Hikvision 2018 'Actual Hikvision Customer' Ad Campaign

JH
John Honovich
Mar 04, 2018
IPVM

Last year, Hikvision launched the 'Art of Video Surveillance' featuring dancers.

This year they are featuring... you, in what they are labeling an 'Actual Hikvision customer".

Check it out:

What do you think? Vote and comment inside.

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JH
John Honovich
Mar 04, 2018
IPVM

A couple of other points. 

The slogan at the bottom is worth looking at:

Hikvision is certainly not the first to de-emphasize security in favor of business intelligence. However, business intelligence is a hard sale, across the board, but especially among Hikvision's generally smaller, price-conscious dealers. Also, it would help if their deep learning worked.

The integrator is George Gutierrez, LinkedIn Profile, and his company is California Communications (website). His website features a DVTel camera and does not show Hikvision in his partner list.

I would assume the website is simply out of date relative to this campaign.

In terms of size, California Communication's website shows no office address, no LinkedIn company profile, and no other employees with LinkedIn profiles.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Mar 05, 2018

In terms of size, California Communication's website shows no office address, no LinkedIn company profile, and no other employees with LinkedIn profiles.

That is Hikvision’s key demographic.

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U
Undisclosed #6
Mar 05, 2018
IPVMU Certified

I would assume the website is simply out of date relative to this campaign.

Did you try faxing them?

“A customer representative will contact you within 24 hours within one business day”

Does that mean Friday night calls are returned by Tuesday?

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U
Undisclosed #1
Mar 04, 2018

I'm glad I read John's follow-up comment before I voted - cuz I was going to vote 'Like It'..... 

why?

because even though I am not in marketing, I've always wondered why manufacturers spend so much time/money/effort marketing to end users.

End users are not the customer of the manufacturer in a channel industry - the integrators are.  And hardly any manufacturer markets to them.

However, I then read the follow-up comment and found out that their featured integrator doesn't seem to know he is a Hik VAR (based on his website).

imo, this is a yuuuuuge PR #fail..... and it could have been so much stronger.  :(

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U
Undisclosed #5
Mar 05, 2018

because even though I am not in marketing, I've always wondered why manufacturers spend so much time/money/effort marketing to end users.

Because integrators as a group do minimal marketing, and when they do, they often (rightly) focus more on their own brand than on partner (manufacturer) brands.

As a manufacturer, a key way to sell more product and reduce chances that integrators just lead with lowest-cost options is to have the end user ask for your product by name.

The argument that end users are not "the customer" in this sense is like saying that the actual customer of Doritos is the supermarket, and not the consumer, and therefore Doritos should not do their own advertising, and rely on their partner the supermarket do the advertising for them.

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U
Undisclosed #1
Mar 05, 2018

"As a manufacturer, a key way to sell more product and reduce chances that integrators just lead with lowest-cost options is to have the end user ask for your product by name."

that is a very pessimistic manufacturer take on the vendor/VAR relationship.  :)

 

of course a manufacturer should promote/market their brand in hopes that end users ask for their product by name.... but why not also cover the other side by marketing to VARs who, when properly incentivized to be loyal to the manufacturer, can move lots of their stuff - even when end users don't specifically ask for the manufacturers brand?

Personally, I think we see little marketing to VARs by manufacturers because most believe the market to be 'mature'...  i.e. anybody who is anybody has already filled out their dance card with partners.

 

Finally, your Doritos analogy is off target. My original quote contained the clarifier bolded below.

"End users are not the customer of the manufacturer in a channel industry - the integrators are. And hardly any manufacturer markets to them."

 

U
Undisclosed #5
Mar 05, 2018

that is a very pessimistic manufacturer take on the vendor/VAR relationship. :)

It may be pessimistic, but it is also accurate.

Personally, I think we see little marketing to VARs by manufacturers because most believe the market to be 'mature'

No, I think most marketing to VARs takes place in the form of trade shows, relationship-based 1 to 1 marketing (sales person calling on contacts they have built up over the years, and other methods that are more direct and less public "magazine ad" style.

Finally, your Doritos analogy is off target. My original quote contained the clarifier bolded below.

