Fromage Frais, Chaise Longue, Petit Pois. By the standards of most of the Apprentice candidates who headed to Paris for the latest task, those six words mean I should probably change my name to Pierre.
It was an episode which saw the demise of a potential winner and the emergence of a killer queen in the shape of Melody who was anything but tuneful in her savagery. Dynamite with a laser beam she turned her attention quite squarely on Leon and Tom who were left reeling by her scary, yet somehow impressive display. Fair play to Melody who revelled in the task as a fluent French speaker, but went too far in alienating Leon, destroying Tom's strategy and hogging sales. But let's face it; this is the Apprentice not the real world, so she was probably toasted for her shameless performance with a glass of Moet and Chandon from a pretty cabinet. I'd get very worried if Melody was ever brought into translate on negotiations between two nations. Chances are if she took a dislike to you, you could very quickly find an admission that you were wrong, turning into an offer to 'step outside' and be none the wiser.
Tom continues to intrigue. For the first time he was forced to reveal his 'real life' track record in fighting against elimination. Having done so what was obvious was that, along with most of the other candidates, Tom's problem on this task was getting swept up by the fact they were in a foreign country rather than concentrating on the key aspects of engaging with buyers. It is a task he admits to doing regularly as part of his real life with buyers and suppliers across the Far East. The pressure of the Apprentice threw all these skills out of the window and he now risks being firmly in Lord Sugar's point of doom.
One candidate sure to divide opinion is bouncy Bambi, Susan. Now, since King Henry brought the Dauphin to his knees with a bunch of Robin Hood extras (yes I know) there has been a healthy rivalry with our friends across the channel (or la Manche - Pierre). Indeed it is fair to say that the banter is the basis of any Anglo-French meet. Susan took this to a whole new level, in her own way, in launching a series of bizarre statements including 'Do the French like their children?'. The look of disbelief on Karren Brady's face probably rivals many of Nick 'The Face' Hewer's very best.
Having ensured she is unlikely to gain any employment 'en France' any time soon, she should still be complimented on her performance in leading the team to a near record win. Helen again impressed with a massive order that rivalled Liz Locke's record breaking sale last year. She somehow remains difficult to back as a winner though, perhaps suffering from the bizarre scenario where she has yet to face the boardroom and show us who she is. It's not her fault though as she just keeps winning.
What was clear from this week’s Paris task was that when tasked with selling to buyers, be they foreign or domestic, having a clear plan and thoroughly researching the business you are sat in front of is essential. Test runs of products are all well and good and should be what you are aiming for, but insulting a buyer by offering an inappropriate amount is suicide. I'm sure no product developer reading this blog would dream of offering a business the size of Argos 10 units as a test quantity. That is the equivalent of what Logic offered the French powerhouse retailer La Redoute.
Believe it or not we only have four weeks left, so who is your money on?
Star of the Week: Helen Louise Milligan. Who else could it be with a sale as big as that.
Got Lucky: Tom Pellereau. Got stitched up by Melody but should've been stronger.
Heading for a Fall: Helen Louise Milligan. A record sale isn't enough to keep anyone in the Apprentice, just ask Liz Locke. She needs to carry on her current upward trajectory or a nasty fall could happen.
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Monday 27 June 2011
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Hip to be Square Apprentice Series 7 Episode 7
Never let it be said that the Apprentice is all about the youngsters. These candidates fundamentally understand just how to engage with the old market, just as much as their own peers.
Who am I kidding, the ‘cream of UK business talent’ pulled a shocker of choices in this weeks task which was to create a brand new Freemium magazine and pitch to three of the countries largest media buying organisations to secure advertising revenue. In terms of the creative and pitching process it is one that I am very familiar with, and one thing I’ll always be an advocate of is not suppressing creative ideas. It is amazing sometime just where a seemingly weird idea (believe me some of them have been) will take you. Fundamentally however the key is to focus on the message and, more importantly, the market you are trying to reach.
This is the one and only reason why Natasha, yeah, led her team to a victory, yeah, even if yeah, her project manager skills yeah, had all the quality yeah of a pitch delivered word for word yeah in the way she talked yeah…grrrr I’ve irritated myself just writing it!
Her refusal to take the feedback from Tom, Helen and the group of burly if very well-behaved on camera student rugby players almost let her down. As did the out-dated Loaded-esq final product. But the fact that the largest media buyer had a client base that suited such a publication secured victory. Of course the fact that they understood the need to be flexible on the rate card cost helped massively.
Jedi Jim or Darth Norn Iron as he is now known missed this, which was as amazing as it was cringeworthy. How a supposed Sales expert got it so wrong says more about Jim’s real skills than his mouth would ever betray. Even without any clever TV editing any sales person worth their salt would’ve seen the change in atmosphere as Darth Norn told the media buyer that he wouldn’t negotiate on the rate card, not once but three times. He was lucky not to be hopping into the nearest TIE fighter, but it’s only a matter of time.
I can’t believe I’ve got this far into the article without any mention of the words ‘Hip’ and ‘Replacement’. I think that it’s because on some unconscious level I still can’t work out one thing…why!
Throughout Glenn’s one-man creative storm he got so carried away with comedy ‘old-people’ terms that he’d lost sight of what the magazine stood for. Feedback from the focus group gave some credence to Zoe’s throwaway ‘Hip Replacement’ idea, but a combination of translation and Darth Norn’s attempt at funking up the front cover meant it was a loser. Credit to Zoe though for understanding how the magazine should be pitched, just a shame the name left it looking decidedly bizarre.
The firing was a surprise more for the fact Darth Norn remained than Glenn being fired. The same charge could be levelled at Susan, but, despite her best efforts to irritate most, she perceptively picks up on the fundamental business points in the tasks. She just needs to learn to speak up a bit more before the event.
Lord Sugars rather unkind adage on firing Glenn that he’d ‘never met an engineer that was good at business’ will rankle with many. Though in his Lordships defence he loves engineers in general, especially those that helped him make his vast fortune. He obviously has a few scars.
So it was the engineer that left, with Bambi and Darth Norn heading back to the other candidates with their saving more a stay of execution than an indication of being potential winners.
Star of the Week: Tom Pellereau and Helen Louise Milligan. Both picked up on the correct route for Covered but were ignored by the whirling Natasha
Got Lucky: Darth Norn - Jim. Got it so wrong and his inability to sell will have him gone before long.
Heading for a Fall: Natasha Scribbins. Yeah!
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Who am I kidding, the ‘cream of UK business talent’ pulled a shocker of choices in this weeks task which was to create a brand new Freemium magazine and pitch to three of the countries largest media buying organisations to secure advertising revenue. In terms of the creative and pitching process it is one that I am very familiar with, and one thing I’ll always be an advocate of is not suppressing creative ideas. It is amazing sometime just where a seemingly weird idea (believe me some of them have been) will take you. Fundamentally however the key is to focus on the message and, more importantly, the market you are trying to reach.
