SEAN TINER

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 ...

Similar to artist Shepard Fairey posting Andre the Giant posters in public places, artists in Berlin are now posting stickers over luxury advertisements. The stickers expose the different Photoshop filters used by graphic designers to make the images visually stunning. The idea of exposing the aesthetic enhancements is similar to the concept leveraged in Dove's "Evolution" commercial, which launched two years ago (see movie below) . As more marketing efforts, including underground and corporate campaigns, continue to deconstruct the creation of advertisements, will this concept continue to be an innovative strategy in the future? Thanks to Wally for sharing the link to the Photoshop ads.

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.

Constantly pushing the envelope, Rémi Gaillard's latest prank brings Nintendo's Mario Kart Video Game to life.

"If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful." -Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO Amazon.com. Web 2.0 has poured the foundation to create a sustainable, loyal customer base. On a micro-level, I have spent part of this year connecting the dots of Web 2.0. Using existing social networks and posting diverse, aesthetically pleasing content, I have created a diverse web that accelerates traffic to my blog and portfolio website. (Diagram (C) Tiner.) On a macro-level, the same strategy can be applied for any member of the creative economy (artists, fashion designers & musicians) and other businesses that desire to create traffic for their website. It is important to remember that anyone can join these social networks, the key is to differentiate your company or brand in a positive aspect to "build a great experience, (that) customers tell each other about" (Bezos).