As a long-time "Survivor" junkie, I confess I was instantly hooked on Donald Trump's crass but addictive reality series, "The Apprentice." As a Fast Company staffer, I naturally wondered what nuggets of management wisdom we might learn from the pompadoured mogul. After two episodes, the main lesson is already clear, and Peter Drucker needn't fear for his consulting business.
When all else fails, play the sex card.
The ladies, who began the initial lemonade-selling contest in a state of utter chaos, won the first round by charging Starbucks-like prices for their lemonade, with a unique value-add: their phone numbers. They also trumped the boys in the second round by devising an ad campaign for Marquis Airlines using baldly salacious images, and pitching the account to buff ad guy Danny Deutsch in foxy stewardess uniforms. The guys didn't stand a chance. BTW, Marquis plans to use the ads in an upcoming campaign.
The real question: will sex sell all the way to Trump's executive suite? If so, shouldn't Trump's latest honey, Melania, be running the Taj Mahal Casino by now?
Related Stories: | Topics:Work/Life, arts + entertainment, Donald Trump, The Apprentice, Taj Mahal, Peter Drucker, Fast Company Magazine |
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Recent Comments | 3 Total
January 21, 2004 at 9:35pm by Rob
I think they did that some in the negotiation episode earlier tonight as well. The golf club negotiation seemed to be alright. The whole dancing around for the gold bar thing though was unprofessional. Trump should have had them negotiate for a piece of real estate. I don't think the ladies could rely on sex for that. You would think with this being on national television, they would not want to portray themselves that way. The previews for next week made it look like they get a lecture about how they can't always use sex to get what they want in the business world.
Of course, this is on prime time so maybe the producers pushed them in that direction...
January 22, 2004 at 9:10am by John Gaetz
The teasers for next week's show display that both teams are willing to sell out--either through sexuality or misleading business practices. I'm hoping the teasers are exaggerating the team's questionable efforts and that they really try to apply some real business methodology to their assignments.
To succeed in business, I agree that you have to think outside the box. At the same time, I also believe you have to think outside your pants or skirt in order to exceed in the real world of business (in most cases, of course).
January 22, 2004 at 12:09pm by Cheri Hunter
Personnally, I was waiting for the nuggets of management wisdom we might learn from the candidates, who supposedly are the cream of the crop. Frankly, they don't seem any more savvy than the rest of us and certainly have not been able to use their talents to rise above the infighting and office politics that we all face on a daily basis. Maybe the producers just keep that in for drama? I am more interested in hearing more details of the strategy sessions, brainstorming, idea generation and implementation than I am interested in hearing women bicker.