This is the one and only reason why Natasha, yeah, led her team to a victory, yeah, even if yeah, her project manager skills yeah, had all the quality yeah of a pitch delivered word for word yeah in the way she talked yeah…grrrr I’ve irritated myself just writing it!
Her refusal to take the feedback from Tom, Helen and the group of burly if very well-behaved on camera student rugby players almost let her down. As did the out-dated Loaded-esq final product. But the fact that the largest media buyer had a client base that suited such a publication secured victory. Of course the fact that they understood the need to be flexible on the rate card cost helped massively.
Jedi Jim or Darth Norn Iron as he is now known missed this, which was as amazing as it was cringeworthy. How a supposed Sales expert got it so wrong says more about Jim’s real skills than his mouth would ever betray. Even without any clever TV editing any sales person worth their salt would’ve seen the change in atmosphere as Darth Norn told the media buyer that he wouldn’t negotiate on the rate card, not once but three times. He was lucky not to be hopping into the nearest TIE fighter, but it’s only a matter of time.
I can’t believe I’ve got this far into the article without any mention of the words ‘Hip’ and ‘Replacement’. I think that it’s because on some unconscious level I still can’t work out one thing…why!
Throughout Glenn’s one-man creative storm he got so carried away with comedy ‘old-people’ terms that he’d lost sight of what the magazine stood for. Feedback from the focus group gave some credence to Zoe’s throwaway ‘Hip Replacement’ idea, but a combination of translation and Darth Norn’s attempt at funking up the front cover meant it was a loser. Credit to Zoe though for understanding how the magazine should be pitched, just a shame the name left it looking decidedly bizarre.
The firing was a surprise more for the fact Darth Norn remained than Glenn being fired. The same charge could be levelled at Susan, but, despite her best efforts to irritate most, she perceptively picks up on the fundamental business points in the tasks. She just needs to learn to speak up a bit more before the event.
Lord Sugars rather unkind adage on firing Glenn that he’d ‘never met an engineer that was good at business’ will rankle with many. Though in his Lordships defence he loves engineers in general, especially those that helped him make his vast fortune. He obviously has a few scars.
So it was the engineer that left, with Bambi and Darth Norn heading back to the other candidates with their saving more a stay of execution than an indication of being potential winners.
Star of the Week: Tom Pellereau and Helen Louise Milligan. Both picked up on the correct route for Covered but were ignored by the whirling Natasha
Got Lucky: Darth Norn - Jim. Got it so wrong and his inability to sell will have him gone before long.
Heading for a Fall: Natasha Scribbins. Yeah!
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Thursday 16 June 2011
Tuesday 14 June 2011
What a load of rubbish! Apprentice Series 7 Episode 6
Copper boilers, a builder that would put Del Boy to shame, and tears and tantrums, are there any more classic combinations for an Apprentice episode? Lord Sugar’s challenge of turning muck into brass (as long as it was copper) brought the first win for Team Logic and the loss of be-gloved Edna.
It was another task, as so many are, that was lost by Venture within the first throws. Zoe failed to see the merits in Susan’s spark of genius and was blown out of the water by a clever Logic move to not charge for waste removal and therefore win the three crucial commercial contracts. Less impressive was team Logics scout party led by Jedi Jim, the Norn Iron Obi Wan, and Tom berating hapless residents in their own homes in what must count as the most unlikely and scariest Rag and Bone combo since Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin popped to Alderaan for spare parts (Star Wars references for those not quite as sad as me!). In fact I’m still not sure why Jedi Jim felt he had to use the PA, surely he could’ve just used his powers to make them answer the door – he obviously didn’t want to show off.
Enough Star Wars references, this was waste wars and it did show with some hard physical graft, just what it takes some new businesses to get off the ground.
Unless you are lucky, in the early days of a business there is no one else to pack the rubbish, drive the van, do the negotiation, clean up after and then arrive home tired, hungry and dirty and have the bookkeeping and administration to do before a couple of hours sleep and doing it all over again. It may have been rubbish, but it could well have been any kind of business you’d like to mention.
Getting new businesses off the ground is a hard and often lonely task, and sometimes the rewards for a day of graft are as little as £6. It is these times that you really need the support of a network of colleagues, contacts, friends and mentors – as well as advisors and dare I say bankers (something that seems to be severely lacking for many at the moment). It is this network of people that every new business owner needs (indeed every owner/entrepreneur regardless of their business) and sometimes cannot find.
Back to the episode, and leading team Logic, Helen was clever enough to realise that the risky strategy of not charging could secure the contracts and win the task. Though it is worth pointing out this wouldn’t have worked as a long term business strategy, this was about winning an Apprentice task, and so needs must.
I’ve mentioned Helen in my previous blogs only once, and that is mainly due to the fact that up until this episode she has been anonymous. Her calm organisational skills certainly helped in leading Logic to the win, however it should be said that even with three commercial contracts they did only win by £6. So Helen’s skills really do still remain a mystery. On the other hand, the ‘flaky’ (as she has been described by her teammates) Susan yet again hit on a winning idea, but didn’t have the force of will to push against the increasingly bullish Zoe (who survived the boardroom again, largely due to Lord Sugars desire to oust Edna).
Where did this all leave us? The list of potential fits with Lord Sugar looks to be heading along the lines of that in my previous blog, and as we see more of the candidates personality, the easier it is to see just who Lord Sugar could work with.
I get the impression that Lord Sugar has already separated the copper boilers from the steel baths that scrapheap is about to get a lot fuller.
Star of the Week: Tom Pellereau I don't think there has been an Apprentice candidate more happy to win a task.
Got Lucky: Zoe Beresford. Does Lord Sugar have a soft spot for feisty Zoe, or has her choice of final 3 saved her.
Heading for a Fall: Helen Lousie Milligan. More as a question of whether she believes her own hype after what was a £6 win.
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
It was another task, as so many are, that was lost by Venture within the first throws. Zoe failed to see the merits in Susan’s spark of genius and was blown out of the water by a clever Logic move to not charge for waste removal and therefore win the three crucial commercial contracts. Less impressive was team Logics scout party led by Jedi Jim, the Norn Iron Obi Wan, and Tom berating hapless residents in their own homes in what must count as the most unlikely and scariest Rag and Bone combo since Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin popped to Alderaan for spare parts (Star Wars references for those not quite as sad as me!). In fact I’m still not sure why Jedi Jim felt he had to use the PA, surely he could’ve just used his powers to make them answer the door – he obviously didn’t want to show off.
Enough Star Wars references, this was waste wars and it did show with some hard physical graft, just what it takes some new businesses to get off the ground.
