LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - January 6, 2010) - At the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Cisco (
Cisco also announced a new Eos partner ecosystem program and new Eos features, including Facebook Connect integration to facilitate audience acquisition; additional customization tools to enable rapid scaling of site launches; site migration tools to transition existing communities to Eos; and member group management capabilities to enhance engagement and monetization.
Cisco Eos is a hosted "software as a service" platform that enables Media & Entertainment companies to more economically create, manage and monetize social entertainment experiences built around their portfolios of branded content.
New Eos Customers:
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Travel Channel has adopted the Eos platform to deploy Web sites built around its portfolio of travel-related content and brands. Travel Channel Academy will publicly launch later this month as the network's first Eos-powered site. Taking advantage of Eos's profile-building and contribution features, Travel Channel Academy fosters a community around aspiring travel journalists and the content they produce.
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All Access Today has started deploying sites for artists such as Willie Nelson, The Gorillaz, Peter Gabriel, Sugarland, JLS, and Colbie Caillat. All Access Today announced that a new, Eos-powered fan site with an integrated fan club for music legend Willie Nelson will launch later this month through http://willienelson.com. Additional sites will publicly launch in the coming months, including a micro-site with digital and physical merchandise offerings for www.petergabriel.com
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The Eleven Seven Music Group/Tenth Street Entertainment is using the Eos platform to super-serve the music management and record group's artists and their fans by providing exceptional up-to-the-moment online experiences. They will launch sites for Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe/Sixx:A.M.) and Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Blondie. These will be followed by other sites from amongst the marketing and content creation companies' roster which includes Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, JET, Drowning Pool and more. As they build their social network, rock fans will have the opportunity to interact with and receive special content from their favorite artists, as well as be the first to be introduced to new music.
New Eos Features:
Cisco announced the availability of Eos 2.0, which includes features such as:
- Facebook Connect integration to make it easier for consumers to share content with their friends, and to facilitate audience acquisition for media companies.
- Member group management capabilities to enable media companies to create and manage user groups (such as "Professionals," "Fans," "VIPs" etc) with tiered or special access to premium content or features. This special access can be used to incent user behavior and deliver monetization opportunities such fan clubs, content subscriptions and exclusive offers.
- Site migration tools to easily and cost effectively transition content, data and users from other software solutions to the Eos platform.
- Integration with several advertising serving and management providers to provide easy advertising implementations to media companies.
- Advanced customization capabilities including a module-building toolkit that enables media companies to modify or create their own site functionality on Eos-powered sites.
- A suite of highly secure, public application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable media companies to integrate third-party applications with Eos to achieve business goals, particularly around creating consumer insight.
In addition, Cisco unveiled initial steps that will be core development areas for the platform in 2010:
- Advanced audience analytics to empower content owners with data to acquire, understand, segment, and target their audiences and optimize premium content experiences.
- Ability to launch localized site experiences to international audiences on the platform.
Introduction of the Cisco Eos Partner Program:
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Cisco also announced the launch of the Cisco Eos Partner Program, an ecosystem program that gives customers access to pre-qualified 3rd parties offering services that can help manage, extend or enhance the entertainment experiences built on the Cisco Eos platform.
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Qualified partners have demonstrated expertise in their service categories and an ongoing commitment to training and development on the Eos platform. The initial categories of services in the program include: Website design, Website development and deployment; and Operations and management.
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The inaugural partners of the Cisco Eos Partner Program include Hot Studio, The Wonder Factory, HCL and Infosys. Additional partners and service categories will be announced in the future.
Supporting Quotes:
- "Technology is creating new and significant opportunities for Media & Entertainment companies to generate revenue and loyalty by engaging online audiences with interactive, social experiences," said Dan Scheinman, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Media Solutions Group. "However, the cost of developing proprietary web platforms is keeping these companies from capitalizing on these opportunities. Cisco Eos can play a key role in enabling media companies to profitably grow online businesses in a scalable, efficient manner."
