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!
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