CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by 10023

You likely wouldn't know, because you're in Chicago (or nearby). I see these on the tube all the time:

I've seen things like this at a few airports in Europe and I've always wondered how truly effective they were. I've personally never seen an ad on a wall and it inspired me to want to go to a particular city.

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

I've seen things like this at a few airports in Europe and I've always wondered how truly effective they were. I've personally never seen an ad on a wall and it inspired me to want to go to a particular city.

A lot of marketing is just establishing a place for the product in a person's mind. You don't consider places you've never heard of. Obviously.

But I'm been really surprised how iconic and recognizable the bean has become. I literally can't begin to count how many rando-from-Ohio's profile pics I've seen that are in front of the bean. It screams at you to take a picture in front of it, and it's reflecting an especially nice and Chicago-y part of Chicago. It's one of the most successful public art projects of all time, in a discussion a level or so below Mt Rushmore, The Statue of Liberty, The Eiffel Tower and Christ the Redeemer. Chicago should and is making hay with that image. It's marketing gold, something that's instantly identifiable and easy to associate.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

A lot of marketing is just establishing a place for the product in a person's mind. You don't consider places you've never heard of. Obviously.

But I'm been really surprised how iconic and recognizable the bean has become. I literally can't begin to count how many rando-from-Ohio's profile pics I've seen that are in front of the bean. It screams at you to take a picture in front of it, and it's reflecting an especially nice and Chicago-y part of Chicago. It's one of the most successful public art projects of all time, in a discussion a level or so below Mt Rushmore, The Statue of Liberty, The Eiffel Tower and Christ the Redeemer. Chicago should and is making hay with that image. It's marketing gold, something that's instantly identifiable and easy to associate.

I'm sure before it was built, people were whining about how dumb it was too

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by Domer2019

Sidenote - visited Berlin recently - clubs like Berghain and Tresor are definitely a conscious part of the city's fame and I have seen nothing like that presence in Chicago.

because Berlin is utterly unique in the world in its devotion to techno. it grew organically, and today you have dozens of niche labels based there, underground clubs, musicians. its still a very vital counter culture in the city and in the country, even if perhaps its becoming harder to maintain that lifestyle as COL increases. dance music there in general is entwined with the bohemian identity of living in a bombed out berlin post Iron Curtain. it was a point of pride that parties would go through until monday morning..."its not like we have jobs to go to". 24 hour clubs...try that here and see how far you get. they breathe techno. even today, die hard locals probably arent even leaving the house to go party until sunday. friday night is for the tourists. it was an atmosphere that allowed for unfettered expression and creativity and youth culture without a lot of risk (and of course, very little regulatory oversight)

house to an extent represented that to Chicago in the 80s and 90s, but today it is a nostalgia act, no different than the blues. not to say its still not entwined to a certain extent with the city. if you turn down a street on a given hot summer day on the south side, you can often still hear it coming out of block parties. but given how transplant and bougie heavy the north side is, you're not going to find it there. it was a genre that came out of the black, gay, and disenfranchised. there are still thousands of people that pack Jackson Park for the Chosen Few each 4th of July, but its all old school south siders. and thats not to say it dosent have cross appeal in some cases, but by and large its not the music the kids of today are engaging with. theyre engaging with the 4th and 5th wave sanitized iterations of it (i.e. mindless EDM festivals at Lollapalooza and Soldier Field). and thats what makes money unfortunately.

places like Smartbar are still vital, but the core group of people who are going to come out for a night of say Moritz Von Oswald or Theo Parrish or DJ Sprinkles is really not as big as you think it is. even on a saturday night the place rarely sells out. this is despite the fact those folks would headline festivals overseas. reality is i dont think any city in America could support a club with the programming and square footage of Berghain. unfortunately our nightlife heavily caters to idiotic binge drinking and awful cover bands. unless youre not into that at all, in which case you know the places to go. is what it is. but you cant just flip a switch and replicate the saturation level of berlin any more than you can flip a switch and replicate punk rock in 1980s NYC. both are byproducts of their environment and time in history.

detroit actually probably has the environment more conductive to this than chicago does. theres actually been ideas floated around to do something similar with the packard plant in detroit, but even that faces absolutely insane hurdles. i just dont see how it would ever be financially viable, the population isnt there to support it, to say nothing of the regulatory hassles that exist in the US in regards to nightlife
https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2954

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

A lot of marketing is just establishing a place for the product in a person's mind. You don't consider places you've never heard of. Obviously.

