From a marketing point of view, I was really surprised that Starbucks put this in the press.  This has made people think that it is OK to stop going to Starbucks – this is the “herd” effect.  In other words, the public does whatever the “herd” is doing.  If everyone is going to Starbucks, everybody goes.  When the news on the street that people are not going to Starbucks as much, people stop going there because they want to be like everyone else.

From a marketing point of view I think this is disastrous.  I’m surprised a company like this would do something this stupid.

It was very similar to what John McCain’s campaign did when they announced that they were “pulling out of Michigan”.  That was stupid – that shows a defeated attitude.

It is important in the real estate business that we, from a marketing point of view, do not show a defeated attitude.  It is easy for us to say that sales are down and nobody is buying when we really need to be talking about all the advantages of real estate on Hilton Head Island, SC – our beaches, golf courses, tennis courts, great weather, and all the things that make Hilton Head Island, South Carolina a great place to own Real Estate.

I had some clients yesterday who purchased a 2nd row home and they are ecstatic!  They got an unbelievably good deal, they got a great house at a much lower price than they thought they would be able to get, so this is good news for them.  It is obviously not good news from the seller, but if you are a buyer in today’s market, I have never seen so many opportunities and so much good news so let’s look at the glass being half full as opposed to being half empty.