It's an analogy of a similar situation where a manufacturer sells through a 3rd party instead of direct. There is nothing particularly special about the security industry "channel" in this regard.

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U
Undisclosed #1
Mar 05, 2018

"It's an analogy of a similar situation where a manufacturer sells through a 3rd party instead of direct. There is nothing particularly special about the security industry "channel" in this regard."

What's the VAT on a bag of Cool Ranch?

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Mar 05, 2018

Disclaimer: My English skills lack sorely.  

Is there a reason Actual Hikvision Customer is in quotes?

”Undisclosed #2”

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
Mar 05, 2018

This is a common grammatical error used in Western marketing.  The goal is to emphasize the text.  Italics would probably be more appropriate.

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #10
Mar 20, 2018
JH
John Honovich
Mar 05, 2018
IPVM

Another actual Hikvision customer, this one shown on Hikvision USA's website:

Here is the website for USA Alarm Systems. LinkedIn search indicates a small SoCal dealer.

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UE
Undisclosed End User #8
Mar 08, 2018

Both guys in the ads are wearing the same Hikvision goggles. Similar to beer goggles but you see instant revenue with all the same regrets the next morning.

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JH
John Honovich
Mar 08, 2018
IPVM

wearing the same Hikvision goggles

I wonder if that's just a coincidence but:

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UE
Undisclosed End User #8
Mar 08, 2018

With the tagline of "see the possibilities," I'm guessing those goggles are part of the campaign's marketing. That makes it kinda weird.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Mar 08, 2018

Maybe they are the glasses from They Live.

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U
Undisclosed #4
Mar 05, 2018

I like the ad campaign... it gives my RSMs an easy target list of dealers to pursue.

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U
Undisclosed #7
Mar 05, 2018

Like the Idea and the add concept but would not do it with Hikvision certainly at the moment or near future 

Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Mar 08, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

Let me ask this question: If this has been an ad campaign by Axis or Avigilon, would your vote be different? Would you perceive it differently. 

And I, honestly get why Hikvision won’t win over many hearts here. There is a vast majority of our industry at odds with them for many reasons. I get it. 

I voted yes it is a good campaign. I think it was a much better idea than some dancers who couldn’t be less related to the industry. 

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JH
John Honovich
Mar 08, 2018
IPVM

I think it was a much better idea than some dancers who couldn’t be less related to the industry.

Agreed.

But what is strange is that given how big Hikvision is, it has little need to prove that it has 'actual customers'. Does anyone doubt that Hikvision has actual customers? If this was Knightscope or Siklu or Pelco:), it could make sense.

And if they wants to undercut their trunk slammer reputation and prove that more sophisticated or bigger integrators are choosing Hikvision, the first two 'actual customers' do not do that. Agree/disagree? Thoughts?

Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Mar 08, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

I can see that point. It wasn’t an angle I had thought of to be honest.

On the flip side, small guys like myself like seeing my peers being acknowledged as valued. There isn’t any harm or shame in that.

We play a role in the industry as well. Granted, a much smaller one. But it isn’t as if we are insignificant. And calling all smaller integrators trunk slammers is so 2012. We are better than that, I would hope.

As a small integrator, I’m not in the position to take on the largest projects, but I am much more nimble and flexible than these giant firms who are full of lemmings. I can guarantee that I care about each and every project.

Can you, Mr CEO of Huge Corp, assure me the same of each and every one of your staff? It’s not even possible to have a staff of hundreds or more and have everyone be a caring employee. 

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JH
John Honovich
Mar 08, 2018
IPVM

As a small integrator, I’m not in the position to take on the largest projects, but I am much more nimble and flexible than these giant firms who are full of lemmings. I can guarantee that I care about each and every project.

So you are saying you want me to talk to Jeffrey and get you in the next ad? :)

But let me pitch why I think you should seriously be in the ad. Remember I said specifically:

prove that more sophisticated or bigger integrators

Testimonials are more powerful, the more the well known the source is. You are fairly well known, relative to most integrators, since you are a top commenter on IPVM, the industry's most well-read publication. And, I think most would agree that you are sophisticated (malware VLANs notwithstanding :). 