Unless you are lucky, in the early days of a business there is no one else to pack the rubbish, drive the van, do the negotiation, clean up after and then arrive home tired, hungry and dirty and have the bookkeeping and administration to do before a couple of hours sleep and doing it all over again. It may have been rubbish, but it could well have been any kind of business you’d like to mention.
Getting new businesses off the ground is a hard and often lonely task, and sometimes the rewards for a day of graft are as little as £6. It is these times that you really need the support of a network of colleagues, contacts, friends and mentors – as well as advisors and dare I say bankers (something that seems to be severely lacking for many at the moment). It is this network of people that every new business owner needs (indeed every owner/entrepreneur regardless of their business) and sometimes cannot find.
Back to the episode, and leading team Logic, Helen was clever enough to realise that the risky strategy of not charging could secure the contracts and win the task. Though it is worth pointing out this wouldn’t have worked as a long term business strategy, this was about winning an Apprentice task, and so needs must.
I’ve mentioned Helen in my previous blogs only once, and that is mainly due to the fact that up until this episode she has been anonymous. Her calm organisational skills certainly helped in leading Logic to the win, however it should be said that even with three commercial contracts they did only win by £6. So Helen’s skills really do still remain a mystery. On the other hand, the ‘flaky’ (as she has been described by her teammates) Susan yet again hit on a winning idea, but didn’t have the force of will to push against the increasingly bullish Zoe (who survived the boardroom again, largely due to Lord Sugars desire to oust Edna).
Where did this all leave us? The list of potential fits with Lord Sugar looks to be heading along the lines of that in my previous blog, and as we see more of the candidates personality, the easier it is to see just who Lord Sugar could work with.
I get the impression that Lord Sugar has already separated the copper boilers from the steel baths that scrapheap is about to get a lot fuller.
Star of the Week: Tom Pellereau I don't think there has been an Apprentice candidate more happy to win a task.
Got Lucky: Zoe Beresford. Does Lord Sugar have a soft spot for feisty Zoe, or has her choice of final 3 saved her.
Heading for a Fall: Helen Lousie Milligan. More as a question of whether she believes her own hype after what was a £6 win.
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
Wednesday 8 June 2011
Tuesday 7 June 2011
A Blueprint For the Future; Oldham Athletic and Business
A couple of years ago I approached the directors at Oldham Athletic, my club, to offer my marketing and sales skills particularly in the form of putting a strategic approach to improving the marketing of the club together.
Fair play to them they listened, had a meeting, and I heard no more - though as you may spot a few activities may just have been acted on. In any case I thought I'd share with you the outline I gave them that day...
A Blueprint for the Future of Oldham Athletic; Marketing the Club
Undoubtedly, on-field performance has the biggest impact on every aspect of the club. However, the development of a clear, strong and imaginative marketing strategy is vital in lessening the reliance on such an uncontrollable element and reinvigorating the marketing of the club.
Vital to moving the strategy forward would be the internal audience being completely on board. If not, this will ensure that the project is doomed to fail.
Challenges – Where we are?
In many ways the club has reached a key point in all areas from the management and squad to the stadium. There is a curious contrasting feeling within a proportion of the supporter base between cautious excitement at the progress that has been made particularly over the past 3 years and a growing apathy at a perceived lack of success and ‘settling’ for what exists.
Taking the general points from recent debates within the fan base, there is a feeling that marketing initiatives have rather ground to a halt, and the club could be doing more to promote the club in the town. There is also a lack of regular contact with the core supporters. Yet, there is also an understanding that many previous initiatives have been extremely generous and the lack of their success is probably contributing to the current situation.
It is against this backdrop that the key challenges appear to be:
• To increase and maintain the average attendances
• To raise the profile of the club within the wider community/town/area and associated business community
• To create a buzz within the supporter base about the club
• To increase the communication with key ‘customers’.
The club already has a number of elements in its favour:
• A loyal core support
• Good routes of communication
• A product that has a generally widespread appeal
• Wide potential base for idea generation
• Teamcard and Ticketmaster systems demonstrate an willingness to embrace new technology
What is clear from a small amount of research is that there is a clear need to ‘do something’. However, a balance must be struck between the pressure from fans for short-term rewards and the business need to create long-term, sustainable results.
What is possible?
Over the past decade, a number of football league clubs have recognised the changing nature of football fans. The fans are increasingly becoming more fickle and they expect more from their clubs and rightly so. Clubs such as Norwich City, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic have all created long-term strategies aimed at creating sustainable off-field activities, all with good results. They have all underpinned these strategies with a CRM system which places data at the heart of decision making. This has to be the way forward for a club such as Oldham that needs to make cost-effective and targeted decisions/offers.
The key for any marketing initiatives in a service/entertainment industry is to generate immediate results, within a clearly defined longer term aim. For example, a £2 entry game can be underpinned by a data collection exercise which would then provide additional targets for later marketing activity including season ticket offers.
This is an example where an innovative and extremely generous initiative could have been enhanced with a more controlled long-term approach. Any initiative must be designed along the following steps:
1. Clear start and end
2. Value offering
3. Common purpose
4. Targeted
5. Measured and tested
6. Clear Steps
By setting out a clear strategy in how the club will move forward with its sales and marketing approach it will become easier to develop and assess new ideas/outlets as they inevitably occur.
Every business benefits most from marketing initiatives that are developed from a clear understanding of both their customers and non/potential customers.
Taking a Strategic Approach
What is a strategic approach:
1. Attract leads
2. Convert leads to first sale
3. Know our customers
4. Increase the value per sale
5. Create flow-on effect
6. Increase margins
7. Reputation / Brand
The key to any strategy is results.
Recommendations – What would a blank canvas approach look like?
A Strategic Approach – Overall Steps
1. Research exercise, including set up of key focus groups
2. Development of key strategy points
3. Feedback from focus groups on the strategic points
4. Develop the marketing strategy
5. Implement
It is clear that the club should work to a strategic plan for its off-field promotional activity. I would suggest that this is developed over a 3-5 year plan, with points included within this for review. The plan would be a long-term approach with various initiatives that place the key/loyal supporters at its centre. The best method to underpin such a strategy would be through a well developed database marketing approach. The club should give very strong thought to developing an efficient database system.
Research Exercise
The basis for the strategy should be a comprehensive consultation exercise with the existing fan base and wider town to both understand the needs and opinions of the existing/potential customers and open up a clear and structured line of communication. The research will have the benefit of:
• Providing input on supporter satisfaction with club facilities
• Understanding the fans’ views about the club and their relationship with it.
• Investigating season-ticket holding and ways of packaging membership to add value and increase uptake.
The research exercise should include the following groups:
• Season-ticket holders
• Fans groups
• Official fans forum
• Local businesses
• Non-Season ticket holders
• Non fans in the local area
• Non attending fans in the local area
A sample questionnaire is included at the end of this report.
