Objectives

Juniper Networks partnered with a leading think tank, The RAND Corporation, to conduct research meant to understand the motivations and operations of the hacking community. The result was a first-of-its kind economic analysis of the cyber black market and the impact this had on organizations.

The team focused on three strategic imperatives to execute this truly integrated, global marketing campaign:

Define the cyber security black market: To bring these complex economic concepts to life, Juniper developed a unique point-of-view, drawing an analogy of the cyber black markets to a thriving metropolis. This was then underpinned with strategic storytelling, through the creation of digestible narratives for launch day and beyond, focused on various aspects of the report.

Cross-Platform and Function: The team worked to ensure there was continuity across marketing, PR, government relations, sales, digital and social media which led to a strong set of integrated activities including:

• Global Webinars with Juniper and the RAND Corporation experts

• Dedicated website with built-in lead generation that housed unique content

• Interactive presentation (Prezi) development used to brief media, analysts, and sales team

• Targeted online advertising

• Social media activation, content creation and amplification

• Briefings for policymakers

Global: To ensure strong alignment and results in all of Juniper's key markets, the team translated all the content and materials for use in 10 markets. Recognizing that the most impactful story angles coming from the report would vary for each market, teams from around the globe tailored content for their markets.

Strategy and Execution

The topic of cyber security has never been more prominent given its myriad of challenges to society, businesses, consumers and recently, government. The gravity of today's breaches contribute to the noise in the media and online, making it tough for any leading IT or networking security brand to breakthrough. This was true for Juniper Networks as well.

Juniper partnered with a leading think tank, The RAND Corporation, to conduct research that was meant to understand the motivations and operations of the hacking community, from a 360 degree view. The result was a first-of-its kind economic analysis of the cyber black market. Unlike previous studies, which attempted to quantify the impact of hacker black markets in dollars or merely described slices of the market, the report used widely accepted economic theories to evaluate its structure and maturity, as well as the implications to businesses, individuals and policy worldwide.

A strong set of integrated activities included; webinars, a dedicated website with lead generation, social amplification and media outreach as well as several digital-focused tactics:

• Juniper used Prezi to illustrate the complexity of this market and draw the comparison to a thriving metropolis, using this analogy to highlight its interconnectedness. Through the interactive presentation, viewers were able to see the hierarchical job functions, businesses, schools and even law enforcement roles held by active members of the cyber black market.

• An interactive timeline highlighting notable milestones and hacks over the years was seeded with the community ahead of the report being published to encourage community participation and conversation. By intentionally leaving key milestones off, the community could contribute their own perspective on the history of security hacks.

• The introduction of the term, #hackonomics – which was used consistently across all social platforms.

• A series of deep dive blogs authored by Juniper subject matter experts.

• A collection of graphics to visually illustrate points in the report.

• A pre-briefing with Juniper's Ambassador Community – 25 brand advocates who helped spur conversation and content creation on launch day.

The campaign generated some incredible results:

• 17,000 blog views, 1,250+ executive summary downloads and 300+ total global articles, including feature placements in newswires Agence France Presse (syndicated globally) and DPA (Germany), as well as Financial Times, Economic Times (India), 01net (France), Foreign Policy, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and The Daily Telegraph (UK). It was also the number one downloaded RAND report in the month of March.

• 1,120 webinar registrations from potential sales leads – four times more than the average Juniper security webinar as well as 6,000 visits to Juniper.net and 110 leads from a gated website in the first three days of campaign.

• Juniper's share of voice amongst social and mainstream content online almost doubled to 20.2% from the previous three month average of 10.9%.

• It helped sustain awareness and share of voice at 13% in the months since, at the expense of direct competitors.

Though an unintended consequence, a screenwriter working with George Clooney's production company contacted the team for input on an upcoming HBO pilot on cyber security.

Media