SEAN TINER

I recently launched, LeaseItFast.com , to share marketing tips and strategies for real estate and multi-family marketing professionals. Check our the site , when you have a moment. 

I'm extremely excited that my first eBook, InstaSuccess! The Secrets of Marketing on Instagram is published! The eBook is available on Amazon for digital download on several devices including, the Kindle, iPad, and iPhone. If you are an Amazon Prime member you can " borrow " the book for free! The 69-page book is a collobration of Instagram marketing strategies and personal experience. Enjoy! If you have an extra moment, please take a second to write an Amazon.com book review! I'd be very grateful and you'll earn some good karma! :-)

In an order to increase market share, Starbucks is reviving its brand portfolio to connect with a diverse target audience. The world's largest coffee company is expanding Seattle's Best, a brand it acquired in 2003, to several national retail locations, including Borders Books, Subway, and Burger King. With a refreshed logo design, Seattle's Best will rival McDonald's coffee as an alternative to premium coffee without diluting the parent company's brand equity. Starbucks' brand positioning is similar to business decisions implemented by other large retailers. According to Tom Ehlers , a former Starbucks executive who is now VP of retail for Seattle's Best, Starbucks' business model is similar to Gap and Old Navy. In 1994, Gap launched Old Navy to appeal to a target audience who is price sensitive. Old Navy allowed Gap to survive in economic downturns as consumers purchased Old Navy's inexpensive apparel , while Gap closed some of its locations. Last ...

Using Twitter to Engage Constituents v1 Enjoy the slides from my recent presentation at the Cool Twitter Conference in San Diego, CA.

I'm excited that I will be a guest speaker at "Cool Twitter Conference" in San Diego, CA on July 15, 2009. The event is part of The Twitter Conference World Tour Series and is meant to teach marketing professionals how to connect with audiences through Twitter. I will be sharing how nonprofits and individuals can use Twitter to engage constituents and raise funds online. Follow me on Twitter: @seantiner

(Example of a Spezify.com search result ) Bing.com is the buzz of cyberspace with its 80-100 million dollar marketing campaign promoting its innovative "decision engine," but Spezify.com also provides internet surfers with an innovative search experience. The site provides users with graphical snapshots of a search query. Although it may be easier to find specific textual information with a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search query, Spezify is an unique resource for users browsing a topic or searching for images.

The Cavelier's Playoff Proposal converts with parodying Heinken's Walk in Fridge Commercial .

This Thursday, don't be surprised to see your boss walking barefoot to the water cooler. To raise awareness about how one pair of shoes can impact a child's life, Tom's Shoes has created " One Day Without Shoes . " Participants are encouraged to go barefoot to help Tom's Shoes spread its benevolent message. Similar to Nike's Human Race , One Day Without Shoes globally spreads Tom's Shoes mission and uniquely connects its target audience. As marketing messages are frequently lost in the cloud of daily marketing messages, is there an idea your company or brand can rally a one day event around?

(Version 1 -Standard Graph Template) (Version 2 -Aesthetic Version) The two images tell the same story, but in different ways. The first image uses a standard, out-of-the-box graph to show how the iPhone market is predicted to grow overtime. It is an easy and boring approach to quickly share a fact. The second image tells the same fact, but in a creative way. Viewers can visually understand the trend without seeing a standard template. When you are presenting your next BIG idea, make sure to present it a little differently. It will allow you to engage your viewers and show that you are really presenting the next BIG idea and not some out-of-the-box concept.

Charles Barkley may no longer be in T-Mobile's Fab 5, but everyone else is now included in the company's latest advertisement. Filmed in Englands's Liverpool Train Station, T-Mobile's commercial features people dancing to songs that span the last half of the twentieth-century. (Verizon's "It's The Network" Campaign) Similar to Verizon's "It's The Network" advertising campaign, T-mobile has strategically leveraged the power of crowds to illustrate the universal acceptance of its product. The underlying message is how mobile communication can connect anyone, no matter age, background, or status. When you are creating your next marketing campaign think of ways to incorporate crowds. Images of large audiences with your product can convey that your brand or product is universally appreciated, accepted, and desired.

As the cliche states, "if it's not broken, why fix it?" The perils of wisdom hold true for many aspects of life, but when it comes to uniquely marketing a product the cliche should be changed to "if it's not broken, maybe you should fix it anyway." On New Years day, when revelers nursed hangovers and television viewers watched USC make an argument for a national championship in The Rose Bowl , Gatorade launched the "What's G" marketing campaign. For Gatorade, "G represents the heart, hustle and soul of athleticism and will become a badge of pride for anyone who sweats," according to a company statement . Gatorade's new campaign was launched with a commercial featuring a voice over from Lil Wayne and appearances by several superstar athletes, including Kerri Walsh, Derek Jeter, Dwyane Wade, Bill Russell and Muhammad Ali. Mysteriously, the commercial did not feature the Gatorade product and only flashed a "G" letter at the...