- "As a content company, Travel Channel works with the right partners and platforms to engage its audiences wherever they are without having to invest in proprietary technology development," said Adam Sutherland, vice president of strategy and business development, Travel Channel. "We have been very successful fostering community on popular social networking platforms and are now excited about incorporating this functionality on our own Travel Channel Academy Web site. The Eos platform allows us to provide tools for our community to contribute, comment and rate content."
- "All Access Today has been building and powering artist Web sites for over 13 years and realized the need for best-of-breed technologies in an ever-changing industry," said Chris Guggenheim, founder and president of All Access Today. "The truth is that the evolution of a now consumer-driven business model requires service providers to offer artists and brands a better system or mousetrap to develop and monetize their fan base."
- "Our relationship with Cisco and the Cisco Eos platform allow The Eleven Seven Music Group and Tenth Street Entertainment to expand our online presence to offer the best content, interaction and overall experiences for the fans, and allows our artists to operate their Web sites at the most sophisticated levels available to anyone," stated Allen Kovac, founder and CEO, The Eleven Seven Music Group/Tenth Street Entertainment. "As a marketing and content creation company, this creates a win/win/win for us, our artists and all of their fans who follow them."
Supporting Resources:
- Read more information about Cisco Eos on CMSG's home page
- See a complete list of Cisco Eos-powered Web sites at http://bit.ly/4OCEfM.
- Read the product data sheet and technology overview for Cisco Eos.
- Check out these Eos screen shots and Web-based vignettes that further explain how Cisco Eos supports media companies and the executives/departments responsible for the delivery of digital and social entertainment experiences.
- Follow Cisco's news and activities on Cisco's DigMediaRev blog, DigItAll Consumer blog, CiscoEos Twitter feed and @CiscoCES.
Technorati Tags:
Cisco, Cisco Eos, Eos Software Platform, Cisco Media Solutions Group, CMSG, Video, , Social Networking, Social Entertainment, SaaS, Media & Entertainment, Digital Content, Dan Scheinman, Travel Channel, All Access Today, Tenth Street Entertainment, The Eleven Seven Music Group
About Travel Channel:
Travel Channel Media is an integrated travel media business that includes: the Travel Channel television network, available in 95 million U.S. cable homes; Travel Channel HD, the network's high-definition simulcast; travelchannel.com, the network's broadband travel hub; Travel Channel's video-on-demand (VOD) and HD VOD offerings; its mobile content platform, Travel Channel GO; World Hum (worldhum.com), a leading online travel blog; and FlightDeck, an innovative content-sharing and advertising network for online publishers and advertisers.
About All Access Today
All Access Today is a business whose core focus is direct-to-fan relationships and new technology development. All Access Today has been providing direct to fan services for 13 years for some of the top artists globally including Willie Nelson, Matchbox Twenty, Peter Gabriel, The Gorillaz, JLS, Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, Rob Thomas, Akon, Sugarland, Richard Ashcroft and La Roux, to name a few.
We are driving a new thought process to performing artists, brands and companies by offering multimillion dollar revenue business models both online, live at the events and via mobile. Our business model is comprised of global tour & retail licensing merchandise, VIP/Travel packages and experiences, venue and artist ticketing, online fan subscriptions, online web shops, digital distribution (music, video & photos), mobile and the live recording USB wristband program (LiveFlash™).
About The Eleven Seven Music Group/Tenth Street Entertainment:
The Eleven Seven Music Group and Tenth Street Entertainment are leading entertainment marketing and content companies working with content partners across a range of platforms including music, fashion, book and music publishing, film, live performance and more.
Among The Eleven Seven Music Group/Tenth Street Entertainment's marketing and content creation partners are: Mötley Crüe, Steven Tyler, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, JET, Deborah Harry and Blondie, Nikki Sixx and Sixx:A.M., Drowning Pool, The Last Vegas, Marion Raven, Royal Underground and others. Additional information can be found at www.10thst.com and www.elevenseven.net.
About Cisco:
Cisco (
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