I think a testimonial from you would carry far more weight than the 2 they have so far.

So, JD, agree / disagree? Are you up for being in Hikvision's ad?

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Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Mar 08, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

I, personally, would pass. I like my independence. I don’t like to be tied to any one brand, product, or technology. That freedom allows me to better advocate for my clients interests. That said, if I were into self gloss, or needed validation in some way, I wouldn’t have anything against being in a Hikvision promotion. I just don’t see any value for myself in doing so.

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #9
Mar 08, 2018

I, personally, would pass. I like my independence. I don’t like to be tied to any one brand, product, or technology. That freedom allows me to better advocate for my clients interests. That said, if I were into self gloss, or needed validation in some way, I wouldn’t have anything against being in a Hikvision promotion. I just don’t see any value for myself in doing so

Jon your answer is like dating a Fat Girl - You enjoy the fringe benefits, but you don't want any of your friends seeing you do it

I know that analogy is politically incorrect, but that pitch was just right down the middle :) 

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Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Mar 08, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

Wow? This post has me at a loss. Maybe this is supposed to be funny, but the humor is lost on me.

I am not ashamed of my stance, unlike people who post undisclosed. Everyone here knows that I sell Hikvision. I also sell some Axis, Hanwha, and Dahua. We have installed some Avigilon too. I just find that Hikvision fits the bill most of the time. If that changes, I won't have a problem jumping to a new brand. I won't be going down with the ship. Neither will my clients.

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #9
Mar 08, 2018

I am not ashamed of my stance, unlike people who post undisclosed. Everyone here knows that I sell Hikvision

I'll agree everyone here knows that. But do you explain the Hik vulnerabilities to your customers? That's what putting your face on their ad campaign would mean. 

BTW, I'd post under my real name here if I could, but like many other manufacturers here we're under directive not to

Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Mar 08, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

All of my clients that are vulnerable do know the risks and we work hand in hand to mitigate them. Usually, we are in control of the network and take the proper steps to quarantine all cameras, regardless of brand. Sure, some like Hikvision and Dahua have worse track records, but even Axis and Sony have had issues too. We treat them all as vulnerable. If I knew your brand, we could discuss that too, but instead you lob grenades over the wall hiding behind an Undisclosed moniker.

And to be fair, my clients would never see a Hikvision ad anyways, so my placement in such an ad, for all intents and purposes, would be for my glory alone. I don't see what other purpose it would serve, for me, my clients, or Hikvision. I just don't value publicity.

JH
John Honovich
Mar 08, 2018
IPVM

Sure, some like Hikvision and Dahua have worse track records, but even Axis and Sony have had issues too.

JD, I do respect you but comparing these 4 is not prudent. Let's take the extremes - Dahua and Axis. Dahua's vulnerabilities have been so bad and so widely exploited whereas Axis' are so obscure and virtually never exploited that it is unreasonable to compare the two.

Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Mar 08, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

I'm pretty sure I said Hikvision and Dahua have had worse records. Right?

Then I also stated that even companies like Axis and Sony have had issues. Right?

Which isn't true? I hate to be argumentative, but you make it sound like I said Axis=Dahua and that simply isn't true. How demonstrative do I need to be to satisfy you?

My position is I don't trust ANY of these brands 100%, so I treat them all as having varying degrees of known and unknown vulnerabilities.

JH
John Honovich
Mar 08, 2018
IPVM

My position is I don't trust ANY of these brands 100%, so I treat them all as having varying degrees of known and unknown vulnerabilities.

You are literally equivocating.

Axis is on a completely different planet of cybersecurity maturity than Dahua, to 'treat them all' as being similar in any way is unfair.

To use an analogy, Dahua has had multiple vehicular manslaughters. Axis has fines for jaywalking. But to you, they are all traffic issues.

Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Mar 08, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

https://ipvm.com/reports/axis-critical

https://www.wired.com/story/devils-ivy-iot-vulnerability/

Do I really need to keep digging beyond the first few Google search results? Axis is not untarnished here. For the record, I hold Axis as the sole leader in this industry. I am also informed enough to know that no product is 100% safe.

I feel like we are getting way off topic, so I will restrain myself from commenting on this further.

