Hey everyone! Here's my review of Week 12 of The Apprentice!
At the beginning of the final episode, Rochelle and Marnie were told to meet Lord Sugar at Freemasons Hall in East London. Marnie explained that it would mean the world to her if she was to win, everything that dreams are made of. Rochelle said that it would mean a lot to herself and her family. Lord Sugar said that this venue had three main aspects; integrity, value and respect, and he wanted to make sure that whoever he invested in had those three traits. He said that for the final task it would be their last opportunity to prove to him what they can do, saying that they were going to launch their business, the branding, create a digital billboard and a television advert. We welcomed 8 fired candidates who came back to help the finalists. Team Rochelle was Dani, Victoria, Avi and Joe, and for Team Marnie it was Sohail, Simba, Megan and Bradley. It was over to the girls as to whether the boxing brand or the hair salon brand was going to stand out. Rochelle thanked her team for all coming back and Marnie told her team that she wanted to take boxing classes to the extreme. Megan asked whether they were going to pull on heart stringers and Marnie said that she owed so much to boxing and she wanted them to go away with the feeling that life begins at boxing, and that they are not selling a fitness brand, but they are selling feelings.
With Rochelle's team, she said that she can do all hair types, with Victoria asking if they should focus on the salon or the academy, and she said both. Rochelle added that when people leave the salon, she wants them to have a lot of confidence, and the colour scheme is to be pink, black and white. Marnie told her team that she wanted a punchy and powerful brand name, something like Grit, adding the letters across the knuckles. Bradley asked whether it looked like a boxing club logo, and Marnie said that it added to the curiosity. Simba suggested other brand names including The blue corner, Boxicity and Sohail suggested Raw, but she said that raw might already be a name for another gym. For Rochelle's brand names, Dani came up with Coco Milano, Avi said Diversery or The hair team, and Joe suggested The cutting edge, which is also a name that has been used before. Marnie said that her and Bradley would be on the logo and branding team with Sohail, Simba and Megan creating the digital billboard. Marnie said that she wanted Simba to star in the advert, and that they should focus on emotions. Dani said that it felt good to be back helpng Rochelle, with Bradley telling Marnie that he was going to hit her with some tough love in order to prepare for her pitch. Dani led her sub team for the advert with Avi saying that they needed to shoot the clips quicker as they were over th time limit, and Victoria said that they went into total panic to cut the video down and they hope that Rochelle likes what they have cretated.
Megan was directing the advert for Marnie, with Simba as the boxer for the advert and coming up close to the camera. Sohail did an example of how they could make it more emotive, and Megan said that she preferred when Sohail was the boxer. Baroness Brady said that they had only focused on the boxing part, rather than the emotion. Rochelle and Joe were on the branding and logo team with Rochelle asking for the light text to be even lighter with Joe asking whether you were still able to actually read the text. Baroness Brady said that their logo was very bland. Marnie said that her tagline could be something like Grit and Glory, where you start your story, with Bradley asking whether she definitely wanted to use fists as part of the logo. He also suggested that she should change the colour of the text from black to white, but she wanted to stick with the original colour. Marnie said that she was happy with the logo, the name and they just needed to work on text alignment. Dani, Victoria and Avi were able to look at the final billboards, with Megan, Sohail and Simba showing the team their final logo. Megan said that what Marnie and Bradley had created doesn't look right with the fist on the logo and Simba added that it looked like a fighting gym. Megan also said she was unsure why they used a double first and that the branding looks like martial arts. Dani said that they were stressing out because they didn't have any time and Avi admitted that their design was a 6/10 adding that it wasn't brilliant, it was average.
