Chicago 3rd Largest Twitter Location

It must be the "O" effect. A report issued on the State of the Twittersphere places Chicago as the 3rd most popular Twitter location ins the world (LA nad London rank higher).

Why would Chicago be placing so high? Well the report does say English speaking cities twitter more. But I think it must also be due to Obama and Oprah, as well as other local media figures like Richard Roeper and Jerry Taft (ABC local weatherman) who started using Twitter earlier this year. Interestingly, David Armano, formerly of Critical Mass here in Cgo, is one of the top 25 Twitterati in Chicago (he sure tweets a lot!).

Letterman Asks Spacey About "The Twitter"

Letterman's show: 3.7 million viewers of late. Tweeters following Kevin Spacey: 800,000 (including moi). Kevin trying to explain Twitter to Dave... Prioeless.

While Dave scoffs that The Twitter is a waste of time, the number of people following Kevin happens to equal 22% of Dave's nightly audience. 800,000 also happens to be the number of viewers separating Dave's ratings from Conan (now #2 in ratings for late night).

We Knew Where We Were Going Back Then

9:32 a.m. EDT July 16, 1969. Apollo 11 takes off for the moon.

I was just a little kid, but I knew where our country was going. We were going to the moon. It was just that simple. We knew it was fraught with danger. But we were going for it.

If we asked a kid today where the country was going today, what would they say? Today's kids are focused on the earth and the environment, they're a pretty patriotic bunch, but I don't know what they think about space exploration. My young friend Sam joined the Space Club at his highschool, but he may be unique in his interests (even though he's not facile with science). There's been plenty of recent studies that about the optimism of teens and twentysomethings, but nothing I can find about what kids/tweens are thinking as it relates to the future of the country. Could make a great conversation at the dinner table!

A side note, the Tribune Building's windows feature the newspapers from the days Apollo 11 and a piece of "moon rock." Still amazing to gaze at a piece of the moon!

Moms are Cheeky--When It Come to Little Butt Cheeks

I've never quite "separated." That's a key psychological stage of mom & child development, and that's how you might describe me as it relates to the new mom target market. I loved working in the new mom market for so many years. So when I see a new campaigns targeting new moms--I get curious. Huggies new multi-platform campaign has caught my attention. It's a wonderful example of interactivity and energy. The cheeky tone of the campaign is a refreshing departure from much of new mom advertising.

It's always amazed me how new moms are such a positive, energized group. When they are in their Mom-centricity mindset, they have a real appreciation for telling it like it is, yet few marketers have taken a playful approach in their communications. When asked to describe life with toddler, one of the biggest refrains I've heard is, "Hilarious." Playfulness is a top 10 trend for 2009 (Mintel), yet June Cleaver, sappy stereotypes continue to abound.

Kudos to Huggies on taking this very cheeky, playful campaign to new moms. It's hilarious!

Generation O: Multiculturism As A New American Value

Several posts ago, I talked about Levi's new "Go Forth" campaign. I was intrigued with the strategy of equating the values of "pioneer" to the values shared by the Millennial target, and the "find" of Walt Whitman's one-known voice recording reciting his poem "America." That sparked a discussion with my colleague Neal, who was inspired to blog about our core American values (perfect for a July 4th blog on collective-thinking.com). Neal dug up a 1984 paper written by L Robert Kohls called “The Values Americans Live By." Neal and I speculated about how these values have morphed in the past 25 years, and questioned if there was anything new to add to the core list.

Guess the answer is "multiculturism." Evolving from the values of Freedom and Fairness. Everyone knows Millennials are the most multicultural generation in our history. This may be the soft underbelly of the new Levi's work. Some pundits are faulting the new campaign for ignoring this value.

From PSFK's blog: Levi’s and its campaign don’t connect with the great things that are happening in this country, the radiant mix of cultures evolving within it nor the reality of its past. Probably the most appalling ad in the campaign is the one where a young girl runs through a meadow by the words “This Country Was Not Built By Men In Suits”. Now, some of us here (me) didn’t spend a lot of time studying US history but I know that the people who built this country couldn’t even run freely in the fields. Agency Spy spotted graffiti daubed on the ad in New York’s subway which spells out who a little more clearly: “By Slaves”.

