For anyone wondering, this is basically how PR works at its absolute best.
This piece has been published because Alibaba is about to IPO and Amazon wants to take a little bit of wind out of the sails by puffing (as its called in the trade) its own otherwise obscure competitor.
Note how the journalist writes how AmazonSupply has never been mentioned before outside of the 2012 General Meeting - the hook to make you think this is some inside track he/she has just discovered - and then out come the canned quotes from an array of AmazonSupply VPs because, actually, this isn't some scoop s/he discovered, its been spoon fed to her/him.
This was designed and crafted by Amazons PR firm, probably pitched to a freelance journalist who in turn pitched it to some outlets and Forbes bit. The date of publishing would have been agreed way in advance and Amazon PR may even have had rights to review/edit the piece.
Its a manipulation of media in some ways given the piece has only been crated for the sole interest of Amazon (there's no objective analysis or mention of competitors) and the rest of us are pawns reading it.
This piece has been published because Alibaba is about to IPO and Amazon wants to take a little bit of wind out of the sails by puffing (as its called in the trade) its own otherwise obscure competitor.
Note how the journalist writes how AmazonSupply has never been mentioned before outside of the 2012 General Meeting - the hook to make you think this is some inside track he/she has just discovered - and then out come the canned quotes from an array of AmazonSupply VPs because, actually, this isn't some scoop s/he discovered, its been spoon fed to her/him.
This was designed and crafted by Amazons PR firm, probably pitched to a freelance journalist who in turn pitched it to some outlets and Forbes bit. The date of publishing would have been agreed way in advance and Amazon PR may even have had rights to review/edit the piece.
Its a manipulation of media in some ways given the piece has only been crated for the sole interest of Amazon (there's no objective analysis or mention of competitors) and the rest of us are pawns reading it.