Yesterday, CNN Money (January 12, 2007) reported that AT&T is beginning to extinguish the brand of cellphone operator Cingular and that it will launch a campaign Monday to mark the change.

Furthermore, AT&T’s name and logo will eventually replace Cingular in a process expected to take several months. And I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.

First of all, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to cut and paste one logo or name in place of another. Even the great incompetent PHB would realize that a simple change such as this shouldn’t require more time than it takes the magic paper machine to spit out a number of pages equal to the current number of pages with the wrong logo. Updating a TV add with today’s media editors is just a matter of cutting out the old animated logo and splicing in the new one, and making a few tweaks. Maybe a day if your Media PC Guru is a perfectionist.

I know, I know – the real issue here is the brand, and I recently told you Don’t Buck the Brand – but when you get right down to it, that’s exactly what this multi-phase multi-month multi-multi-million dollar effort is doing – bucking the brand. After all, their number one goal is to squash it like a bug. So why spend tens of millions of dollars of advertising a joint brand just to spend tens of millions of dollars again in a few months to advertise a single brand? Why spend millions of dollars on new uniforms just to toss them all into the incinerator in a few months? Why pay outrageous maintenance fees to update all of your software to automatically include two logos on all printed materials just to pay those outrageous maintenance fees again in a few months to print one?

There’s smart procurement, there’s dumb procurement, and then there’s just truly wasteful procurement. And that will likely be the next year at AT&T.

And all for no good reason. Unless they think that either (a) we’re too dense to understand a straightforward announcement that says “We, AT&T, bought Cingular. You are now an AT&T customer. We pledge to give you the same great quality of service. Your bills will now come from AT&T – here’s what the new bill will look like. For questions, see our website or call.” or (b) we’ll leave in despair because we believe that AT&T will not offer us the same quality of service – in which case their multi-month, multi-multi-million dollar effort to convince us AT&T really is Cingular will simply delay the inevitable – since if we really do believe that it’s the bouncing jack logo that symbolizes quality, then we’re still likely to leave when it disappears. Either way, they’ll be wasting hundreds of millions of dollars when all is said and done – hundreds of millions of their customer’s money – and for many of you, your money – since it will be their customers, and maybe you, who will end up paying more for the same service in the end.

So, even though I want to laugh at the idiocracy, all I can do is cry.

When I was in Boston, I took the time to visit with some of the Supply Space Focussed Aberdeen folks to talk about the sourcing & procurement space and what the year ahead had in store for us. (Since I have been told by ex-analysts that their CEO despises us blogger types, even those who generally say good things about the quality of content coming out of Aberdeen, I will not give names, dates, or conversation specifics to protect the innocent, but simply say they are really great, smart, people.) If you’re interested in the nitty-gritty, you can always start by downloading their research agenda, but I can tell you that their plans go well beyond that.

First of all, they plan to continue the aggressive research schedule institutionalized by The Great Sudy in his short tenure (who averaged close to one major study a month) across each of the channels that they address. Secondly, they plan to augment those major benchmark studies with a significant number of shorter insight and thought pieces focussing on specific issues and / or best practices that you can use to improve your overall supply chain operations. (Apparently their goal is 10/month. Wow!) Thirdly, they plan to delve into a number of the insights that came out of the CPO conference in November and break ground in the relatively untouched areas of supply chain finance, next-generation supplier performance management (SPM), and non-traditional industry verticals. All I can say is that if they do all this, AMR will have some serious work to do keeping up.

Now I know that some prominent individuals have questioned Aberdeen’s relevance in the mid-market at one time or another, and some have even had some valid points, but the following truths hold: (a) if its good for big business, then some elements will certainly be good for medium-sized businesses, since it is essentially impossible for a business with poor practices to get large or stay large in today’s ultra-competitive market and (b) the data is based on your responses and any survey with a large number of respondents is going to contain a relatively significant number of responses from the mid-market. Yes, you might need to take some of the results with a grain of salt, or, more appropriately, with some good consulting advice from those companies that have helped similar companies undertake similar initiatives, but it’s much better to have valid data and supported conclusions to start with then to start with no data at all. So I say: Go Aberdeen Go! and continue to break ground in the analyst space. Right now, the issues need all the attention they can get – and given that the current talent pool, although not as well known, is more talented than they are being given credit for, one can be sure the research is only going to get better and better.

So participate in their surveys, get your free research, and make informed decisions. Furthermore, if you have ever attempted advanced sourcing, be sure to take their Advanced Sourcing Survey. Their last benchmark study in this area found that companies employing advanced sourcing techniques saved on average 12% more than their competitors who did not. This study is going to delve deeper into the issue and help you determine which technique will help you</> the most. It’s worth your time.

