Chuch Scoop

I’ve been to a good amount of live concerts recently as I come to terms with being the “old guy” at shows. Some bands have been good as advertised while other make me wonder if I’m just not getting what the kids see and why does it just sound like “noise”. Regardless, here’s my brief overview of these acts, almost of all which showed a fondness for flannel shirts and a complete and utter disdain for personal hygiene. The grunge look is back in full effect, except with a dash of patchouli and a hint of southern rock.

Fleet Foxes - Go see these guys immediately, if only to guess how many times the lead singer has used soap in the last month ( I say 5 times, and one of those was an accident) This the best band to surface in 2008. This was the by far the best of the shows and Kathleen and I hit up this great bar in NYC called “Angel’s Share” prior to the show.

Fleet Foxes - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

TV on the Radio - I’ve never fully bought the hype of this critic’s darlings although, “Staring at the Sun” might be in my Top 10 songs of all time. Their latest effort, “Weird Science” is ambitious, innovative and their most complete album in my estimation so I was quite excited to see them live. Unfortunately, they were terrible at the show and I wished I could have seen them on Letterman’s Fire Escape instead. At least, I got to see a record set for most flannel shirts per capita discounting a logging mill or a “Bounty” mascot tryout.

Yeasayer
- This band has some potential and of course, they are from Brooklyn where evidently you have to establish residence to get a record deal and buzz. The highlight of this concert was the ability to sit in the corner sipping vodka sodas and identifying different breeds of hipsters. The “unfortunate bangs” quotient was high to say the least. This band sounds like a combo of Talking Heads and Rusted Root and the bassist has a great look for both indie band and an Armenian arms dealer/porn distributor. I like the video below because one day I want this Brit to introduce me with the same enthusiasm at my funeral.

Good old Bruce Lee resurfaces in this “viral” video for Nokia. I’d be the first to admit the SFX are pretty cool however, they should have just gone all the way and shown Bruce doing calculus calculations while boiling some rice to complete the stereotype. I’ll talk more on this subject later but my parents are calling me to dinner and I always obey my elders…

The country has seemingly been revitalized overnight however, I’m not talking about the guy from Hawaii who is planning on installing 94 feet of hardwood in the White House. The 2008 election gave us two brilliant additions to the pop culture landscape that made you realize that anything is indeed possible….yes, even the hoverboard from Back to the Future.

First, it was Anderson Cooper interviewing a hologram of Wil.I.Am from Chicago’s Hyde Park. This was almost enough to make me forget the Black Eyed Peas’ various transgressions against music from the past 10 years and then I pictured newlyweds coming out to “Let’s Get it Started” and all sympathy disappeared. I need to start a business ASAP with the hologram as the central component. (Hologram Dating, Hologram biz presentations, etc) The Future is Now!

The best nugget of pop culture resulting from these historic elections is by far the “Ron Clark Kids”. I have to give credit to my good friend, Mitch Crisci for passing this video below. I understand it’s a little early to be thinking of the 2012 elections but suffice to say, which ever side recruits these guys solidly has my vote. I wonder if they have a Menudo type model, where they are kicked out of the group once they hit puberty? I need to get a Ron Clark kids ring tone.

Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed celebrate Barack Obama’s victory on the Jersey Shore.

* Not shown. Paulie reviewing  the latest Club Magazine.

Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with my Federated Media colleague, Matt Trotta to review the groundbreaking 3-A-Day Dairy campaign. Matt’s been busy spreading the gospel of conversational media around Manhattan thus, we decided to have this conversation via Facebook. Yes, besides sharing an employer, we also both have no lives and met our girlfriends online, therefore are used to this format of social interaction.

If can’t get enough of this virtual exchange of pure, unadulterated genius please visit Trotorria here

Mark Chu Cheong discusses CM innovation with Mat Trotta.

I’ve designed a couple pairs of shoes via Nike iD in my unheralded “stylist” career. One pair was inspired by the 80’s Lakers and the other by a desire for sneakers that don’t look ready made for a space exploration. The value proposition of the Nike iD product is that the user maintains creative control in an extremely easy, user-friendly experience. I managed to pull of my shoe executions despite the fact I have as much design savvy as the guy that commissioned “Whiskey Pete’s” outside of Vegas and the poor soul who designed these below. (And no, it’s not me! )

Recently, Nike’s digital agency, Razorfish collaborated with Watercooler Sports and Federated Media to translate the product’s level of customization to their display advertising efforts. (Disclosure: I work for FM) The Watercooler platform enables television and sports fans to connect. Over 20 million users have joined Watercooler fan communities on leading social networks including Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Nike ID tapped into these communities’ individual identities by having the display ads automatically reflect the team colors. Note the screenshots below where ads served on the New Orleans Hornets and San Francisco 49ers Watercooler Apps featured Nikes complete with team colors. (red and white for 49ers, teal and white for Hornets) Nice to see advertising dynamically reflecting product attributes!