Sohail asked Marnie what she thought of the advert and she explained that there was no emotion coming through and they should have given it their heart, adding that it was a lost opportunity. Rochelle said to her team that there should be more going on, but at least it doesn't distract from the hair. Victoria said that they needed to add that Rochelle does all hair types, and Avi said it was either the text or the logo that could be added due to the time restraint. Marnie's idea for the story would be to have two people in shipping containers with a shed of light. She added that she wrote Simba another rap, with Megan hinting to Sohail that maybe he should do it. Rochelle explained that she has to be showcased and put Avi on the branding team with Joe, whilst Rochelle, Dani and Victoria shot the advert. She explained that she wanted to film the backs of hair, brushing the hair and having someone spinning in a shopping cart, saying that she wanted the hair to do the talking. Simba told his team that Marnie wanted emotion and Megan added that she had high expecttions. At Rochelle's shoot, they went to Selfie Factory, with both Rochelle and Dani in charge of the directing. Rochelle asked Victoria to be a little more serious with her facial expressions and Dani asked whether she should do the hair blowing, with Rochelle saying that Dani was the director. Simba kept reminding Sohail to give him more energy in his face, and they also shot an outside scene with Sohail and Megan. Joe and Avi were working on the interiror and 3D design for Rochelle's hair salon, with Avi asking what makes you think wow when you go into a hairdressers, with both of them saying coffee machines or snacks. Avi also said a feminine animal such a flamingo could be something good to add. Tim said that Rochelle had two boys working on her 3D design who had never been in a hairdressers before, with Avi also saying that they could have the sign of the business floating above the courtyard.
It was Marnie and Bradley who were creating the design mock up for her boxing club and she explained how the wanted the framing of the logo, with the boxing ring taking a lead in the design. Baroness Brady said that Marnie had walked this idea through her head multiple times and Bradley was only able to sit there and let her creative mind complete the design on her own. She also made sure that her logo was on the wall behind the reception desk. Joe and Avi discussed action points for Rochelle's salon with the initial action point being when they walk in and saying welcome to By Rochelle, with Avi suggesting that her tag line is all about being confident, one strand at a time. Joe said that with help from Dani or Rochelle, some of the action elements could have better, such as voiceovers for example. Victoria said to Rochelle that they could add a screen to their final edit, and Megan told Simba and Sohail that the poem was really boring, with Sohail saying that Marnie knows what she wants, and Megan saying that Marnie wasn't there. Marnie told Bradley that they were finally done, and it was a gym that brings people together. megan said that she was happy that her vision has come to life. After revealing their 3D design to Rochelle, she said that she does more than cutting hair, with Avi saying that people might ask why it's boring. Marnie said to her team that she was very happy with the advert and didn't know how the final product was going to look. Joe said that there were some points in Rochelle's advert where it was difficult to read the text, with Rochelle saying that it definitely comes to life. Rochelle and Victoria were preparing her pitch with Rochelle explaining that she wanted to put across hair as her passion and how she will make a brand which includes diversity. Marnie told Bradley that she wanted to start by being bold and telling her story which include pivotal moments to how she got to her idea of today.
Sohail, Simba and Megan did some consumer research to see what people thought of their billboard, and some of the feedback included that they were unsure what the billboard was promoting, and whether it was a product or a gym class, and that the idea wasn't explained very well. For Dani, Avi and Joe they were told that the word confidence should be bigger, and Dani asked if the brand stood out, with one lady saying that it wasn't luxury, but it was cute. At the venue, Rochelle noticed that Lee Stafford was going to be there among others in the sporting and hair industry, with Marnie saying that you never get to see the ring before the big fight. Megan gave Marnie the feedback on her brand and she said that everything has faults, with Dani saying to Rochelle that the logo couldn't be seen on high end products, with Rochelle thanking them all for supporting her, and that she needed to go and do the pitch of her life. For Marnie's presentation, Simba introduced her as if she was about to go into the ring, saying let's get ready to rumble. She explained that she lost her Dad at eight years old and at 17 she was at a boxing gym. She explained that amateur boxing doesn't have profit in their mind. She was asked how she would differentiate herself, and for people that didn't have an interest in boxing, how would they be interested. Marnie explained that boxing would be the place for people to go, and it's daunting to enter a space like this, but the sport itself is only aggressive when competitive, but you can still be in the venue and support the events that are run. Lord Sugar asked his professionals if the market was crowded and they said that the location she had chosen had a mix of all classes, every gym has a lack of good trainers, but from a branding perspective, it does look quite gritty.
