Strange things are happening at Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) these days.

You may already be aware that they are suing some Light Reading message board participants, which we’ve covered here on the site. But that’s just a distraction. More importantly, Juniper’s got a real marketing crisis on its hands. (See Juniper Sues LR Message Boarders, Juniper Complaint, Poll to Juniper: Bad Move, and Poll: Juniper Lawsuit Still a Bad Move.)

Juniper’s VP of Marketing position has been vacant for more than six months. I can see how it might be a challenge. With Juniper’s history of vice presidents of marketing, holding that position is a bit like being the drummer in the movie Spinal Tap – you just never know when you’ll go poof! (See Lightspeed Drafts Former Juniper VP and VP Jumps From Juniper.)

We asked Juniper when they’ll have a new marketing veep, and here’s what a Juniper spokeswoman sent back:

OK, I’ll just sit here and watch my inbox. The lack of urgency to me is astounding. Can you imagine Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) going six days without a lead marketing executive – and then telling the press to just wait for the press release? Cisco probably has more marketing people than Juniper has employees.

Speaking of which, how many “Cisco sucks” cartoons does the world really need? Is that really a marketing strategy?

Let’s take a look at where Juniper’s marketing message has come and gone. In the old days, Juniper’s message was simple and elegant: It was the high-performance router alternative to Cisco, with an exclusive focus on the service provider market.

People liked this message. First of all, the service providers loved the fact that there was an alternative to Cisco. They could avoid getting locked into a monopoly situation. In fact, you could argue the Juniper/Cisco routing duopoly worked out better for the industry at large – as the two of them drove each other to press forward with new products. The other thing folks liked about Juniper was that it was good. The stuff worked. The company had solid financial results. Wall Street loved it. It wasn’t going to go away any time soon.

Those days are over. The message no longer supports the whole company. It’s not likely that Juniper’s going to gain any huge market-share advantages against Cisco in carrier-class routing anymore. And let’s face it, the service provider routing market ain’t what it used to be. To make the situation worse, competitors, most prominently Alcatel (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGEP:PA), have been making major strides in the router market.

Juniper’s made a bevy of acquisitions in 2004 and 2005, looking for new growth. Juniper’s trying to encroach on Cisco’s enterprise turf, which means it’s going to go head-to-head with... what else: The Cisco enterprise marketing machine. You would think this would entail a wholesale retooling and reinvestment in Juniper’s marketing approach. (See 2005 Top Ten: M&A.)

I asked Juniper what its stated corporate marketing strategy was. A spokeswoman sent this back:

That pretty much covers the bases: Juniper is going to assure IP, support mission-critical apps, solve problems, and sell to everybody.

What’s the boss's vision? Yes, it's all about packets, says Juniper CEO Scott Kriens. Juniper will slice, dice, and parboil your packets. If you want, they’ll turn packets into sushi. Fine. But do service providers really want packet sushi – or do they just want a cheap, solid Ethernet switch? And how does this press the company forward into the enterprise market? What can Juniper do with packets that Cisco doesn’t?

I’m still unclear on what the “new” Juniper will look like, where it will focus, or how all these moving parts fit together. How does Netscreen fit together with Redline? What’s this Funk Software thing all about? (See Juniper Takes Two: Peribit & Redline, Juniper to Acquire Kagoor, and Juniper Gets Into $122M Funk.)

Most importantly, Juniper’s got to find a way to get edgy and cool again. As a staffer here at Light Reading has remarked, Juniper has become kind of like the Matrix movies. The first one was revolutionary. The second edition was okay. The third permutation? ZZZZZZZZZ. Yes, too many producers can be an effective way to kill a good franchise.

No, Juniper isn’t about to implode tomorrow. For all I know, their fourth-quarter 2005 numbers are said to be solid. But Juniper’s current challenges could evolve into a long-range meltdown, like global warming. In addition to the marketing issue, here are some of Juniper’s other big challenges, which are long-term in nature:

There is always a two-pronged approach to entering a new market: technical leadership and marketing. It seems that Juniper has been trumped in technical leadership in many of these categories by the competition. And, to a large extent, Juniper doesn’t really do much marketing, so it can’t lead there.

It’s gone eerily quiet over there at Juniper Networks. What on earth is going on? Is combing message boards and consulting with lawyers really taking that much of the Juniper executives’ time? Customers – and investors – want to know what the future holds. Juniper has yet to define its new role as a service provider and enterprise marketing player, and what it brings to the table against Cisco in the enterprise market.

Juniper: We’re ready, when you’re ready to tell us the story.

— R. Scott Raynovich, Editor in Chief, Light Reading