For the past six months, I've subscribed to HARO (Help a Reporter Out), a free email list of journalists searching for credible new sources. Each workday HARO sends three emails with media queries for quotes from professionals in various fields, including marketing, business, and branding. I first discovered HARO on Seth Godin's blog and was reluctant to join. At first, I was hesitant to add three more emails per day to my inbox. Nonetheless, I joined and have grown to enjoy the daily emails and behind-the-scenes look at future news stories. From Time Magazine to Brandweek , the quality of postings is impressive and enough to entice any busy professional to join. HARO was created by Peter Shankman, a self-proclaimed CEO, entrepreneur, and adventurist. Shankman's list started as a Facebook group and changed to an email blast after the group grew to 1,200 members. Today, the HARO website boasts over 45,000 "sources" or members of the list. Shankman's rece...

( Nagi Noda Hair Style, photo credit: Cappello ) ( Nagi Noda Hair Style, photo credit: Cappello ) Nagi Noda , a Japanese artist and film director, created unique animal style hairstyles for a photoshot with Kenneth Capello . From dogs to giraffes to monkeys, Noda's creative concepts prevent split ends and push the imagination to a higher level. As consumers continually become numb to traditional forms of advertising and marketers brainstorm new creative concepts, the human body will continue to offer an expressive canvas for innovative design and expression.

(Barack Obama by Tiner) This is a long post that highlights how social media and charisma influenced this year's election. If. If you want skip it, vote , and enjoy a free coffee , go ahead. In 1961, John F. Kennedy Jr., thirty-fifth President of the United States, eloquently remarked “…in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” Hope is a metaphoric building block that can motivate individuals of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to construct tangible bridges of lasting change. Hope inspires people to set aside personal differences and implement policies that benefit mankind. More than forty-year years after JFK Jr.’s remark, hope continues to be a major political topic as Barack Obama, a United States Senator from Illinois and presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, leverages the theme’s fundamental strength to unite Americans throughout the 2008 United State...

If you need one extra motivator to go vote today, Starbucks is giving away a free cup of coffee to voters. From Gillette mailing a free razor to men on their 18th Birthday to Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day, product giveaways strategically enhance a brand's value proposition to consumers. The key is to select a poignant date that resonates with your target audience.

(Apple Computer's Think Different Commercial) "History teaches everything including the future." -Lamartine When you are creating your next marketing campaign, don't be afraid to incorporate historical elements to resonate with your target audience. Incorporating a familiar reference increases likability and engagement in the promoted product or service. Although the historical figure's achievements may directly relate to your product or service, consumers will identify their revered accomplishments with your brand.

Although social media is a valuable entity to engage target audiences in a brand, mainstream appeal is still limited to certain demographics. According to a 2008 Synovate survey that analyzed 17 markets and polled 13,000 people, 58% respondents did not recognize the term social media. This study polled ages ranging from 18-65, the latter who struggled to recognize popular social networking terms. The regular users of social media are extremely vocal about the advantages of the media, which creates the mystic that more than 58% of users are engaged in the media. Additionally, a 2006 comScore study reveals that popularity of social media is split between the 18-24 demographic and the 35-54 demographic (see chart below). Typically, early adapters to social media sites are young millennials or Generation-Y, ranging from 18-29. They regularly visit social media sites and encourage their friends to adopt these networking tools. (Mark Zuckerberg, FaceBook's Founder, by Tiner) For examp...

You'll never know when you're big break will happen.  The secret is to be ready at all times. Last weekend, Matt Williams, a Texas Tech sophomore, won a month of free rent by kicking a 30-yard field goal during a contest at his school's football game. Although Texas Tech is currently ranked #8 in the country, the team has missed six extra point attempts and half of its field goal attempts. Following the contest, Mike Leach, Texas Tech's football coach, approached Williams and asked him to be the team's extra point kicker. Tomorrow, Williams receives his big break and will kick extra points against #19 Kansas. If you have a talent, don't be afraid to share it.  You'll never know who is watching and where it will take you. 

"If you have a good relationship with your customer, the business process flows that much more smoothly." -Richard Pratt Do consumers really open an email when it comes from NOREPLY @ XYZcorp.com ? Are they excited to share the email with friends? Or do they simply click, delete and not even read it? Reverse Traditional Thinking What if companies reversed the strategy and encouraged consumers to respond to email blasts? Try sending an email from a personal account (mary@xyzcorp.com) in your next email marketing campaign, instead of sending an email from a generic account (noreply@XYZcorp.com) . Yes, it will require hard work to read and respond to incoming emails, but consumers will become engaged in your brand. The dialogue between the consumer and your company will open. Creating valuable interaction and increasing brand equity, instead of diluting it with SPAM. Benefits Mass email marketing typically receives a 1-3% response rate. Tailoring emails specifically to the int...

Myspace marketing is passe. You can accumulate over a million friends, but what's the point if you only have one interaction with the user? A user may view your profile once when they accept your friend invitation, but what encourages them to revisit your profile? You can try posting a message in the bulletin, but this is often lost in the clutter of the site's organization. Twitter and Facebook continue to be valuable marketing entities for companies, brands and individuals. The sites naturally encourage repetitive exposure, because of simple organization and navigation. According to Zanjonc's Mere Exposure Theory (1968) the more a person is exposed to something, the more that item, person or profile becomes likable. ...And likability translates to profitability, just ask Apple. Natural Exposure You log in into Facebook and the "mini feed" automatically informs you of updated profiles. Each new photo album, status or profile update is streamed across your homepa...