JH
John Honovich
Mar 09, 2018
IPVM

Do I really need to keep digging beyond the first few Google search results? 

JD, you are proving my point. You are a professional integrator, it is your responsibility to understand the technical differences amongst vulnerabilities and vendor practices.

Just googling and throwing it up shows you are not being responsible enough.

Take the Axis critical vulnerability and the Dahua backdoor, both Bashis discoveries. Since Bashis is in this conversation, I'd like him to comment but I think it's safe to say these vulnerabilities are far different in severity.

I'll comment on the Devil's Ivy one since we were the first and most in-depth coverage of it. Devil's Ivy requires a 2GB upload to each camera targeted and then:

The nature of buffer overflow attacks makes them somewhat device specific, and can require trial and error, or deep knowledge of the system itself, to form a successful attack that reveals data or provides root access. Because of this, and the fact that few details of the specific XML formatting required for an exploit are being released it will be hard for this vulnerability will be put to real use.

Devil's Ivy is a great marketing term but not a serious vulnerability in reality. It's why Dahua's backdoor resulted in massive hacks and Devil's Ivy only in brief hype.

JH
John Honovich
Mar 08, 2018
IPVM

The 'Actual Hikvision Customer' is the front page of March's SSI magazine:

And deep learning is the lead product offering.

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UE
Undisclosed End User #8
Mar 08, 2018

I vote lame and lazy on that cover.

JH
John Honovich
Mar 20, 2018
IPVM

And Hikvision is the front cover wrap for this month's SDI magazine:

And the inside front of this month's SDM Magazine:

The amount of Hikvision marketing spend is unparalleled.

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U
Undisclosed #6
Mar 22, 2018
IPVMU Certified

The amount of Hikvision marketing spend is unparalleled.

The ‘talent’ is cheap at least ;)

JH
John Honovich
Mar 20, 2018
IPVM

And he is the literal poster boy for Hikvision's ~$300,000 all you can drink / eat event at ISC West:

U
Undisclosed #6
Mar 20, 2018
IPVMU Certified

The new Poster Boys.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #11
Mar 23, 2018

USA Alarms, proud partner of PRC!  Gotta love it.  Irony anyone?

JH
John Honovich
Mar 21, 2018
IPVM

And Hikvision is the front cover wrap for this month's STE:

JH
John Honovich
Mar 22, 2018
IPVM
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Avatar
Sean Nelson
Mar 22, 2018
Nelly's Security

I think this is a great campaign, much better than the dancing people campaign of last year. Regardless if you think its cheesy or whatever, It actually makes you stop, look, and read what the campaign is about. It envokes a sense of taking a huge company and making it more personable. Something about putting peoples faces and enlarging it on bill boards, magazine ads or whatever, makes you stop and look. Marketing people know this. I am so impressed that I now must got buy buy buy more Hikvision now.

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U
Undisclosed #6
Mar 22, 2018
IPVMU Certified

I am so impressed that I now must got buy buy buy more Hikvision now.

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Avatar
Sean Nelson
Mar 22, 2018
Nelly's Security

They would not be able to keep up with demand with that type of marketing.

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JH
John Honovich
Mar 22, 2018
IPVM

LOL! Hikvision should build an app where you can upload your own photo and Hikvision yourself :)

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #11
Mar 23, 2018

Sean, shouldn’t they be a little selective or do a little research on the companies they use for this to be really effective?  

Look at California, USA and Budd websites.  See what they promote for CCTV.

I like the small dealer focus actually, but Dedicated Micros?

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JH
John Honovich
Apr 01, 2018
IPVM

Hikvisision actual integrator ad campaign is the front cover of SSN's April edition:

Also, interesting, noticing that Axis is spending less these days on trade magazine advertising.

U
Undisclosed #6
Apr 01, 2018
IPVMU Certified

Hikvisision actual integrator ad campaign is the front cover...

Marketing Exec1: This month I finally convinced management we should get the jump on Hik in the rags.  So for April we went “all in”, and bought the centerfold, an insert, even the back cover!

Marketing Exex2: Great! I’ll send out promo copies to all our customers.  In your face, Hik!

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