
 |
The next day, Apex showed up to Pepsi's headquarters and got a look at their bottle. The Pepsi design team had managed to make the hole in the D work. Apex was thrilled and Ivana said the bottle actually brought a tear to her eye. The next stop for Apex was a small conference room to present their ideas to a few executives, or so they thought. Kelly, Ivana and Kevin walked into a large, theater-like space packed with the entire Pepsi marketing team - over one hundred people. This was no small presentation. In an interview, Ivana said it felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. Each Apex member presented his or her part of the well-rehearsed pitch. They showed off the bottle shaped like the word "Edge" and emphasized the hole in the letter D. They talked about both the cool factor of the hole and it's practical use for holding a variety of marketing materials. Apex left and Mosaic entered. Andy talked about the worlds of diet and regular cola coming together in Pepsi Edge and showed off their bottle with its two bulbous ends; the top was shaded in with the map of the northern hemisphere and the bottom was shaded in with a map of the southern hemisphere. The cap even had a compass in it. Sandy had a tough time finding her words at one point, but she was a professional and never stopped her part of the presentation. After Mosaic left the room, David opened up the floor for comments. The marketing folks had some tough criticism for Mosaic. They called the Mosaic bottle "ugly" and describe it as two "blobs." Another marketing team member commented that he didn't remember the last time that geography was cool. On the other hand, the group had praise for Apex's design. They called it "cool" and closer to the brand image of Pepsi. David brought both teams back in and got Trump on speakerphone. David said that the Apex design was innovative, contemporary and exciting. He said that while the Mosaic pitch was consistent in its message, the team's bottle design of globes wasn't very exciting. He also said the maps on the bottle made it impossible to tell what was inside. So, David declared Apex the winner.
For their reward, Apex got the chance to race Lamborghini Gallardos. Each team member jumped behind the wheel and tested the power of the racing machines. Kevin called a Lamborghini his dream car. And Ivana said racing them was great and compared the experience to sex. Back at the suite, Ivana raced over to Andy in the morning to tell him that his best move would be to go after Jennifer M. in the boardroom. After Andy got up, he whispered to Jennifer M. that Ivana had told him to go after her. Instead, Andy told Jennifer M. that he would back her in the boardroom. Later, the drama continued as Sandy told Jennifer M. that she felt that Andy was uncontrollable at times and that they had to calm him down during the task.
The next day in the boardroom, Andy, Jennifer M. and Sandy arrived. Trump asked Andy if he liked the bottle his team came up with and Andy said yes. But George had problems with it. He said that the bottle reeked of geography and not Pepsi. He said that the package didn't promote the product, as it should have. He also said that the bottle wouldn't even fit in a cup holder. When Trump asked him, Andy said that Jennifer M. was more creative, smarter and easier to manage than Sandy. But Sandy strongly disagreed. In addition, Sandy shot back that Andy was immature as a leader. She said that he kept pizza away from the hungry Pepsi designers and that he had offered everyone cash incentives. Even Jennifer M. admitted that Andy was a bit frantic at times. Trump skipped the formality of have Andy choose team members to bring back in the boardroom and told all three to leave and return when he called them. With just his advisors in the room, Trump asked for opinions. George said he liked the way Sandy defended herself. Carolyn said she wanted to figure out why Jennifer M. always seemed to have her Project Manager defending her. Trump called Mosaic back into the boardroom and asked Jennifer M. how she kept sliding by. Jennifer M. said she always did a good job and her Project Managers recognized that. Then, Sandy and Jennifer M. went at it, arguing hard while Andy was literally stuck in the middle, barely able to get a word in. When Sandy discovered that Andy had gone to Jennifer M. that morning and told her he planned to back her in the boardroom, she laid into Andy. Trump finally took control, saving Andy from any further punishment. Trump said that Andy was being pounded on and out debated by Sandy. Trump said he couldn't have someone running one of his companies who would get beaten up so badly. Trump looked Andy in the eye and said, "You're fired."
|
|
 |