as well as cultural problems and local requirements.

The Cisco eMarketing solution project is a milestone for corporate marketing, proving that a company as large as Cisco can effectively coordinate pan-European marketing while saving time and money. Cisco now runs well-targeted, personalized and continuous campaigns involving a high degree of sophisticated customer interaction. Even better, the costs of running campaigns have significantly decreased, while response rates have rocketed.