Sweet Seduction

Kinaxis Suitemates Episode 4 Time for my weekly reminder: “Suitemates“, the big new marketing campaign by Kinaxis. Canada-based supply chain software provider Kinaxis has just released episode 4 of a six-episode short video series that tells the fictional story of BILK Moore – the merger between two ERP companies. In Suitemates, the two respective CEOs end up behind bars for fraud and unethical business conduct, after using seductive persuasion tactics to have customers sign whatever deal with whatever small print, and before they know it, they’re sucked in and hooke(re)d (my pun) on Bilk-Moore’s state of the art/crap ERP software.

Sweet Suite Caroline?

Caroline is Bilk-Moore’s secret sales extortion weapon…sweet on the outside, but tough on the inside and relentless when it comes to pursuing contracts with prospective customers. Today’s episode of Suitemates takes  place in sales meeting where the regular Bilk-Moore sales guy first tries to do his best at confusing the audience with some ERP mumbo-jumbo about how the software is exactly what they need to “comply with measuring oversight of corporate overseers”, as legally required by chapter this section that paragraph so and so in a fictional law he just invented…

Kinaxis Suitemates Episode 4



Confused and unsure, and still hesitant to sign the deal, the customers are then literally overrun by Caroline, throwing herself at the male audience and turning contract talk into dirty talk…it’s hilarious, and metaphorically speaking, it perhaps is the way many companies feel when visited my smooth-talking ERP people? I don’t know, but I can imagine it is so.

Don’t forget the prize!

And before I forget, do remember to look for the elephants, because to make the whole thing a bit more interesting, there are several elephants subtly placed throughout the scenes of the six videos. If you find them all, you can win an iPad!

Good marketing?

In Suitemates, Kinaxis poke fun at what they call Big ERP and how supply chain consulting companies supposedly work and how they couldn’t care less about their customers’ true needs as long as they make big bucks. Let’s hope that is not true for Kinaxis.

Kinaxis Supply Chain Expert Community

Kinaxis Supply Chain Expert CommunityAnd before I forget this, too, I should mention the community website that Kinaxis launched in January this year, the Supply Chain Expert Community. While still in its infancy, over time, I believe it will grow to become the place to find and seek supply chain advice, just like the Kinaxis blog now is. I intend to do my part, by keeping a 2nd blog on that site, and by participating in the discussions, which are still a bit quiet at the moment, but hopefully, will pick up soon.

Links

Related

Posted in THIS and THAT
Tags: ,

ARTICLES and PAPERS
Supply Chain Risk Management - as seen from Space
Is it possible to reconcile supply chain vulnerability, risk and supply chain management with corpor[...]
What kind of Supplychainist are you?
With an ever-increasing number of companies outsourcing all non-core activities and  manufacturing t[...]
BOOKS and BOOK CHAPTERS
Book Review: HBR on Crisis Management
Close calls and near misses are not unusual in the business world, but how do companies deal with th[...]
Book review: Cost-Benefit Analysis: Theory and Application
I really enjoyed reading Cost-Benefit Analysis: Theory and Application by Tefvik Nas.  I used this b[...]
REPORTS and WHITEPAPERS
A risky business? The top 10 challenges of offshoring
Organisations embarking on offshoring face multiple challenges; many of which can be extremely daunt[...]
Hiperos - the Integrated View of Supplier Risk
Supply chains have gone global. No longer are they a point-to-chain of goods flowing from a source t[...]