Latics have excellent communication lines with fans through the website, OWTB forum and fans groups (Trust Oldham, OASA etc). However, the consultation must go further to encompass season ticket holders, regular and irregular attendees and former and non attendees. Targeted consultations can also be held with key groups such as businesses, community groups and public organisations.
Input would include all aspects of the club from pricing and communication to match day experiences and merchandising.
The questionnaire could be distributed via a number of different media including via the forums, on match days, the club shop/ticket office and even the Oldham Chronicle (perhaps by looking for sponsorship for the feature). By utilising a low-cost, online option such as Survey Monkey it would make it easier to gain the feedback. Some thoughts should be given to incentivising the return of questionnaires.
Key focus groups
To complement the questionnaire, it would be advisable to create a couple of focus groups to further discuss the issues under review. The groups should be split along the lines of season-ticket holders and potential season ticket holders.
Also, it will help to create a focus group of around 12-16 fans that is consulted on all the issues covered on an ongoing basis, for example every quarter. These should be a mix of season ticket holders and non-ticket holders/potential fans.
The research will identify a number of key points with regards to how best the club can develop initiatives that are both welcomed by fans and profitable, along with better informing general strategic approach of the club.
Such a research exercise can be combined with a review of existing customer data to begin the steps in building a database marketing system. The intention of this being to build a long-term picture of each individual that has an interaction with the club. This will allow the development of targeted offers aimed at increasing turnover from within the existing base and encouraging new ticket holders.
Key Targets and Possible Initiative Ideas
Season-Ticket Holders/Regulars/Best Spenders
As this group can be defined in many ways as the ‘most loyal’ supporters, it is a key group to involve in regular communication. As your best brand advocates, they provide a fantastic base with which to feed offers through.
Specific offers could be developed through collection of data, which would otherwise be loss leaders for other groups of fans eg:
• Regular communication both written, and quarterly fans meetings
• Birthday present of a free ticket to bring a friend/pint/pie
• Anniversary of their first season ticket, possibly a reduced price
• Thank you from the squad at the end of the season – email/card/letter
• Preview invitations to see the new kit before it goes on general sale (esp for those who are identified as regular spenders)
• Meet the new signings – again for most loyal especially relevant around pre-season before others get the chance to see them in action
• Golden Ticket – auto entry draw when you purchase a season ticket – get the full cost refunded if you win
• ‘Experience days’ for the loyalist fans, eg joining in training/footballer for the day/vip treatment
• Vouchers to encourage buying behaviour, eg for those who attend every game but don’t buy a pie/programme/spend in shop
• Vouchers as per Burnley FC promotion – especially relevant this season with the December schedule
• Joint offers with local businesses, eg we’re loyal to local business too
• Keep the other half happy, eg money off a bunch of flowers/bottle of wine/restaurant offer
Young Fans/Colleges/Schools
As the supporter of the future, they are a key target group for any long-term strategy. Latics have a great track record of servicing the younger fan base, in which Chaddy the Owl has become a major part. More could be done to build the special feel of belonging to the various Boundary Blues and Chaddy’s Gang groups. Data collection would also help to move the youngster through from junior tickets through to adult tickets, helping to pave the way for an intermediate ticket. By tracking the ages, intermediate tickets become easier to justify and service without the club suffering from potential ‘abuse’ of the system.
• Boundary Blues/Chaddy’s Gang own website, with forums, games and possibly a 2 games for £5 style offer
• Intermediate tickets covering university and college ages
• Direct promotion activity within colleges and university
• Creating mini-franchises in schools as part of their business training. They sell tickets/merchandise in schools to pupils taking a cut of the profits...running a proper business and promoting games in schools. This would work fantastically well as part of the community scheme.
Local Press/Media
Another key target should be to enhance the links with local media especially the Oldham Chronicle and they key effect that coverage across the sports pages and elsewhere in the title can have in winning over the community. It has felt at times that there is a lack of support from the Chronicle. Certainly it is a growing niggles with some fans that the two Manchester clubs appear to be getting more and more column inches. It is the club that are in a position to be able to make a difference on this.
• A dedicate section within the paper for community news/offers/promote upcoming game – perhaps with a co-sponsor to ensure paper is gaining some advertising revenue
• General shows/comments of support on various local issues/charitable causes
Local Council
The moves to ‘rebrand’ the town and the associated campaigns and investment, offer a huge opportunity for the club to place itself as a key player in helping the process/rebirth of the towns image. The new stadium planning situation could be turned into a positive in terms of a number of ‘open’ communication channels which now exist.
• Suggesting that the rebrand could involve the club – eg
ur Club l ur Town
I am Oldham (various media campaign featuring well know Oldhamers, along with residents eg. Chris Taylor)
Business Community
As business owners it is often difficult to see tangible benefits from general sponsorship activity of sports clubs. By having a good database marketing approach major/match sponsors could be given opportunities to communicate directly with the fan base. For example, an email newsletter sent either before or after the game to the fan base could have a mini-feature on the match sponsor. This immediately gives some more tangible incentive for sponsors.
• Have a presence at existing network events around the town
• Create the clubs own network events. These could differ from the norm by having a different member each week setting out what their business could do for Oldham Athletic. This makes their business more memorable by giving a practical example, creating a better core group. Sponsorship can be gained especially from local banks/solicitors who are very keen on these type of events
• Hold special meetings prior to games with a small drinks meeting prior to attending the game. This would work particularly well prior to evening games when it could be used as an excuse to leave the office early
• Develop a Presidents club/Platinum club (particularly with the new developments in mind). Allow an annual membership and limit numbers
• Targeted promotions to the fan base allow the offering of more cost-effective/higher value sponsorship deals
• A greater involvement with the local chambers/businesslink/enterprise centres –eg. East Lancashire has based their entire enterprise funding around the football clubs of Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington offering cheap office space and various start-up funding for businesses (LEGI funding)
• The new stadium developments could be placed at the centre of much of the activity eg. get in now and it will be cheaper when it is finished
• Use the data collected to identify those fans that are in decision making roles with their employers. Target these with specific hospitality offers and be proactive in meeting with them for their input
• Golf days / experience days
• Presentation evening pre-season for the presentation of squad shirts for shirt/major sponsors (paid event)
• Management in action eg. inviting managers from various businesses on non-match days for workshop/meet with our manager/director on running the club
Other General Suggestions
• Reinvigorate the stadium development excitement. Perhaps create a new website/micro-site showing the plans, updates on the progress, advertising for contractors
• Creating a car-share scheme – especially for those not able to attend/struggle to attend games or away games
• Town Centre shuttle bus prior and post match days – could be combined with...
• Match day promotion crew – in the town centre selling tickets with incentives to attend
• “Relive the Pinch Me Year’s” promotion – bring old memorabilia along to get it signed by old players. Make an event of it with games playing on screens
• Combined tickets/offers/events with other entertainment providers in town – eg his ‘n’ hers tickets for a day at the football and a night at the theatre, local restaurants.
