Cisco is abandoning its languorous TV ad spots, with their haunting music and multi-cultural tableaux. In their place will be much-faster-paced ads touting how businesses can use Internet technology to make themselves more responsive, efficient and, presumably, profitable.

Print ads for the new campaign, around the slogan "Discover all that's possible on the Internet," have already begun appearing in national business publications. Television spots begin airing Monday night.

Cisco marketing officials say the "Are you ready?" campaign boosted awareness of Cisco's name significantly. Indeed, the campaign spawned imitations by other tech firms that typically don't sell to consumers.

But the world and Cisco's place in it have changed. The Internet is now more of a necessity than a novelty. The Cisco name is well-known. The old campaign had "started to get stale," says Ms Jere Brooks King, a Cisco vice-president for world-wide marketing. The new campaign attempts to go from "brand awareness" to "brand relevance."

"We're at the point where people are saying, 'Enough already! We are ready. Show us how,' " Ms King says.

Even the target audience is different. In the past, Cisco aimed marketing at computer professionals who ran corporate networks and buy most of its gear.

Now, it is aiming at chief executives and other board-room types who set corporate strategy. So expect to see the spots most often on sports programming, news shows and what Ms King calls "appointment television," popular dramas such "ER" and "West Wing."

The new TV ads, created by GMO/Hill, Holliday, Cisco's longtime agency, are most remarkable for their change of pace. In place of slow music and scenic backdrops, the new ads feature fast-forwarded video, upbeat piano and voice-over narration about decidedly down-to-earth business problems, such as inventory management and growing a small business.

One ad shows a caller waiting endlessly on hold. "Your service reps are overwhelmed," the narrator says, as the video fast-forwards across a sea of cubicles and computer terminals. "Integrate the Internet into your call center and go from providing customer support to creating customer delight," the narrator continues, as the once-frustrated caller smilingly closes a laptop computer.

One subtle advantage of using narration, according to Ms King: lower translation costs. Cisco will create 10 different versions of the TV spots, including British English and Quebecois French. For the old spots, Cisco had to train the actors to say, "Are you ready" in different languages, or re-shoot the commercials with different actors. In Japan, the old ads were subtitled.

While the complement of languages is unchanged, Ms King says Cisco plans to spend more of its $100 million-plus annual advertising budget overseas.

Cisco is increasing its advertising spending 50 per cent in the fiscal year that began in August, with all of the increase going outside the US.

Spending inside the US will drop to one-third of the total, from one-half.The pitch towards the board room is consistent with the themes sounded by Cisco Chief Executive Mr John Chambers in recent speeches. Mr Chambers says he sees more CEOs, and fewer techies, on sales calls these days. He has also been expanding a Cisco unit that offers no-fee consulting to companies on how to use the Internet to streamline operations.

Ms King says one goal of the new campaign is to improve the integration of Cisco's marketing. Cisco didn't use the "Are you ready?" theme extensively in print. But the new campaign will appear on TV, in print and online. The "Discover all that's possible" line even appears on the cover of the annual report, which is being distributed to shareholders this month.

That move wins applause from Mr Gary Singer, co-head of the branding practice at consultancy McKinsey & Co. "To build a strong brand, you have to deliver it consistently," he says. Mr Singer says Cisco may not be taking a big risk in jettisoning a successful campaign, particularly in the fast-changing Internet world. "If you have compelling business and strategic reasons to change, that counters the risks of giving up the equity you've built up over time," he says.

The Wall Street Journal