Juniper Networks has just launched its new MetaFabric Architecture for corporate IT data centers, an architecture that delivers the best of both worlds by supporting Virtual and Physical networks. The release is accompanied by The Data Center Rap Battle – a playful marketing campaign, to show clients that they actually don’t need to choose between the two options.
The integrated marketing effort infuses pop culture into the world of business-to-business advertising. The Data Center Rap Battle is a socially oriented site that centers on a series of verbal bouts between IT geeks, who take to the mic to settle the superior virtues of SDN and Physical networks.
“There is a real fight going on in data centers everywhere but, ultimately, it’s silly and unnecessary,” said Doug Green, Creative Director at John McNeil Studio, the company that created the marketing campaign. “So we decided to have some fun with it and imagined what would happen if HR hired a corporate rap consultant to help them work it out.”
Network Stability vs. Business Agility
Visitors can vote on who won each of four rounds, watch cheeky “behind-the scenes” videos in the Coaches Corner and record their own rap built on a Mad Libs-type script, which they can share on social networks. JMS created animated gifs, memes, downloadable beats and a ringtone for the Data Center site, too.
In one bout, the “Business Agility” of the Virtual network goes mano-a-mano with the “Network Stability” that Physical assures. A second pits the merits of Virtual’s “On Demand” capabilities against a Physical network that’s “Always On.”
The big winner, naturally, is MetaFabric – it delivers the best of both worlds by supporting Virtual and Physical networks. Juniper’s new architecture would enable an open and smart data center that accelerates the deployment and delivery of applications within and across multiple sites and cloud hosting environments.
Creator: John McNeil Studio
Founded in 2009, John McNeil Studio is a marketing hub that fuses a model of constant collaboration with the power of creative solutions to build winning brands. Located in Berkeley, Calif., JMS has a wide range of capabilities along with full-service advertising, including production, design, technology, marketing communication and strategic planning.
Juniper Networks is promoting the Rap Battle site online at WSJ, YouTube, GDN/Search, Ars Technica, Flipboard, Network World, AddThis, Twelvefold and Quartz.
