AFFILIATE MARKETING
John Deere Hiring CTO ‘Chief Tractor Officer,’ TikTok Creator
This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
Agriculture equipment company John Deere is on the hunt for a different kind of CTO.
The brand on Tuesday announced a two-week search to find a “Chief Tractor Officer” who would create social media content to reach younger consumers.
One winning applicant will receive up to $192,300 to traverse the country over the next several months showcasing the way John Deere products are used by workers, from Yellowstone National Park to Chicago’s Wrigley Field and beyond.
“No matter what you do — whether it’s your coffee, getting dressed in the morning, driving to work, the building you go into — it’s all been touched by a construction worker, a farmer, or a lawn care maintenance group,” Jen Hartmann, John Deere’s global director of strategic public relations, told AdAge.
To kick off the search, John Deere tapped NFL quarterback Brock Purdy (who will presumably be a bit busy this Fall to take the job himself) to star in a clip in which he attempts to set out on a road trip in an industrial tractor.
Suited up in the obligatory vest, work boots, and John Deere hat, Purdy’s progress is interrupted by teammate Colton McKivitz hopping into the cab while a string of messages floods in from other athletes and influencers expressing interest in the job.
The clip also represents the first time that the 187-year-old company has used celebrities to promote itself, Hartmann told AdAge.
According to the contest rules, entrants have until April 29 at midnight to submit a single 60-second video making their pitch for why they should be the face and voice of the company.
In addition, entrants must live in the 48 contiguous states or DC — sorry Hawaii and Alaska residents. Interestingly, any AI-generated submissions are prohibited, too.
Videos will be judged against four categories — originally, creativity, quality, and brand knowledge — after which five finalists will be chosen and notified after May 17.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
McDonald’s CFO: Bigger Burgers, More Meat Testing This Year
After months of testing and teasing dozens of modifications to its original burger, McDonald’s is now revealing one massive change that customers will notice — the size.
In a Tuesday call with analysts, McDonald’s Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden announced that the chain will be testing a larger burger this year in select markets.
“As we look to further build on our leadership in beef, our team of chefs from around the world have created a larger satiating burger,” Borden said during the call. “We’ll be testing this burger in a few markets later this year ensuring that it has universal appeal before scaling it across the globe.”
Related: McDonald’s Is Completely Changing Its Burgers in 2024
This isn’t surprising news for McDonald’s, as Borden hinted at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference last month that he believed there was a “significant” opportunity to create a larger-sized offering and noted the chain has attempted to do so in the past.
In the mid-90s, McDonald’s attempted to create “premium” burgers with different toppings and offerings (such as the Arch Deluxe, for example), instead of simply making a larger patty.
“We tried to get after this opportunity for a number of years because we thought the opportunity was about premium burger,” Borden said last month. “We weren’t successful.”
It’s been a long time coming for the chain, which laid out a massive growth plan in December that included creating a new version of its burgers with an estimated 50 modifications. The changes were first tested in Australia and select West Coast and Midwest markets in 2023.
Other changes included swapping the Big Mac’s sesame seed bun with “buttery brioche” and each burger coming with more of the cult-favorite “special sauce.”
McDonald’s reported positive Q1 2024 earnings on Tuesday, a 2% quarterly jump in global comparable sales growth, which marks the chain’s 13th consecutive quarter of comparable sales growth.
Related: McDonald’s in Connecticut Goes Viral For Astronomical Prices
“As consumers are more discriminating with every dollar that they spend, we will continue to earn their visits by delivering leading, reliable, everyday value and outstanding execution in our restaurants,” said CEO Chris Kempczinski.
McDonald’s was down just over 8% as of Tuesday afternoon.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Gen Z Is Choosing Trade Schools as a Fast Track to Business
It’s no secret that Gen Z is entrepreneurial, with research showing that the majority would take a social media creator job over a standard 9-to-5. Nearly half are going the extra mile by starting a side hustle to be able to afford “the normal stuff.”
Now, new research shows that trade school could also play into Gen Z’s entrepreneurial aspirations, especially with rising AI capabilities and growing education costs.
According to a January National Student Clearinghouse report, vocational community college enrollment has grown 16% since 2018. Growth was concentrated mainly in cities and suburbs, which recorded 3.5% and 3.7% respective increases in students opting for trade programs.
Last year’s version of the report found that enrollment in programs across the construction, culinary, and mechanic trades increased 19.3%, 12.7%, and 11.5% respectively from 2021 to 2022.
“We’re seeing that 75% of Gen Z is saying they are interested in being an entrepreneur,” career coach and The Ramsey Show co-host Ken Coleman told Fox Business. “They want to work for themselves… trades offer a quicker, cheaper path to being able to work for themselves, create jobs for other people, and plug into—which is the real backbone of our economy—small business.”
While students were choosing trade schools in higher numbers, fewer were deciding to go for a four-year undergraduate degree.
A separate April report from the National Student Clearinghouse detailed that the number of students completing undergraduate degrees dropped by nearly 3% in the 2022 to 2023 school year — continuing an overall decline from the previous year.
In an NPR article published last week, Sy Kirby, a 32-year-old who owns a construction company, said he knew early that he was going to choose a trade school — and he has no regrets.
Kirby chose to work at a local water department when he was 19 years old rather than go to college, he told NPR. He calls Gen Z the “toolbelt generation,” a term also used by The Wall Street Journal.
“I was facing a lot of pressure for a guy that knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to college,” Kirby told NPR. “I knew I wasn’t going to sit in a classroom, especially since I knew I wasn’t going to pay for it.”
AFFILIATE MARKETING
This Set of Chef’s Knives Is Nearly $300 Off
Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.
Cooking at home can be great for busy professionals because it’s budget-friendly, easier to stay healthy, and meditative. Whether you’re a home cook or an entrepreneur on the hunt for a unique gift that could stand out to a colleague, potential business partner, or friend, this limited-time deal is well worth checking out.
This Seido Japanese Master Chef’s 8-Piece Knife Set comes with a gift box and is on sale for $109.97 (reg. $429). These high-quality knives are made with very durable and strong high-carbon stainless steel. Their forged construction incorporates a sloped bolster and acute 15° angles (compared to the typical 25° seen more commonly with Western knives).
This set includes the following knives:
- 8″ chef’s knife
- 8″ slicing knife
- 8″ bread knife
- 7″ cleaver
- 7″ Santoku knife
- 5″ Santoku knife
- 6″ boning knife
- 3.5″ paring knife
To add an air of high-class presentation to this deal, it also comes with a stylish gift box that can securely store the knives for travel or passing on to a business partner.
This set has an impressive 4.6/5 star average rating among verified purchasers. One recent perfect five-out-of-five star review reads, “Affordable price. Excellent workmanship. Fast shipment. Overall, great product that’s hard to beat.”
Discover the quality of a high-end set of knives to improve your home cooking, or gift them to someone you work with.
This Seido™ Japanese Master Chef’s 8-Piece Knife Set comes with a gift box and is on sale for $109.97 (reg. $429).
StackSocial prices subject to change.
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