• Football goes to the theatre – a full classic game replayed on a big screen at a local venue
The ideas outlined have been developed to fit within a long-term, sustained marketing approach. Conducting the survey would allow these ideas (and perhaps better ones) to be discussed and evaluated.
The majority of the ideas will require an intelligent database marketing system to gain the best benefit from them. The Teamcard system which the club has recently introduced has been combined with such a system to good effect by clubs such as Norwich and Ipswich.
Approaching your marketing from this long-term view, and gaining a very clear understanding of your supporters will benefit all aspects of the club. It may also go some way to contributing to the feel that the club really is progressing into a club for the 21st Century.
...so there you go. How was it? I designed a whole questionnaire to be distributed, but that was another thing not acted on. Football at the lower levels needs to be clever in marketing terms. Battling against so many powerful and huge marketing machines in not only the Premier League clubs, but the Premier League itself and Sky and the FA who all benefit from massive interest in the Premier League clubs. However, with some thought and a long-term plan stuck to whatever is happening on the pitch, it is possible to box clever.
Fair play to them they listened, had a meeting, and I heard no more - though as you may spot a few activities may just have been acted on. In any case I thought I'd share with you the outline I gave them that day...
A Blueprint for the Future of Oldham Athletic; Marketing the Club
Undoubtedly, on-field performance has the biggest impact on every aspect of the club. However, the development of a clear, strong and imaginative marketing strategy is vital in lessening the reliance on such an uncontrollable element and reinvigorating the marketing of the club.
Vital to moving the strategy forward would be the internal audience being completely on board. If not, this will ensure that the project is doomed to fail.
Challenges – Where we are?
In many ways the club has reached a key point in all areas from the management and squad to the stadium. There is a curious contrasting feeling within a proportion of the supporter base between cautious excitement at the progress that has been made particularly over the past 3 years and a growing apathy at a perceived lack of success and ‘settling’ for what exists.
Taking the general points from recent debates within the fan base, there is a feeling that marketing initiatives have rather ground to a halt, and the club could be doing more to promote the club in the town. There is also a lack of regular contact with the core supporters. Yet, there is also an understanding that many previous initiatives have been extremely generous and the lack of their success is probably contributing to the current situation.
It is against this backdrop that the key challenges appear to be:
• To increase and maintain the average attendances
• To raise the profile of the club within the wider community/town/area and associated business community
• To create a buzz within the supporter base about the club
• To increase the communication with key ‘customers’.
The club already has a number of elements in its favour:
• A loyal core support
• Good routes of communication
• A product that has a generally widespread appeal
• Wide potential base for idea generation
• Teamcard and Ticketmaster systems demonstrate an willingness to embrace new technology
What is clear from a small amount of research is that there is a clear need to ‘do something’. However, a balance must be struck between the pressure from fans for short-term rewards and the business need to create long-term, sustainable results.
What is possible?
Over the past decade, a number of football league clubs have recognised the changing nature of football fans. The fans are increasingly becoming more fickle and they expect more from their clubs and rightly so. Clubs such as Norwich City, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic have all created long-term strategies aimed at creating sustainable off-field activities, all with good results. They have all underpinned these strategies with a CRM system which places data at the heart of decision making. This has to be the way forward for a club such as Oldham that needs to make cost-effective and targeted decisions/offers.
The key for any marketing initiatives in a service/entertainment industry is to generate immediate results, within a clearly defined longer term aim. For example, a £2 entry game can be underpinned by a data collection exercise which would then provide additional targets for later marketing activity including season ticket offers.
This is an example where an innovative and extremely generous initiative could have been enhanced with a more controlled long-term approach. Any initiative must be designed along the following steps:
1. Clear start and end
2. Value offering
3. Common purpose
4. Targeted
5. Measured and tested
6. Clear Steps
By setting out a clear strategy in how the club will move forward with its sales and marketing approach it will become easier to develop and assess new ideas/outlets as they inevitably occur.
Every business benefits most from marketing initiatives that are developed from a clear understanding of both their customers and non/potential customers.
Taking a Strategic Approach
What is a strategic approach:
1. Attract leads
2. Convert leads to first sale
3. Know our customers
4. Increase the value per sale
5. Create flow-on effect
6. Increase margins
7. Reputation / Brand
The key to any strategy is results.
Recommendations – What would a blank canvas approach look like?
A Strategic Approach – Overall Steps
1. Research exercise, including set up of key focus groups
2. Development of key strategy points
3. Feedback from focus groups on the strategic points
4. Develop the marketing strategy
5. Implement
It is clear that the club should work to a strategic plan for its off-field promotional activity. I would suggest that this is developed over a 3-5 year plan, with points included within this for review. The plan would be a long-term approach with various initiatives that place the key/loyal supporters at its centre. The best method to underpin such a strategy would be through a well developed database marketing approach. The club should give very strong thought to developing an efficient database system.
Research Exercise
The basis for the strategy should be a comprehensive consultation exercise with the existing fan base and wider town to both understand the needs and opinions of the existing/potential customers and open up a clear and structured line of communication. The research will have the benefit of:
• Providing input on supporter satisfaction with club facilities
• Understanding the fans’ views about the club and their relationship with it.
• Investigating season-ticket holding and ways of packaging membership to add value and increase uptake.
The research exercise should include the following groups:
• Season-ticket holders
• Fans groups
• Official fans forum
• Local businesses
• Non-Season ticket holders
• Non fans in the local area
• Non attending fans in the local area
A sample questionnaire is included at the end of this report.
Latics have excellent communication lines with fans through the website, OWTB forum and fans groups (Trust Oldham, OASA etc). However, the consultation must go further to encompass season ticket holders, regular and irregular attendees and former and non attendees. Targeted consultations can also be held with key groups such as businesses, community groups and public organisations.
Input would include all aspects of the club from pricing and communication to match day experiences and merchandising.
The questionnaire could be distributed via a number of different media including via the forums, on match days, the club shop/ticket office and even the Oldham Chronicle (perhaps by looking for sponsorship for the feature). By utilising a low-cost, online option such as Survey Monkey it would make it easier to gain the feedback. Some thoughts should be given to incentivising the return of questionnaires.
Key focus groups
To complement the questionnaire, it would be advisable to create a couple of focus groups to further discuss the issues under review. The groups should be split along the lines of season-ticket holders and potential season ticket holders.
Also, it will help to create a focus group of around 12-16 fans that is consulted on all the issues covered on an ongoing basis, for example every quarter. These should be a mix of season ticket holders and non-ticket holders/potential fans.
The research will identify a number of key points with regards to how best the club can develop initiatives that are both welcomed by fans and profitable, along with better informing general strategic approach of the club.
