I am a fan of the Apprentice with Donald Trump. In almost every challenge the candidates face, marketing is everything. It is the most important function in bringing in sales. Almost every challenge is about which team can make the most money. It still surprises me after watching many episodes, how poorly the marketing is handled. The people on the show are supposed to be very successful, yet they make the most stupidest mistakes.
Kristi had made a flyer with XXX on it advertising a fitness class and she said that it didn't occur to her that it might be thought of as pornographic. Is she naive or just trying to save her butt? Whenever a team decides to hit the streets with flyers as their marketing plan they never seem to win. You would think if the candidates had watched the show before they would know that flyers don't work.
I don't think that I could ever be a sales person though. A lot of it is because of the stereotypical car salesman image. I have a hard time trusting sales people because they are usually just in it for the money. Being the brains behind developing a marketing strategy sounds interesting though.
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4 comments:
TELL ME ABOUT IT! These people are picked as successful exec material, but the challenges are Marketing based. Not their strong points. I can't believe that they continue to make the same mistakes over and over.
A sales person has to know their angle. What spin that they need to put on thier product to get the most response. I agree that the ideas behind the marketing would be more fun to come up with.
I was shocked that the guys won by only 11$. I am pretty sure Kristi had to know what she was doing with the fliers as well. I liked the name Triple Threat, but those fliers reaked.
If the girls had split up and had some doing fliers and some focusing on current members they would have won this one. I am not sure if I like the girl team or the guy team better? But I generally pick guys over women.
T has always said that she hates working with women. She clarifies that it's not that she dosen't get along with them ... but that little things, tend to be way over dramatized. I may be mis-quoting her, but if so, I'm sure she will set me straight.
I agree with Golden, T, and Dash...LOL! I couldn't believe the show last evening...but at least I got in on the beginning episode this time! =D
As a Marketing graduate, I really watch commercials and stategies a little more closely.
To clarify for Golden, what makes a successful marketing person is to intertwine customer service with sales. I found I had loyal customers in both direct marketing and retail, when they knew I was looking out for their best interest. (ie. a case of paper on sale may not always be the lesser cost OR a new skin care product may not be for their skin type)
It is hard for some of us "marketers" because of the bad rap "car salesmen" create. However, I have never gone wrong by keeping to my ethics. I think we have to do that no matter what career/industry we work in.
Part of the problem of The Apprentice is that the teams only have a day or two to implement a marketing strategy. This doesn't excuse bad marketing (I was complaining about how stupid the women were in that task when I watched the show), but it eliminates the concern that the contestants will have for repeat customers.
In other words, customer service isn't as important in the game as it is in real life.
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