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WEEK EIGHT


Halftime Hoopla

 

With Kinetic now whittled to a formidable foursome of Kristine, Heidi, Muna and Angela, the women held a team meeting in the tents to promote a more positive attitude--and outcome. In contrast, despite two straight victories under PM Surya, Arrow continued to suffer from a corporate culture of complaint. Indeed, even as Surya praised his group as smart and talented during a post-victory meeting, the team privately carped about their PM's style. "I'm a good judge of character. Surya is a phony," opined Frank.

Of course, the ultimate judge of character in these parts is Donald Trump, for whom nothing is more impressive than winning. Joined by Apprentice Bill Rancic as his right hand man, Mr. Trump assigned the teams to create competing promotions for leading health and wellness retailer GNC. Kinetic and Arrow would stage dueling events during a soccer half-time show for the Los Angeles Galaxy, which would then be rated by GNC Marketing VP Steven Nelson

Kristine took the helm for Kinetic in part because of her past experience in running on-field half-time promotions. Kinetic's concept was "The GNC Vitamin Challenge," where giant pill mascots competed in an obstacle course designed to illuminate how GNC products enhance heart, heath, fitness and general well-being. The only hitch was Muna irritating Kristine with comments that undermined her experience. The antipathy was mutual with Muna saying the PM didn't want a strong team member, but instead "she wanted a mute." Kristine did want her to stay mum when Muna micromanaged the prop builders. Yet despite the friction, Kinetic's entertaining event turned out well and won fan approval from the heavily Hispanic audience by utilizing Muna's Spanish proficiency as a co-announcer with Angela.

Arrow's show proved more problematic. Tim came up with the idea of staging a boxing match where an Average Joe gets zapped by GNC products and knocks out his problems. Though the team approved that concept, Surya tried unsuccessfully to brainstorm something better. Nothing was forthcoming, but second-guessing was rampant throughout the rest of the project. "James is planning for the boardroom," Surya noted, getting wise to James' habit of raising 11th hour objections to long-decided matters. The gratuitous give-and-take continued until five minutes before the show, prompting Bill Rancic to observe, "Arrow has a lot of moving parts...It'll be a miracle if they succeed."

No miracle was forthcoming. During the halftime show, GNC's Veep Steven Nelson told Trump that Arrow's event had "Kind of a big storyline for the crowd to keep up with." Couple that with Arrow's poor brand integration and Kinetic proved to be the clear victor.

For their reward the four ladies got the chance to shout "fore" with the mogul at the top rated Trump National Golf Course in LA . Olympic hockey champ Angela and the rest of Kinetic all impressed the Donald with their form. No slouch on the links himself, Trump praised them all as potentially great golfers.

Arrow, however, would soon find themselves trapped in the boardroom rough. Ostracized by his team, Surya was driven to seek pre-boardroom support from his old mates on Kinetic. Whispering through the backyard hedge, Surya lamented ever switching teams, but Muna encouraged him to, "Fight, fight to the end."


 

LESSONS LEARNED