Such a research exercise can be combined with a review of existing customer data to begin the steps in building a database marketing system. The intention of this being to build a long-term picture of each individual that has an interaction with the club. This will allow the development of targeted offers aimed at increasing turnover from within the existing base and encouraging new ticket holders.
Key Targets and Possible Initiative Ideas
Season-Ticket Holders/Regulars/Best Spenders
As this group can be defined in many ways as the ‘most loyal’ supporters, it is a key group to involve in regular communication. As your best brand advocates, they provide a fantastic base with which to feed offers through.
Specific offers could be developed through collection of data, which would otherwise be loss leaders for other groups of fans eg:
• Regular communication both written, and quarterly fans meetings
• Birthday present of a free ticket to bring a friend/pint/pie
• Anniversary of their first season ticket, possibly a reduced price
• Thank you from the squad at the end of the season – email/card/letter
• Preview invitations to see the new kit before it goes on general sale (esp for those who are identified as regular spenders)
• Meet the new signings – again for most loyal especially relevant around pre-season before others get the chance to see them in action
• Golden Ticket – auto entry draw when you purchase a season ticket – get the full cost refunded if you win
• ‘Experience days’ for the loyalist fans, eg joining in training/footballer for the day/vip treatment
• Vouchers to encourage buying behaviour, eg for those who attend every game but don’t buy a pie/programme/spend in shop
• Vouchers as per Burnley FC promotion – especially relevant this season with the December schedule
• Joint offers with local businesses, eg we’re loyal to local business too
• Keep the other half happy, eg money off a bunch of flowers/bottle of wine/restaurant offer
Young Fans/Colleges/Schools
As the supporter of the future, they are a key target group for any long-term strategy. Latics have a great track record of servicing the younger fan base, in which Chaddy the Owl has become a major part. More could be done to build the special feel of belonging to the various Boundary Blues and Chaddy’s Gang groups. Data collection would also help to move the youngster through from junior tickets through to adult tickets, helping to pave the way for an intermediate ticket. By tracking the ages, intermediate tickets become easier to justify and service without the club suffering from potential ‘abuse’ of the system.
• Boundary Blues/Chaddy’s Gang own website, with forums, games and possibly a 2 games for £5 style offer
• Intermediate tickets covering university and college ages
• Direct promotion activity within colleges and university
• Creating mini-franchises in schools as part of their business training. They sell tickets/merchandise in schools to pupils taking a cut of the profits...running a proper business and promoting games in schools. This would work fantastically well as part of the community scheme.
Local Press/Media
Another key target should be to enhance the links with local media especially the Oldham Chronicle and they key effect that coverage across the sports pages and elsewhere in the title can have in winning over the community. It has felt at times that there is a lack of support from the Chronicle. Certainly it is a growing niggles with some fans that the two Manchester clubs appear to be getting more and more column inches. It is the club that are in a position to be able to make a difference on this.
• A dedicate section within the paper for community news/offers/promote upcoming game – perhaps with a co-sponsor to ensure paper is gaining some advertising revenue
• General shows/comments of support on various local issues/charitable causes
Local Council
The moves to ‘rebrand’ the town and the associated campaigns and investment, offer a huge opportunity for the club to place itself as a key player in helping the process/rebirth of the towns image. The new stadium planning situation could be turned into a positive in terms of a number of ‘open’ communication channels which now exist.
• Suggesting that the rebrand could involve the club – eg
ur Club l ur Town
I am Oldham (various media campaign featuring well know Oldhamers, along with residents eg. Chris Taylor)
Business Community
As business owners it is often difficult to see tangible benefits from general sponsorship activity of sports clubs. By having a good database marketing approach major/match sponsors could be given opportunities to communicate directly with the fan base. For example, an email newsletter sent either before or after the game to the fan base could have a mini-feature on the match sponsor. This immediately gives some more tangible incentive for sponsors.
• Have a presence at existing network events around the town
• Create the clubs own network events. These could differ from the norm by having a different member each week setting out what their business could do for Oldham Athletic. This makes their business more memorable by giving a practical example, creating a better core group. Sponsorship can be gained especially from local banks/solicitors who are very keen on these type of events
• Hold special meetings prior to games with a small drinks meeting prior to attending the game. This would work particularly well prior to evening games when it could be used as an excuse to leave the office early
• Develop a Presidents club/Platinum club (particularly with the new developments in mind). Allow an annual membership and limit numbers
• Targeted promotions to the fan base allow the offering of more cost-effective/higher value sponsorship deals
• A greater involvement with the local chambers/businesslink/enterprise centres –eg. East Lancashire has based their entire enterprise funding around the football clubs of Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington offering cheap office space and various start-up funding for businesses (LEGI funding)
• The new stadium developments could be placed at the centre of much of the activity eg. get in now and it will be cheaper when it is finished
• Use the data collected to identify those fans that are in decision making roles with their employers. Target these with specific hospitality offers and be proactive in meeting with them for their input
• Golf days / experience days
• Presentation evening pre-season for the presentation of squad shirts for shirt/major sponsors (paid event)
• Management in action eg. inviting managers from various businesses on non-match days for workshop/meet with our manager/director on running the club
Other General Suggestions
• Reinvigorate the stadium development excitement. Perhaps create a new website/micro-site showing the plans, updates on the progress, advertising for contractors
• Creating a car-share scheme – especially for those not able to attend/struggle to attend games or away games
• Town Centre shuttle bus prior and post match days – could be combined with...
• Match day promotion crew – in the town centre selling tickets with incentives to attend
• “Relive the Pinch Me Year’s” promotion – bring old memorabilia along to get it signed by old players. Make an event of it with games playing on screens
• Combined tickets/offers/events with other entertainment providers in town – eg his ‘n’ hers tickets for a day at the football and a night at the theatre, local restaurants.
• Football goes to the theatre – a full classic game replayed on a big screen at a local venue
The ideas outlined have been developed to fit within a long-term, sustained marketing approach. Conducting the survey would allow these ideas (and perhaps better ones) to be discussed and evaluated.
The majority of the ideas will require an intelligent database marketing system to gain the best benefit from them. The Teamcard system which the club has recently introduced has been combined with such a system to good effect by clubs such as Norwich and Ipswich.
Approaching your marketing from this long-term view, and gaining a very clear understanding of your supporters will benefit all aspects of the club. It may also go some way to contributing to the feel that the club really is progressing into a club for the 21st Century.
...so there you go. How was it? I designed a whole questionnaire to be distributed, but that was another thing not acted on. Football at the lower levels needs to be clever in marketing terms. Battling against so many powerful and huge marketing machines in not only the Premier League clubs, but the Premier League itself and Sky and the FA who all benefit from massive interest in the Premier League clubs. However, with some thought and a long-term plan stuck to whatever is happening on the pitch, it is possible to box clever.
