The Enigma Beyond

As no facial expression was discernable, his voice took on a more commanding resonance. “Ingrid, good to see you on time for our meeting. Report.”

“Good day, sir. I am pleased to advise you that Gracie Rodriguez has nearly completed her indoctrination period. Her testing in the various areas has exceeded my expectations, proving her to be a most excellent addition to my team. She is even beginning some small marketing development plans ahead of schedule. Her hand has healed, and internal testing shows the tracking to be perfect, both internal to this building on all floors and to her current hotel accommodations.”

“Excellent news. The team has reviewed some of the outlined marketing, and her fresh approach will hit the intended masses of the below-35 crowd, especially in the US and UK markets. Have her document some planning, targeting the Asian markets, and let’s get a good look at her research skills. She will take a trip to the region before the end of the month.

“Was there anything on her phone to be concerned about? Before returning it to her, you need to make certain it has no issues. Her new flat will provide a bit more freedom, but all the electronics are almost fully in place. Based on your impressions of her likes and dislikes, the flat should feel like home the moment she arrives. Of course, minor changes could be made at your personal expense for any inconsistencies.”

Ingrid nodded agreement and waited a moment before her next point. “Of course, sir. I plan to take her to her new location over the coming weekend. We have a new guard, whom she has not seen yet, set up as her next-door neighbor. He will keep an eye on her while at home as well as the flat when she travels. If he does his job well, Bill will become her closest friend outside of me. I know once she receives her phone back, she will contact her parents to say she is fine. That will be one interesting conversation to eavesdrop into.”

“Agreed, Ingrid! I want you to set her up for a one-week trip from New York to Tokyo and back so we can test her ability to talk to new people, solicit new ideas from the target market as well track her ability to keep to our schedules. Feeling self-determining and actually being independent are very different, as you well know. She should know the travel spending guidelines. Let’s see how she adheres.

“Our AI supercomputer modeling clearly shows a change in demographics and attitudes here in North America. I want some field reconnaissance from her sweep of these Pan-Pacific destinations to see if we are on target to capture this country’s mindset. In particular, we must see if our target market is only money-motivated or more altruistic in their thinking. Much of our campaign depends upon which motivational issues we should key on.”

Ingrid solemnly nodded. “This week will be her first look at her net pay, which will help us to understand if Gracie is money-motivated like many of her peers. The shopping for her travel wardrobe ought to also flush out those items. I reviewed the contents of her hotel room; she has well-made clothing by leading designers out of Europe, so I suspect her mother is advising her. Her jewelry is also well made but not so expensive as to make her a target. I couldn’t have advised her any better.

“She is routinely working out in the hotel gym, which is our only blind spot of her activities. However, based upon her appearance when the hall cameras pick her up on exiting, she is pushing herself into quite the sweat. Then 45 minutes later when Gracie walks out toward the office, she appears to have come right from the cover of any fashion magazine. Youthful, vibrant, and well put together is Ms. Gracie. I believe she will be a better asset than I had imagined, so thank you, sir.”

“Like any asset, Ingrid, don’t squander it!” And the transmission ended.

Ingrid sat back in her chair and expelled a deep breath like one who has been in a very tight spot. “That went well,” she mumbled to no one in particular as she closed her eyes briefly to gain strength.

A gentle knock indicated a visitor. Ingrid sat up and smiled as she announced, “Come in.”

Gracie opened the door. “May I come in, Ingrid? I have some new statistics I wished to review with you along with my findings.”

Ingrid stood and walked over to the work table adjacent to her desk area. With a hand indicating the desktop was hers, she added, “Of course, Gracie. Good timing actually. I’d like to see what you’ve put together.”

Confidently Gracie walked to the table and spread out her storyboard as she launched her computer with the data revealed. “Assembling all the data from the target demographics in Asia, beginning with Japan and weaving in Thailand and India, I focused on both genders as well as those who are employed in any capacity. If our goal is investments, then it made sense to begin with those parameters, which we can further filter as needed. The data set from India was such that I filtered out those who were still supported by parents into subsets to review later.”

Ingrid looked at the data and then peered at the storyboard. “What are you doing with this storyboard? It appears to only be a six-month view.”

Gracie grinned with confidence as she explained, “It is actually a bit too much time in the plan as the attention span for most people is more like 60 to 90 days. However, I also wanted to indicate we would track the follow-on time for friend adoption, viral incidents, and then essentially a marketing effort with legs, with us controlling the messaging. We won’t need further messaging investments, but rather simply agreeing and recycling the ever-improving statistics.

“The play at the 90-day mark is along the lines of, ‘If you like the results Judy received you too can take advantage of that and leap-frog to this’. Not only are a majority of people in this category great at adopting the herd guidelines, they will still feel like they have a competitive advantage in getting our daily messaging. In that way you can frame the exact message content on the fly to improve one stat over another. Quite simple, actually. We just need to make certain the messaging fits your end goal, Ingrid.

“I realize I do not know all the messaging you want adopted yet, but this approach for these demographics will help. I also noted at the end of week one that we have a game, functional on any handheld device, for those who would like to consider the options or have already opted-in and want to see their progress compared to a thousand of their closest friends on the top 3 social media channels of their choice. This allows us to gather even more information about the investors and their friends.”

“Gracie, I think you are spot on. Let’s continue down that path and take it to the next level. I will set up travel for you to visit our associates in region for a presentation.”

Gracie beamed as she continued with a bit more detail until they broke up for the day. Ingrid suggested a new restaurant.