When you think of "Best of the Best" awards,which ones come to mind? Academy Awards, Pulitzer Prize, Critics Choice, FIFA, American Music Awards are just a few that came to my mind. Through music, movies, novels, andother types of pop culture, we have been favoredwitha few lines that will live forever like, "There's no place like home." -The Wizard of Oz, "There is some good in the world, and it's worth fighting for." By J.R.R. Tolkien, and "May the Force be with you." in Star Wars.

In the world of business and technology, which we all know and love, there are Forrester Awards, CRN, IoT Breakthrough Awards, Best Places to Work, and many others. As an organization we always strive to be the best, and we pride ourselves on partnering with like-minded organizations. To this end, in our industry leadingPartner Demand Generation Programfor America's Distribution, we partner with companies who truly understand Account-Based Marketing (ABM).

MRP and A Fluent Vision are just two of these companies. MRP is a leading global predictive intelligence organization that uses cutting-edge predictive analytics. In 2021, the MRP Prelytix tool, which fuels our program, was recognized by the Best in Biz Award for Enterprise Product of the Year -Marketing Software. A Fluent Vision, with its decades-long experience within the channel, helps our 2T partners gain consistency with their marketing, creates effective marketing campaigns that resonate with their audience and produces qualified leads for sales. Their hands-on team of Virtual Partner Marketing Managers are most often the missing piece that completes the puzzle of our partners' marketing infrastructure.

We collaborate closely with these industry leaders in our partner demand generation and marketing enablement program that supports the Cisco 2T Partner community. This program not only provides an incredible value-add to Cisco's 2T partners, but that success is also returned to their associated Cisco Distributor.

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" -The Godfather

Our central demand gen marketing program, which most Cisco Distributors brand and diversify, has a track record of almost five years of success with participation of over 600 Cisco partners and more than 120 of those partners utilizing more than one of the program offerings.

To assist Cisco's 2-Tier partners, this program helps to drive demand and enable their marketing teams. The following four categories outline the capabilities:

• Digital Marketing Analytics lead-generation
  • Utilizing actionable intelligence, customers are identified, targeted, and nurtured through to the purchase stage
  • Thoroughly qualified, warm leads are passed onto the partner's sales team, to be contacted and closed with valuable distribution support
• Marketing campaign management with a partner-dedicated marketing manager
  • Partners receive a dedicated Virtual Partner Marketing Manager that acts as a true extension of the company
  • Customized marketing campaigns, using vehicles like social media, events, email, and others are created and executed together with the partner, resulting in leads for their sales team
• Small Business focused campaign management and enablement
  • A Business Development Manager is aligned to the partner and works in tandem with them to build and implement co-branded, small business focused marketing campaigns
• Additional Distribution-specific programs

There are few programs in existence that so fully enable partners to be the drivers of their own marketing destiny without having to call "shotgun".

"And may the odds be ever in your favor." -Suzanne Collins

As quoted by program user, "This program has provided us the resource necessary to execute highly engaging campaigns that would otherwise not have had the support to be as impactful or successful. Your team has been incredibly helpful in creating nurture streams and other lead nurturing and sales enablement content that also did not have the internal support necessary to execute."

For our 2T partners needing a more drilled-down, segment-focused approach, the program can be targeted for SLED, Commercial and Small Business. As a program that is still growing and evolving, other segments like MSP will be included.

This is what this program is all about and what we hope all our partners feel when it comes to the support they receive from this program. Our motto is Fueling Partner Success, but I always stand to correct it slightly. The Americas Distribution team strives to Fuel Partner Success through supporting Distributors.

While I enjoy having fun with the memorable movie and book quotes, the combined success we have had with the program since its inception and the opportunities it has to offer is what I hope most of you will take with you.

"You can always Phone-a-Friend" -Who Wants to be a Millionaire

Now is the time for Cisco partners and distributors to get involved. There are three ways you can get started:

1. If you would like to learn more about this program,please contact your Distribution Marketing Contactto gain insight into reporting, features, and more.
2. Or, if you think you have a partner that would be a good fit for the program, you cantalk to your Distribution Marketing Contactto nominate them.

We'd love to hear what you think.Ask a question, comment below, and stay connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

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