Avaya, Altigen Going After Nortel Customers

Yahoo search for term Nortel

Do a Yahoo search on Nortel and you see ads from Microsoft and Avaya which are quite friendly. Microsoft for example directs you to its People Ready Business site where it pushes its relationship with Nortel with messaging which emphasizes global solutions to empower the enterprise. Avaya’s ad is pretty generic – and goes directly to the home page.

Microsoft Live search for term Nortel

If you use Microsoft Live as your search engine the results are similar to Yahoo with a Microsoft ad but the Avaya ad is replaced by one from Fonality going to their home page which touts their “New Deal” or a 20% discount on certain models.

Google search for term Nortel

The situation on Google gets much more competitive as Altigen goes after Nortel’s customers with the statement, “Concerned about the future of your Nortel phone system?” The headline says “Customers and Partners,” in an effort to go after the entire Nortel ecosystem.

Similarly, Avaya’s ad direct and professional… It begins with “Upgrade Your Nortel” the ad then says “To New Avaya System.” It finishes off with great marketing copy – “Free Information to Get You Started.”

BTW – yes, I know, Avaya corporate has been very quiet. In response to the many questions you have sent us about more interviews with Avaya CXOs, my team has reached out and the interview ball is in the company’s court. I will get back to you when the Avaya’s CEO begins interviewing. I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say as much as you are.

But back to the matter at hand – yes, in a recession you need to capitalize on the weakness of the competition to grow or at least stay stable. All companies need to gain share and one way to do it is with search ads.

I have mentioned in the past that a number of companies have reached out to TMC as well to help them develop programs to target Nortel’s customers. I can’t disclose who or whether we took this business but it seems a common theme right now is to go after the low-hanging Nortel customer fruit.

On a related note it is unclear how current and future customers will view the Nortel sale of its application acceleration business to Radware. I don’t expect the competition to let up due to this news but it does seem to be a positive sign for the company that it is able to sell anything in this tough economic and M&A climate.

Search engine ads change all the time so take this entry as a snapshot from a late Friday afternoon in February and nothing more. If I hear more details of other companies specifically targeting Nortel customers in the future I will be sure to share.