Image Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBCHi again Apprentice Fans! As we get closer to the finale, we’re seeing more action from the remaining contestants and another intense boardroom. Let’s dive into this week’s episode!
Genius and Goals
Clint’s reward for winning last week’s task was a meeting with Barry Sternlicht, the President, Chairman and CEO of Starwood Properties Trust. I know Barry well and he is a brilliant and very insightful person –and truly a terrific mentor. As expected, Clint was thrilled to meet with him, and Barry gave him some good advice. Barry’s theory is that “genius is perseverance in disguise” which has been the motto of his career. He also pointed out that it’s important to set high goals, because maybe you’ll reach 80% of your goal, whereas setting low goals does not give you the drive to grow. When their meeting concluded, Barry gave Clint an envelope from my father, which contained a $5,000 gift certificate from Pier 1 Imports. Clint was thrilled! He had sold his home and had an estate sale of his belongings, so the prize was appropriate and very much appreciated.
30 Second Spot
In keeping with our credo of highlighting the country’s strongest businesses and industries on The Apprentice, this week we had AT&T and Flow TV – companies that are industry giants. Ted Woodbury from AT&T and Jane Hancock from Flow TV would be serving as judges of the task assignment. Following the promotional themes of the last two assignments, the teams were asked to produce a 30 second television commercial for AT&T Mobile TV. They would be judged on the following three criteria: creativity, positive representation of the brand, and clear and concise messaging. Thirty seconds seems like a short, simple segment to produce– but I knew that this was the most difficult task yet.
With Stephanie and Liza as the remaining members of the Fortitude team and Stephanie as Project Manager, I knew that there were fireworks to be seen! Those two are not friends. And I was eager to see if Octane would continue their winning streak with Steuart as PM and Clint and Brandy as team members.
No Love Lost
Stephanie and Liza started off already at each other’s throats. Stephanie declared that she was “a one-man show with a secretary to handle the paperwork” in reference to Liza’s low input of energy and ideas. Because of this bias, Liza was marginalized to sourcing locations and props while Stephanie conceptualized the commercial. Her two ideas were to be in a sports arena and an office as locations. The sports arena location became a real tough nut for Liza to crack – she was unable to locate a sports arena and unable to find sports-related props, and in the end Stephanie had to let go of the concept. With no other option, Stephanie would have to make the office concept work. When Don visited, he noted that Liza was not given great responsibility and the burden seemed to be on Stephanie. Stephanie was taking a big gamble and it seemed like she was allowing her dislike of Liza to get the best of her. The photographer in charge said the experience was “literally like a high school version of film school.”
Crunch Time
As for Octane, they had a huge time crunch to work around, as they had scheduled six scenes to shoot, including family scenes, an office environment and one in front of an AT&T store where the product could be purchased. I really liked the placement of the store in the ad – I thought it was smart brand promotion and a good use of time in the commercial. When I visited the team, it seemed that Brandy had a marginal role and that Steuart seemed to be leaning on Clint. My concern was that Steuart wasn’t being a strong PM – something that could come back to bite him in the boardroom.
The Boardroom
Fortitude presented their commercial first, and Stephanie gave a great presentation. However, the production value was diminished by two factors, one being that it took 18 seconds before the brand was announced, which was far too long, considering it was a 30 second commercial. The other was that the concept of watching television in the workplace is something that shouldn’t be encouraged and seemed to lack a significant amount of common sense.
Octane had the product upfront and center at the beginning of the commercial which was a strong start, but there was no consistent brand messaging throughout. Plus, the client thought the commercial was a bit campy at times. However, one of the strongest points was that they showed where to buy the product in the outdoor shot which was a smart move, and they showed several good reasons to purchase the product.
On the whole, Octane’s commercial was stronger and well received by both Ted and Jane. Octane won the task – the streak continues! Steuart, as PM, will have the opportunity to meet with Cathie Black, Chairman of Hearst Magazines, and New York’s recently appointed School’s Chancellor, as his reward. I know and admire Cathie. She even contributed a chapter to my book The Trump Card – so I can say with conviction that Clint’s in for a great meeting!
Fire #11
Liza and Stephanie going at it in the boardroom was no surprise to any of us. Oddly, however, during the review of the commercials, both Stephanie and Liza said they got along well throughout the task. Anyone watching knew that wasn’t the case, as Stephanie repeatedly said she felt like a team of one, and had relegated Liza to specific tasks vs. overall participation. When questioned, Liza admitted she wasn’t strong out in the field and Don mentioned that not only was it clear that Stephanie was in charge, but that Liza’s choices during the task were dubious. When it came time to discuss Stephanie’s performance, I mentioned to her that a concept has to evolve and be developed and this one had not been. Additionally, I told Liza that I’d never heard her truly contribute and both Don and I commented that she consistently seems to take a somewhat ancillary role. In the end, I felt they had both been weak in their individual roles, and as a team they didn’t work either. My father seemed to feel the same way, and fired Stephanie as she had been PM. Liza did not get off the hook, though – he let her know in no uncertain terms that he was not happy with her and that she’d better get her act together.
Stephanie has great energy, business skills and enthusiasm, and I know that she’ll find the right job and meet with success. We wish her well.
Enjoy your weekend, and I look forward to seeing you in the Boardroom next week!
