SAN JOSE, CA: Cisco Systems has launched a radio station on its
news channel website, News@Cisco.com, in a bid to boost its position as
a technological innovator and inform customers and the media about its
staff.
Cisco already uses The FeedRoom, a broadband news company, to broadcast
video channels through the website.
Senior executives appear in video presentations produced by Cisco,
discussing a range of technology and business issues the company is
working on.
The radio channel has been added to support the media channel, as well
as to offer in-depth analysis on technology and corporate issues.
'It allows us to go international, because you can't always send video
tours to Europe,' said Gretchen Vogel, editorial manager in Cisco's
corporate PR team.
The News@Cisco site includes radio releases on subjects such as virtual
private networks and storage network benefits.
The radio station was also employed during last week's Comdex Fall 2001
conference, for which CEO John Chambers gave the keynote address.
A radio interview with a Cisco V-P was posted on the website on the same
day, along with a more traditional Q&A.
Vogel said the multimedia newsroom had been a success for the
company.
When it was launched in December 2000, the page had 13,000 hits per
month.
That figure now stands at about 640,000 hits per month.
Cisco has found the site beneficial for matching senior managers with
appropriate press interviews.
Cisco sends media outlets video examples of executives in action to
demonstrate their appropriateness for certain interviews.
'We also see Cisco showing other organisations how to use high-bandwidth
services, under-scoring the business model that Cisco uses for its own
customers,' said Vogel.