Those of you in the know will know that Supply & Demand Chain Executive‘s annual Pro’s to Know list is coming up and that it’s now nomination time. Nominations are due in two weeks, so please make sure to do yours ASAP. (I’ve made mine!)

In hopes that you would join me in not overlooking one individual who has made a significant contribution to the space over the last two years, I’ve decided to make one of my nominations public, exactly as I submitted it, here on this blog. If you agree with me, please join me in my nomination. Although it is Supply & Demand Chain‘s prerogative to choose whomever they want to, I’m sure it would be very hard for them to overlook an individual who received hundreds (or thousands!) of nominations.


Name    of nominee: Jason Busch
Title   of nominee: Editor
Company of nominee: Spend Matters


In 250 words or less, please describe how the nominee has personally helped raise the profile of Supply Chain and increase the recognition of the importance of Supply Chain as a strategic function within the enterprise; why the nominee personally believes that it is important for Supply Chain to be recognized today as a strategic function within the enterprise; and what, in the nominee’s opinion, technology’s role is in enabling Supply Chain to achieve a more strategic role within the enterprise.

For over two years, Jason Busch has been diligently blogging multiple times a day on issues, events, and best practices in the sourcing, procurement, and supply chain space and working hard to raise the profile of the space as a whole.

Jason Busch personally believes that it is important for Supply Chain to be recognized as a strategic function within the enterprise because he has spent over ten years working in the space, first as a service provider (at FreeMarkets, a pioneer e-auction powerhouse) and then as an independent consultant and analyst (at Azul Partners), and has seen first hand the transformative effects that good supply chain management best practices can have on an organization.

Having worked for a technology provider, Jason Busch knows first-hand what enabling supply and spend management technology can do for the enterprise – that’s why he spends time on a weekly basis talking to people at major software companies in the supply chain space and posting their solution profiles on his blog so that everyone can be informed of the latest technology offerings and how it can help them transform their operations. Jason Busch’s opinion is that technology will continue to help business transform their supply chain operations and become more efficient and more productive as time goes on.

For our selection committee to better evaluate each candidate, we ask that you please cut and paste below a current bio for the nominee.

Jason Busch is Founder and Managing Director of Azul Partners, a marketing consultancy that advises software and services companies. Prior to launching Azul Partners, Jason spent five years at FreeMarkets (acquired by Ariba) leading a range of efforts and initiatives. Jason has also served as a consultant with Northeast Consulting (acquired by Nervewire) where he helped clients with technology and strategic planning decisions.

Jason has authored over one hundred columns and whitepapers on technology and economics. His work has appeared in leading trade and business publications in the US, Europe, and Asia. Regarded for his forward thinking opinions, Jason has been quoted in numerous articles, books, and academic papers and is a frequent speaker and panelist at industry conferences. He has also served as a guest lecturer at US and European universities.

Jason holds an MA in history from the University of Pennsylvania. He also completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a BA, cum laude, with departmental honors, in history and English literature. In addition, Jason has completed coursework in the Wharton School.

Odds are good that if you are reading Sourcing Innovation, Spend Matters, e-Sourcing Forum [WayBackMachine], or one of the other leading sourcing and procurement blogs then you are a consultant, service, or software provider. Believe it or not, this is a bad thing. You’re probably reading these blogs to improve your understanding of the space, the relevant issues, and what others (analysts, service providers, and software providers) are doing to address these issues, and although this is itself a good thing, the reality is that you’re not the one that really needs this education the most.

The fact of the matter is, the people who need to be reading these blogs the most is the intended audience – the procurement and sourcing professionals these blogs are written for. Moreover, as a consultant, service, or software provider, it’s in your best interest if these procurement and sourcing professionals – your target customers – are reading these blogs daily. After all, I’m betting that your biggest challenge is user education – especially considering that you should be constantly struggling to keep up with demand considering the value associated with the average procurement and sourcing product on the market today.

So, are you telling your customers about these blogs and the educational opportunity they provide? If not, why not? The fact of the matter is, if you don’t tell them, chances are, no one else will. Even though they’ll ask us for a link, generally speaking, the on-line magazines will not link back. The analysts are looking for leads, not giving them away. And many people still think blogs are still just for journals, ranting, or political commentary.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be reading these blogs, or that I don’t value your readership. I do – and I am especially aware of the fact that the more informed you are, the better the debates get on Spend Matters! Just that I want you to be sure that you’re doing your part to spread the word.

So tell your customers about Sourcing Innovation, Spend Matters, e-Sourcing Forum, and your favourite sourcing or procurement blogs. After all, it’s easier to sell to an informed customer than an uninformed one. And easier still when the customer takes it upon themselves to self educate!

That’s my rant for the month. There’s a comment feature if you want to leave yours.