Cisco Systems’ employee-generated talent brand efforts deliver the social media goods

Cisco Systems has once again won first place in the “Social Media Campaign of the Year” category of PR Daily’s 2018 Digital PR & Social Media Awards.

Cisco uses employee-generated content as the exclusive source of posts across multiple social media channels. In fact, there’s a waiting list of employees who want to participate in the Snapchat takeover component of the organization’s talent brand strategy. A series of contests boosts the level of employee contributions.

The organization also takes advantage of serendipitous opportunity: During an executive “Ask Me Anything” session, one employee asked if Cisco could celebrate Star Wars Day (May the 4th); the executive agreed, assigned an executive sponsor and tasked the talent brand team with maximizing the organization’s Star Wars Day activities. 

Cisco revived an earlier contest with the added #Maythe4th hashtag. Through a partnership with NASDAQ, some entries appeared on the exchange’s Times Square signage. The campaign also featured a Facebook Live broadcast with some New York employees in the NASDAQ studios in Star Wars gear, Snapchat stories from Times Square and Cisco’s New York City office, Instagram Stories and the organization’s first Instagram Live.

#WeAreCisco trended on May 4, with the campaign producing 3.6 million impressions. Earlier, the first round attracted more than 1,300 employee entries, which served as fodder for more than 25 blog posts. In addition, 25,000 visits to the career site led to 130 applications for a Star Wars-themed (and not real) Jedi Knight job, 35 of which were new to the system. 

Congratulations to Cisco’s Macy Andrews, Carmen Collins, Casie Shimansky, Dana Christensen, Helen Gall and Monique Rose.