Recently, Linkedin has “opened up” their platform to applications so one can craft an even more robust and self-promoting profile. Now I can display this poorly written blog to even more people and also search what people are saying about my company, Federated Media. BTW, it’s mostly positively “tweets” about FM! I wish I could say the same about my blog

Currently, there are only about 10 apps available however, pretty soon I would expect I will be able to “throw some dentures” at someone I once collaborated on a project with or invite my colleagues to add a “HR -Benefits” widget. Screenshots of the Wordpress and Company Buzz Apps below.

Old Spice has recently launched an innovative online campaign that allows one to populate the web with content that significantly enhances one’s achievements and overall “swagger” which is colloquial language for having “game” or in meathead dude parlance, “the ability to score chicks broseph!”

Display ads across “guy” sites featuring virile 18-24 year old males invite users to enter the Old Spice factory.

Banner Ads featuring Isaac from "The Love Boat " invite you to gain "Swagger"

You Optimize your attributes in an Old Spice branded environment

After building out your profile and entering your name, email address and uploading a picture you are now ready to trick the Internet a’ la Jayson Blair.

Recently, my group of friends were confronted with the task of obtaining costumes for Bay to Breakers which is an annual event in San Francisco that is essentially one long, crazy alcohol infused block party. The theme of our group was “Sesame Street” so naturally, everyone flocked to American Apparel for their outfits?!? There appeared no logic in this purchasing decision whatsoever. Yet, the store was packed with the prized 18-34 year old demographic in a line usually reserved for bread lines in Communist Russia. All were eagerly awaiting the opportunity to consume short shorts, tube socks and t-shirts at severely inflated prices. (In truth, besides my group, they really weren’t many in the 30+ zone, but please indulge me) It was also ironic that none of us ended up looking like Sesame Street characters. Additionally, nobody seemed to get my “Mexican Count”. Thankfully, amongst the other 30 odd people in our group they were a few legitimate costumes.

Despite or maybe because of a CEO that has been rumored to conduct interviews with attractive female applicants clad only in his briefs; American Apparel continues to thrive as one of the most distinctive and identifiable brands in existence today. The edgy clothing retailer has now become an afterthought as the go to destination for t-shirts, hoodies, leggings, or if you simply wish to look like you live in Brooklyn and love Tom Waits. Put it this way, if you play in a kickball league you immediately know where everybody is going to get your team uniform. Ditto if you’re an Internet start-up and want to make a company sweatshirt. This phenomenon all started as incredibly savvy, well positioned marketing strategy that properly targeted the influencers and hipsters on both coasts. The combination of a borderline pornographic ad campaign, which cheekily used store employees as models and the increasing popularity of all things “indie” fueled the conversation regarding the brand amongst tastemakers. The eventual migration into the mainstream’s consciousness was inevitable and continues to be amplified to the masses via good old fashioned, word-of-mouth marketing. In the trendy Marina in San Francisco that fateful morning, one can clearly envision hordes of twenty-somethings asking their peers where they were purchasing costumes for the big event and all receiving the same ubiquitous response of… “American Apparel.”

The funniest part is that American Apparel does not sell anything unique. One could easily mistake their clothes for Hanes except made to fit Smurf sized humans. Their catalogue contains mostly simple, basic items in a wide variety of colors that are made to fit either heroin junkies or a 20 year old Brit rockers, which I guess is really the same thing. The adoring public continues to pay incredible premiums on v-necks just for the opportunity to purchase it from a guy with an ironic moustache, who secretly despises you. However, there I stood, anxiously waiting in line ready to pay $50 for some tube socks and green “Prefontaine” shorts. Many came out with a befuddled face like my friend Ali below who paid $20 for a headband. However, deep down we both know we’ll be back because we’re that dumb and American Apparel is that smart.

Dr. Marten is one of those brands that will always have a significant cult following. It’s safe to say that as long as there are disenfranchised youth somewhere, Dr Marten will have a solid constituency. Recently they have become a little more aggressive in their marketing by placing ads on such hip sites as Pitchfork Media, MocoLoco and NOTCOT. It’s those quiet kids that roman the hallways that become the designer, musicians and architects of the world, I guess. The ad unit actually allows you to begin custom designing a boot for a few seconds, within the banner, before eventually taking you to the Dr. Marten site where you can complete the process. It’s nice to see such a storied, iconic brand take an innovative and fun approach to their marketing. Below is the actual unit as well as one I created with that one of my heroes, Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel gracing the boot.