Why did Barilla Group Choose o9 Solutions to support them with the “digital transformation of their supply chains?”

The Press Release headline reads:

o9 Solutions Empowers Barilla With Integrated Planning Capabilities.

“Barilla was looking to optimize its supply chain planning capabilities with an integrated future-proof planning platform that could navigate today’s supply chain complexities and selected o9’s Digital Brain platform due to its unique ability to integrate all supply chain planning processes into a single-cloud native platform.”

Here is a confession: I had never heard of o9 Solutions before last week.

After a preliminary review, they look like an interesting player in what one industry thought leader called “the crowded market space that has some of the characteristics of the digital gold rush.” In short, I will be closely tracking their progress throughout 2024.

So, here are a few questions:

When I read the above paragraph highlighting why the Barilla Group selected o9 Solutions, except for “o9’s Digital Brain platform,” I have repeatedly heard, read, or seen variations of the following terms.

• integrate all supply chain planning processes
• a single-cloud native platform
• optimize its supply chain planning capabilities
• a future-proof planning platform

As creatively worded as the text was in the press release, would you, as a practitioner, use that as a basis for reaching out to o9 Solutions?

How much will the new client’s name – in this case, Barilla- influence your decision to engage o9 Solutions?

How much impact will the press release have on your final decision to engage o9 Solutions as a partner?

Getting Beyond the Who to the WHY?

Don’t misinterpret my questions as an indication of skepticism. On initial review, o9 Solutions looks like a more than capable solution provider.

However, I have the following questions:

1. Does the buzz terminology, e.g., future-proof, optimize, integrate, mute, or dull the message?
2. Does the press release tell us the “real reasons” why Barilla selected o9 Solutions?

I don’t know the answers to the above questions. Come to think of it, maybe the “I need to know more” is the true power of press releases.

Here are a few interesting stats from Madhav Bhandari’s article 35 “Must Know” Press Release Statistics & Trends:

1. Almost half of PR pros say that the relevancy of the story to the subject of the journalist is important when pitching a story.
2. 96% of PR professionals say individual emails are the most effective channel for pitching journalists!
3. Half the PR professionals have never pitched podcasts for their press releases.
4. Only 13% of PR professionals say newswire (PR Newswire, PR Web, Business Wire) is an effective channel for pitching journalists.

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