Thursday 2 June 2011
Who let the Dogs out? The Apprentice Series 7 Episode 5
Right, first things first, I thought it best to get several clichés out of the way now so as not to make this article too predictable. Today I will not be mentioning... ‘made a dogs dinner out of it’, ‘top dog’, ‘cat who got the cream’ ‘nine lives’, ‘dogs b****cks’. Though to be fair I probably won’t need the last one to describe any of the accomplishments in Episode 5.
The ‘Pet Food’ task could prove to be the pivotal episode in this year’s Apprentice as we saw a double firing, bookies favourite Jedi Jim becoming a marked man and the quiet man of the group, Tom manoeuvring himself into the limelight.
The demise of one-time favourite Ellie was as sad as it was frustrating. Ellie had given the impression of being the kind of female powerhouse that grows into the show. Sadly she failed to take on board last week’s bashing from Lord Sugar and remained a silent, un-interested looking participant in a losing team. There wasn’t even any of the superb spark that marked last week’s boardroom appearance. And it was really put into context when in a losing group headed by Dogtanian himself, Vincent, who Lord Sugar was gunning for; she succumbed to the firing first.
Vincent - One for all, and all for One
Surprisingly still was big favourite Jedi Jim being set clearly in Lord Sugars firing line. It was a bad performance from Jim and perhaps we saw some of his real personality for the first time, and his Lordship certainly didn’t approve.
To the task itself, and in a week when it was marketing and not sales that was the key decision, Logic applied none of it to their product under Vincent’s leadership. They failed to find a niche and perhaps misunderstood the essence of the task. This being about creating a good brand and marketing campaign, that was key, the possibility of huge sales wasn’t. That is why Glenn and Venture succeeded where Logic failed (again). And even though Glenn did his best to make a good idea, backed by identifying a niche market, sound and look bad (a poor advert and see their light!!??) the principles were sound, as was the design of the packaging.
A superior ad was never going to be enough to save Logic who had failed to identify key trends in the market. That would never wash with Lord Sugar. This task was a marketing one, focused solely on the process of identifying and addressing a niche within a massive market. I’m sure marketers everywhere cringed when Vincent uttered the words ‘we are targeting everyone with this’. In the age of digital, niche and personalised marketing, these utterings meant Vincent wasn’t going to last.
Vincent did pipe up with the marketing mantra of the ‘4 P’s’ which is always amusing for an experienced marketer to hear, if I was getting marketing geeky at this point I would say that ‘7 P’s’ is generally more accepted these days. But whether it’s 4 or 7, Logic were on a hiding to nothing having embarked (see what I did there) down the wrong path. Perhaps the 6 P’s of the SAS may have been more appropriate (Proper Planning Prevents P**s Poor Performance).
As usual Venture was helped more by the failings of Team Logic than a dynamic project manager of their own. Glenn did himself no favours in leading the team with all the management skills of Frank Spencer and none of the charm. You can’t knock him for sticking to his guns in the face of some ridicule, but the lack of any management skills could not have escaped Karren Brady and her all seeing (cats)eyes.
One thing that has become clearer after the Pet Food task is that Lord Sugar is already looking to who he feels he can trust to work with – not just employ and it is a very different requirement.
Already it looks like Jim, Natasha, Edna and Zoe are all out, Jim’s hammering in his absence the final nail in his coffin. All of which leaves Melody, Leon, Susan, Tom, Glenn and the elusive Helen. So who will come out as leader of the pack, the top dog, the cat that got the cream...oh b......
Star of the Week: Tom Pellereau got it spot on with his concerns, and for the 2nd week running he got to the nub of the issue quickly and with no fuss.
Got Lucky: Jedi Jim Eastwood and Glenn Ward. Jim is in the firing line and Glenn was fortunate to be on the winning team after his leadership style.
Heading for a Fall: Natasha Scribbens, another boardroom appearance probably saved only by the presence of the other two. Will she realise that, or begin to believe her own hype?
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
The ‘Pet Food’ task could prove to be the pivotal episode in this year’s Apprentice as we saw a double firing, bookies favourite Jedi Jim becoming a marked man and the quiet man of the group, Tom manoeuvring himself into the limelight.
The demise of one-time favourite Ellie was as sad as it was frustrating. Ellie had given the impression of being the kind of female powerhouse that grows into the show. Sadly she failed to take on board last week’s bashing from Lord Sugar and remained a silent, un-interested looking participant in a losing team. There wasn’t even any of the superb spark that marked last week’s boardroom appearance. And it was really put into context when in a losing group headed by Dogtanian himself, Vincent, who Lord Sugar was gunning for; she succumbed to the firing first.
Vincent - One for all, and all for OneSurprisingly still was big favourite Jedi Jim being set clearly in Lord Sugars firing line. It was a bad performance from Jim and perhaps we saw some of his real personality for the first time, and his Lordship certainly didn’t approve.
To the task itself, and in a week when it was marketing and not sales that was the key decision, Logic applied none of it to their product under Vincent’s leadership. They failed to find a niche and perhaps misunderstood the essence of the task. This being about creating a good brand and marketing campaign, that was key, the possibility of huge sales wasn’t. That is why Glenn and Venture succeeded where Logic failed (again). And even though Glenn did his best to make a good idea, backed by identifying a niche market, sound and look bad (a poor advert and see their light!!??) the principles were sound, as was the design of the packaging.
A superior ad was never going to be enough to save Logic who had failed to identify key trends in the market. That would never wash with Lord Sugar. This task was a marketing one, focused solely on the process of identifying and addressing a niche within a massive market. I’m sure marketers everywhere cringed when Vincent uttered the words ‘we are targeting everyone with this’. In the age of digital, niche and personalised marketing, these utterings meant Vincent wasn’t going to last.
Vincent did pipe up with the marketing mantra of the ‘4 P’s’ which is always amusing for an experienced marketer to hear, if I was getting marketing geeky at this point I would say that ‘7 P’s’ is generally more accepted these days. But whether it’s 4 or 7, Logic were on a hiding to nothing having embarked (see what I did there) down the wrong path. Perhaps the 6 P’s of the SAS may have been more appropriate (Proper Planning Prevents P**s Poor Performance).
As usual Venture was helped more by the failings of Team Logic than a dynamic project manager of their own. Glenn did himself no favours in leading the team with all the management skills of Frank Spencer and none of the charm. You can’t knock him for sticking to his guns in the face of some ridicule, but the lack of any management skills could not have escaped Karren Brady and her all seeing (cats)eyes.
One thing that has become clearer after the Pet Food task is that Lord Sugar is already looking to who he feels he can trust to work with – not just employ and it is a very different requirement.
Already it looks like Jim, Natasha, Edna and Zoe are all out, Jim’s hammering in his absence the final nail in his coffin. All of which leaves Melody, Leon, Susan, Tom, Glenn and the elusive Helen. So who will come out as leader of the pack, the top dog, the cat that got the cream...oh b......
