Brand Real: How Smart Companies Live Their Brand Promise and Inspire Fierce Customer Loyalty

CHAPTER FOURLEVERAGINGPORTFOLIO VALUE

I confess that I liked “The Human Network,” Cisco’s short-lived consumer brand campaign. I also confess that I liked the campaign mostly because I have a nerdy fondness for actress Ellen Page. There. I said it. You know. My wife knows. And if Ellen ever reads this … well, a guy can dream. But aside from my schoolboy crush on the Oscar-nominated actress, I’ll admit that it was hard to understand how she fit as a face and personality for the Cisco brand. It seemed Cisco hoped Ellen would show us how the brand was integral to everyday life, but to most consumers Cisco was a brand stamped on a box sitting on a rack tucked away somewhere in an IT closet. When “The Human Network” debuted, you weren’t likely to ...