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Her play by play is boring. She has shown by other published work that she has a flair, but we want more behind the scenes stuff. Also, by what we saw in the Next Steps ..Stephanie has a job with the Trump Organization, why did Ivanka say “I know that she’ll find the right job and meet with success.”?
Ditto. Why do I keep thinking this will get better each week? EW should have Ivanka read Jeff Probst’s Survivor blog post for some guidance and inspiration.
Because The Trump Organization that Stephanie is referring to is a network marketing company, anyone who signs up can be a representative.
Brandy looked beautiful in the boardroom.
The “boss” in Stephanie and Liza’s commercial looked like David a little. Also, I can’t believe how Liza is skating by. I think Trump likes her because she’s a golfer!
I don’t know what’s worse – the fact that Ivanka Trump offers NO new insight into the episode (I mean, I could have written this recap) or the fact that she repeatedly spelled the product name wrong. It’s FloTV. No “W”.
Good thing she’s a Trump or would be fired for that.
Hello,
It’s Flow…you need to check their website.
I just checked their website. Its FloTV, not FlowTV. Ironic that you said check the website.. when you’re wrong.
Liza is getting ripped for not talking, when nobody in that boardroom could get a word in edgewise over Stephanie.
Glad to see Stephanie go. I’m sure if the next task was to raise money for a hospital she would have said she will be good at this because she had been a brain surgeon while in college.
LOL!
Hi,
I enjoy the post — but Steuart as the winning PM (not Clint as she has stated) & will actually be the one with the reward meeting. Steuart is indeed (as she mentions) surrounding himself with good people — instead of being as strong as Clint. This will become more obvious as we continue. Brandy has also taken a step backwards being more guarded in her presentation of ideas — causing mistakes and hesitations on her part which may cost her.
The winner will be Clint. Liza will go next especially if she is PM. Final 2 will definitely be Clint & probably Brandy. Although I think Brandy can win — she is making the mistake of holding her talents back which means unless she makes a stronger “step up” approach…Clint will be the clear winner. Brandy is a match for Clint though — if Brandy brings her “A” game it will be a very hard decision for Mr. Trump at the finale.
Been watching every season & enjoy the show a great deal.
d
you know I was really wondering who the final 2 would be-it said it previews that 2 would be fired next week…after reading this I think you are right Clint and Brandy (I had thought Steuart and Clint but after reading this-you swayed me!)
Ridiculous firing. Stephanie was possibly the strongest performer throughout the entire series! My final four was Stephanie, Brandy, Clint and Mr. Cheater. Liza is clearly a vacuous, irrational shell of a candidate, who rides the coattails of other people’s work. Stephanie, on the other hand, was an ass-kicker who got results. Clearly, the Trump corporation agrees because they hired her in a real position! One suspects that prior to firing, Donald Trump’s knowledge of their performance is limited to what’s reported to him in the boardroom but post-firing, complete footage is reviewed and mistakes like this are corrected.
Is it a real position or is it a representative for the Trump Networkmarketing organization?
The photographer for Stephanie and Liza was a real d!ck. Even before he knew how unprepared they were he was giving them attitude, rolling his eyes and shooting them dirty looks.
agreed x100-very unprofessional
The fact that Liza made the final four is absolutely pathetic. She’s been terrible in tasks and acts like an immature whiny baby in the boardroom. Stueart/Clint for the final two.
Stephanie thought a great deal of herself. She was obsessed with Lisa and that took away from her performance. Lisa was right-the comm. should have been about a mom/kids-not in a boardroom. Stephanie thought u could just call a sports arena and get right in-not too smart. She had potential, but her saying negative things while on camera will come back and bite her-very unprofessional. Brandy all the way. Like Clint, but he’s not refined enough for Mr Trump.
Stevie V…thought the same exact thing when I read the blog! It’s obvious Ivanka is not writing these as they offer no insight whatsoever. It’s worse than a bad plot summary.
I like Stephanie in the beginning, showed real professionalism, then she started opening her foul mouth. Turned me right off. Brandy is really ticking me off giving women a bad name. All of a sudden she has no opinion on anything? Come on, I have 6 brothers and they can tell you I don’t back down if something needs to be said or done. Stand up and be heard, woman! Show those guys you can be as helpful and knowledgable as either of them. I really think Clint has the class and ideas to put him over the top. Good luck, Clint.
I agree 100% about Stephanie. Her mouth was her worst enemy. But I disagree with you on Brandy. It was never really clear what her role was on this last task and with Clint jumping in and taking the lead over Steuart, it seemed prudent to stay in the background. She definitely was a non-entity (was she even mentioned in the boardroom??). Based upon last week’s show, she may be sitting back and letting the two guys battle it out between themselves for now.
I don’t think Ivanka wrote these blogs, they’re just boring recaps.
I’m in agreement that this blog gives us nothing interesting and is more like reading a book report.
At this point, it’s Clint’s to lose. My only problem with him is he seems like he is totally at home in a pair of jeans with a Budweiser and that just doesn’t say “Trump” to me. But he does seem like a genuinely nice person. Personally though, I would like to see Brandy win. She’s the complete package from her looks to her smarts.
hey whats up? my names to but i wanted to correct organization to corporation.