Star of the Week: Tom Pellereau got it spot on with his concerns, and for the 2nd week running he got to the nub of the issue quickly and with no fuss.
Got Lucky: Jedi Jim Eastwood and Glenn Ward. Jim is in the firing line and Glenn was fortunate to be on the winning team after his leadership style.
Heading for a Fall: Natasha Scribbens, another boardroom appearance probably saved only by the presence of the other two. Will she realise that, or begin to believe her own hype?
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
You Beauty! The Apprentice Series 7 Episode 4
With the inevitability of a botox-fixed gaze the beauty task provided some ugly Apprentice moments, in an episode that saw this series spring to life. It is surprising that in a series which is focused on the search for a partner for Lord Sugar it has taken until episode 4 for almost all the candidates to 'feature'.
However episode 4 more than any previous introduced that classic mix that makes The Apprentice, when at its best, compelling TV viewing.
Team Logic kept up their unenviable run of defeats with the kind of Apprentice loss that could so easily have been avoided with some simple tweaks. Meanwhile Team Venture was led appallingly by Zoe. The toe-curling (or perhaps it was separation-ly) public haranguing of Susan when the lack of product sales hit home, looked like the most metro-sexual firing squad ever assembled. Clearly a case of a candidate thinking they were being clever and definitively pinning the ‘failure’ just in case anyone was unsure. There is, after all, a big ‘I’ in team, but then this is The Apprentice.
Though there was one person I felt more sorry for than Susan in this episode. That was the guy who having been persuaded to have a massage by the persuasive beauty of Melody, stripped to his waist to be greated with the melodious Irish tones of Jedi Jim. Who looked far too enthusiastic on arrival in the treatment room, I some how think that wasn't what the customer had in mind.
There were so many failings on both sides, from the pitching process when Logic lost out on the money spinner of fake tan spray, through the decision that a relaxing massage could live side by side with the hairdryer and ‘are you going on holiday this year’ chatter of hair styling it was inevitable that Felicity was destined to tossed away quicker than a Lady Gaga hair accessory after a night out at a rugby club awards do.
What this episode did demonstrate is that in so many areas of business location is key. As is not losing sight of the most important KPI in any business – margin. Amongst all their appalling decisions this one is the most unforgivable by Logic and led straight to their downfall. As the saying goes, Turnover is Vanity, Profit is Sanity – or in this case Looking like a salesperson is Vanity, Profit is Sanity, just too much time spent selling low margin products and ignoring the harder sell but higher margin treatments spelt the end.
Just what possess seemingly successful people (Ellie after all runs her own construction recruitment business) to go completely ga-ga and fail to spot that selling hair accessories came secondary in priorities to getting the more profitable treatment room full is a mystery.
What are becoming clearer are the personalities of the candidates and therefore the matching process with Lord Sugar is, possibly, a little clearer than previous series.
Already there is three groups forming. There are those that seem to be leading the race, Melody, Jim, Susan and possibly Ellie (if she can come back strongly from the boardroom appearance – which was a superb performance). Then those that just won’t match with Lord Sugar and so will be falling by the wayside, Natasha, Zoe, Vincent and Edna. Finally there is the group who could go either way, Tom, Leon, Glenn and Helen. A strong or weak PM performance could see any of them joining one of the other categories.
Perhaps Leon should just hold out his pinky now and see if Lord Sugar follows as easily as the female shoppers in Birmingham seemed to. I’m not sure what his girlfriend would have to say about that.
Star of the Week: In a week of poorness, Tom quietly hit the nail on the head but was ignored and Leon had his pinky out - Leon for the sheer cheek of it.
Got Lucky: Zoe Beresford - her calling out of Susan was just poor
Heading for a Fall: Vincent Disneur is looking more and more out of his depth by the week. Natasha Scribbens isn't too far behind.
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
However episode 4 more than any previous introduced that classic mix that makes The Apprentice, when at its best, compelling TV viewing.
Team Logic kept up their unenviable run of defeats with the kind of Apprentice loss that could so easily have been avoided with some simple tweaks. Meanwhile Team Venture was led appallingly by Zoe. The toe-curling (or perhaps it was separation-ly) public haranguing of Susan when the lack of product sales hit home, looked like the most metro-sexual firing squad ever assembled. Clearly a case of a candidate thinking they were being clever and definitively pinning the ‘failure’ just in case anyone was unsure. There is, after all, a big ‘I’ in team, but then this is The Apprentice.
Though there was one person I felt more sorry for than Susan in this episode. That was the guy who having been persuaded to have a massage by the persuasive beauty of Melody, stripped to his waist to be greated with the melodious Irish tones of Jedi Jim. Who looked far too enthusiastic on arrival in the treatment room, I some how think that wasn't what the customer had in mind.
There were so many failings on both sides, from the pitching process when Logic lost out on the money spinner of fake tan spray, through the decision that a relaxing massage could live side by side with the hairdryer and ‘are you going on holiday this year’ chatter of hair styling it was inevitable that Felicity was destined to tossed away quicker than a Lady Gaga hair accessory after a night out at a rugby club awards do.
What this episode did demonstrate is that in so many areas of business location is key. As is not losing sight of the most important KPI in any business – margin. Amongst all their appalling decisions this one is the most unforgivable by Logic and led straight to their downfall. As the saying goes, Turnover is Vanity, Profit is Sanity – or in this case Looking like a salesperson is Vanity, Profit is Sanity, just too much time spent selling low margin products and ignoring the harder sell but higher margin treatments spelt the end.
Just what possess seemingly successful people (Ellie after all runs her own construction recruitment business) to go completely ga-ga and fail to spot that selling hair accessories came secondary in priorities to getting the more profitable treatment room full is a mystery.
What are becoming clearer are the personalities of the candidates and therefore the matching process with Lord Sugar is, possibly, a little clearer than previous series.
Already there is three groups forming. There are those that seem to be leading the race, Melody, Jim, Susan and possibly Ellie (if she can come back strongly from the boardroom appearance – which was a superb performance). Then those that just won’t match with Lord Sugar and so will be falling by the wayside, Natasha, Zoe, Vincent and Edna. Finally there is the group who could go either way, Tom, Leon, Glenn and Helen. A strong or weak PM performance could see any of them joining one of the other categories.
Perhaps Leon should just hold out his pinky now and see if Lord Sugar follows as easily as the female shoppers in Birmingham seemed to. I’m not sure what his girlfriend would have to say about that.
Star of the Week: In a week of poorness, Tom quietly hit the nail on the head but was ignored and Leon had his pinky out - Leon for the sheer cheek of it.
Got Lucky: Zoe Beresford - her calling out of Susan was just poor
Heading for a Fall: Vincent Disneur is looking more and more out of his depth by the week. Natasha Scribbens isn't too far behind.
For Twitter updates on The Apprentice don't forget to follow me @simonbrooke
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