Cool Job: President, Tease Marketing

Theresa Tran has held high-level marketing positions at top companies like Nike, DKNY, Miramax Films and BMW North America. Today, she is the President of her own full-service marketing agency in Los Angeles and soon she'll be the Director of Communications for the New York Cosmos. The seasoned marketing executive spoke to Kidult about her company, why relationships are the most important thing in her business, and her advice for teens who want to follow in her footsteps.

Tell us about your job?

I’m the founder and President of Tease Marketing. I spent 14 years working in corporate America and I decided 3 years ago that I wanted to work for myself and be my own boss. I also wanted to harness all of the brand marketing experiences that I had gained working for amazing companies and offer my expertise to clients in a broad range of industries like sports, non-profit, entertainment, consumer products, technology, fashion and beauty. Leaving corporate America was a true test because if I could go off and do it on my own, I could prove to myself and my clients that I'm a solid marketer.

What is Tease Marketing?

The art of marketing is all in the tease — creating that tease, creating that allure, and a kind of sensation for your brand. Often times PR and media is used as the ultimate way to tease your brand to the public. Anytime you sit in on marketing meetings, there’s always a teaser component to a campaign.

What kinds of clients do you have at Tease Marketing?

Most of my fees are generated from the corporate side. I’ve worked with Boost Mobile. Nike has been a client. There's also Kodak, the Portland Trailblazers and others. Carmelo Anthony was also a client. I worked with him when I was at Jordan Brand and we maintained a relationship after I left. I represented him for all publicity matters. I guided him through that whole media maze to line up the right editorial opportunities and interviews, helped him during press conferences and prepared him for interviews— basically I helped him put his best foot and face forward anytime he talked to press.

Describe your typical workday.

On any given day, a client will call me for a PR project and another might ask me to help launch a product. 1 of them might want me to reach out to influential bloggers to talk about their brand, or I might do a product promotion or collaboration between a client and another client. I might work with an athlete on publicity, image and brand management. Everything I do falls under the marketing umbrella, which is managing and maintaining your brand.

Tell us about your new job with the New York Cosmos?

Starting September 1, I will be transitioning into a role with the New York Cosmos as their in-house Director of Communications. The Cosmos were an American soccer club in the '70s and '80s but the brand has been dormant for a couple of decades. We're bringing this American soccer club back and making it all about youth and grass roots soccer programs.

What qualities and skills does a person need to succeed at what you do?

To succeed at what I do you have to be able to sit at the intersection of creative and business. You have to get both sides. You have to be able to work creatively because marketing is about creative problem solving. You also have to be able to understand the business side which is all about execution, follow through, being able to manage timelines, budgets, logistics, forecasting and projections on how a program or campaign will do. On any given day you have to present to the CEO of a company but, at the same time, be able to sit in a room of designers and creative people to tell them what you’re doing. You have to be able to speak both languages.

What advice do you have for teens who want to follow your career path?

If I were a teenager wanting to do marketing, I would study it in school to get a foundation. Also, start building that rolodex and those contacts as early on as possible. Network and meet people in the field. Volunteer for a project. Make yourself interested and available.

You have over 500 connections on LinkedIn. How important is it to have great relationships in your industry?

99% of what I've accomplished in my career was because of a relationship that I had established at some point in time. The other day I lost my phone and it took me 2 and half hours to back it up because I had almost 8,000 contacts in my Blackberry. [Laughs] Relationships are so important because you can get things done based on skill, talent and intellect, but you can’t get them done as quickly without the relationship. Marketing is not rocket science and anybody can do it. But it's calculated and strategic in how it's done.

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