Christine Huang, formerly of PSKF, blogs:
I saw one of these ads in NYC’s Spring Street 6 subway station. The copy read, “This country was not built by men in suits” - which someone added to in matching handwritten scrawl: “IT WAS BUILT BY SLAVES”. Up to that point, I hadn’t been able to put my finger on what it was about the campaign that made me feel so uneasy. But with that bit of graffiti, it all came together. Levis (or rather W+K) is glorifying these centuries old American ideals - Optimism! Egoism! Manifest Destiny! - while making paltry gestures towards the reality of American history and what America is today. Besides the few ethnic actors in the video, their print campaign is disappointingly monochromatic and seems almost apologetically alienating. It would have been really amazing to see Levis pay homage to the symbols of true individuality from our past - the freedom riders, abolitionists, suffragists, veterans.”The Frontier” is sexy and all, but how about some real American heroes?

Going Tribal--circa 1969

This coming August marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. The world of pop culture has been inundated with tchotchkes and fashions that pay homage to the times. Macy's has a Summer of Love Fashion section, full of fringed purses and peace scarves. Old Navy's annual 4th of July tshirt was a peace-sign flag. Target has a whole paper party and candle set themed to "Three Days of Peace, Love and Music." The trend pundits have been writing about a return nostalgia in marketing and advertising, as we seek to reconnect with comfort and thoughts of a simpler time. This peace cake just showed up on my Facebook feed--a "sign" of the nostalgia for those days.

I am anxiosuly anticipating Ang Lee's latest movie, "Taking Woodstock." When asked about the biggest challenge making the movie, Lee said, “The extras... policing them with their attitudes and even their pubic hair.” Lee set up “hippie camp” to teach the background tribes in the finer points of non-grooming. According to the producer, "Finding skinny extras who who didn’t have gym sculpted bodies was especially difficult. When you think about it, a generation of people who weren’t fat, who weren’t staring at themselves in the mirror all the time, and not shaving everything off down there—it captures the difference of 40 years right there.”

I just bought an original LP recording of the Broadway musical, Hair, marketed as "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical." "Under the sponsorship of Michael Butler, a resourceful and adventurous Chicago," the liner notes describe Butler, who I remember from childhood as a local bon vivant and scion of a family that owned most of the land that eventually became Oak Brook. Described as "a pagan ritual, a theatrical be-in, a happening and a scandal," the album lists Diane Keaton as one of the original cast members. Hair launched other famous careers, including Meat Loaf and David Carradine, who's daughter Martha Plimpton was conceived during the show.

Interested in a blast of tribal from the past? The full cast of the Broadway revival of Hair will be on the Tonight Show with Conan tonite. Or, if you're in the vicinity of the Boulevard at Element 79, you may be hearing "Aquarius," or "What a Piece of Work Is Man" wafting down the hallways.


source for Ang Lee interview: Brian D. Johnson, Unscreened, May 17, 2009

A Very Merry Jean Shepard 4th of July

I've been ruminating about the Fourth of July and why we love this holiday. Freedom, history, pageantry, ritual are the expected thoughts about the holiday. But I wonder if the real resonance about the holiday is the very celebration of our American Ordinariness. There's a lot of hoak mixed with the ordinary for this holiday--the plethora of Kraft recipes made with Cool Whip, Miracle Whip, Philly Cream Cheese (the list is just endless!) And let's not forget the annual special $5 t-shirt from Gap (although I traded-up to the $10 American Flag/Peace Symbol version this year).

Yes. In this year of great economic stress, we return to our backyards, beaches, front porches and parking lots to come together to celebrate and revel in our very American ordinariness. Garrison Keiler has talked about our love of American stories that profile the very ordinariness of our lives. I think Jean Shepherd may have captured this best in PBS' dramatization of his short story, "The Great American Fourth of July and Other Great Disasters." It's not available on DVD (I have a bootleg), but someone posted a nice clip on YouTube. You may recognize a very young Matt Dillon as the protagonist, Ralphie, and his father played by James Broderick (the real-life father of Mathew Broderick).

Happy Fourth!