Rochelle explained that she has been in business for over 10 years and explained that afro hair was added as standard back in 2021. She was asked how she would scale up, and Rochelle said she wanted to start in Miltion Keynes and after 6 months, scale up to a new branch. Nicola Hughes says tht she has salons caring for all different hair types, and Rochelle said that it doesn't happen across every salon, so there was still a gap in the market. She was asked what was so special about her business, and she said there was a different approach to the online training she was able to provide. Lord Sugar asked whether she was going to be able to scale up, and somebody said that she brought nothing new to the table and that although she had many layers to her business, she should focus on one or two thinks that she is skillful in, before trying to expand. In the boardroom Rochelle said that her and Joe were on the branding team, but there was no mention of hair in the design. Avi said it was a pleasure working with both Dani and Victoria and Lord Sugar said that Dani looked great before her hair makeover in the advert. Rochelle explained she didn't know much about the metaverse which is why she suggested for Avi to go and help Joe, and the idea behind her brand was diversity so she needed to represent her brand as a woman of colour. Victoria added that she decided to go into modelling after she was told that he current business was only a hobby.
For Marnie's brand, Lord Sugar said that heading down to the Grit and Glory sounded like he was going to a pub, and Bradley said that everytime she asked Marnie a question she came up with an answer that was great. Marnie said that it was great that Bradley let her run with her vision and the advert that was completed was very strong. She explained that her and Bradley created the metaverse design, with Baroness Brady saying that it was Marnie, and Bradley was there, with Joe asking if he had Marnie a cup of tea while she was designing. She said that after leaving today she would sign the lease, and it would take 8 to 10 weeks to start making profit in her business. Lord Sugar said that it didn't seem like there was anything special in what she was offering, asking what he would be investing in. She said that boxing is an incredible atmosphere with the gyms and fancy equipment, and she added that the high end and superficial gyms are not interested in the gym spaces themselves. Rochelle said that she has spent 14 years wrking on one salon and would rather have one successful space that lots of little ones that don't work. Lord Sugar questioned how she made £9 million turnover and wasn't able to crete a second space, and that after the purchase of all the hair, her profit would be gone. He said that the 2nd branch which was the problem adn that he needed to know that a system was going to be put in place. Rochelle said that she already has these systems in place and she has lots of awareness with her. They were both asked to wait outside while Lord Sugar discussed for the final time with Baroness Brady and Tim.
Baroness Brady said that Marnie has never run a business and this is a very competitive market, with Tim saying that if anyone should be an ambassador for boxing, it should be Marnie. Tim asked whether Rochelle's business would be scalable nationwide and Baroness brady said tht with Lord Sugar's investment, he could put the infastructure around Rochelle to support her going forward. In the final boardroom, Rochelle explained that he started her business with £50 and 2nd hand furniture and Lord Sugar mentioned again that the logistics and other issues are the problem for why he has doubts on her second venue. She explained that she understands the 1st premises and is now ready to expand. Marnie said that with boxing you leave everything in the ring, and although she has never ran a business, she plans on making profit from Year 1 to Year 5. Rochelle told Lord Sugar that she already has a business that is running itself, with Marnie explaining that she's just getting started. Rochelle went on to say that Marnie is a boxer and that she was a fighter.
At the end of the series, Lord Sugar said that Marnie's industry was a crowded market and Rochelle was quetioned on the success of her 2nd or 3rd branch and whether they will be successful and make him money. He also added that Marnie's business is completely alien to him and that he was undecided which industry he wanted to go into. Lord Sugar summarised by saying that he's a gambler, and he said that Marnie was going to be his business parnter. She said that it was an incredible moment for a girl like her, and she was very happy. So, that was it for the 17th series of The Apprentice! Until next year, you're all fired and goodbye!
Click here to watch the video review
Comments