Ehhhhh, fair enough. But I still don't see how it does anything more than reassure people that yes, Chicago does indeed still exist. I wonder if there's even a way to understand how many people take any sort of action based on these ads. I know Warsaw exists. If I was on a train and saw a Warsaw ad, the likeliness that Warsaw will become a destination in my future I don't believe has increased by any real amount due to the ad.

BTW, I like Warsaw and specifically the people from there, I've been there twice, just using it as an example.

I guess my point is, what further is the city currently doing to actually entice people to come here? Something that actually has a measurable impact on visitors and our image overall?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

Ehhhhh, fair enough. But I still don't see how it does anything more than reassure people that yes, Chicago does indeed still exist. I wonder if there's even a way to understand how many people take any sort of action based on these ads. I know Warsaw exists. If I was on a train and saw a Warsaw ad, the likeliness that Warsaw will become a destination in my future I don't believe has increased by any real amount due to the ad.

BTW, I like Warsaw and specifically the people from there, I've been there twice, just using it as an example.

I guess my point is, what further is the city currently doing to actually entice people to come here? Something that actually has a measurable impact on visitors and our image overall?

Nothing. Our leadership has been an absolute failure at this, and they aren't even self-aware.

The message that the marketing is way underadequate has been hammered to the powers that be so many times that it's like a broken record. Which means they are either way out of tune, not interested, or just mentally retarded.

[Via Chicago]

i do agree its a total failure when a city like Nashville can cement its place in the national consciousness as a "music city" and chicago cant. but i think we also suffer from how spread out and diverse our music scene is (its an asset but also a hindrance towards marketing it). in NOLA you can walk from one little bar playing music to the next, and the acts are all pretty much house bands or regulars. and people go there with a very specific type of music they want to hear.

here, youd have to get on a train, go 40 minutes across town, and on any given night the cover charge is probably going to dissuade anyone from just "popping in". your average tourist isnt going to stumble into a random night of punk rock or metal at the empty bottle or avant garde jazz at constellation. those places cater to people seeking it now, not stumbling in. and thats true of much of chicagos music scene.

[donnie]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Nothing. Our leadership has been an absolute failure at this, and they aren't even self-aware.

The message that the marketing is way underadequate has been hammered to the powers that be so many times that it's like a broken record. Which means they are either way out of tune, not interested, or just mentally retarded.

I gues the 50+ million that visit every year is just from word of mouth!

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i do agree its a total failure when a city like Nashville can cement its place in the national consciousness as a "music city" and chicago cant. but i think we also suffer from how spread out and diverse our music scene is (its an asset but also a hindrance towards marketing it). in NOLA you can walk from one little bar playing music to the next, and the acts are all pretty much house bands or regulars. and people go there with a very specific type of music they want to hear.

here, youd have to get on a train, go 40 minutes across town, and on any given night the cover charge is probably going to dissuade anyone from just "popping in". your average tourist isnt going to stumble into a random night of punk rock or metal at the empty bottle or avant garde jazz at constellation. those places cater to people seeking it now, not stumbling in. and thats true of much of chicagos music scene.

New Orleans is another city that has had better unified brand marketing than us. Nashville has led a successful recognition campaign, but I don't know if that campaign has led to huge desire to be in that city for any serious length of time. Or even to go out of your way for a visit, especially from an international standpoint. New Orleans yes,

Originally Posted by donnie

I gues the 50+ million that visit every year is just from word of mouth!

What would you attribute as some of the key marketing pieces that have gotten us so much tourist attention?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by donnie

I gues the 50+ million that visit every year is just from word of mouth!

Do you know where they come from?

Surrounding states.

How much more do we really need to convince Michigan and Wisconsin that we are a place worth visiting?

[Freefall]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

I guess my point is, what further is the city currently doing to actually entice people to come here? Something that actually has a measurable impact on visitors and our image overall?

Giving tax breaks to movies/shows that shoot in Chicago/feature Chicago. And yes, that stuff does have an impact whether you think it does or not.

[gebs]

Originally Posted by Freefall

Giving tax breaks to movies/shows that shoot in Chicago/feature Chicago. And yes, that stuff does have an impact whether you think it does or not.

The city's skyline was featured in Stranger Things Season 2!

... but it was a 2017 skyline from a show set in 1984 ... and it was in a slum that looked designed by what a suburban teenager thinks a slum in the big city looks like ... and it was set in the middle of Lake Michigan.

Baby steps!

[JK47]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

That sends a bad message to investors and may end up harming property values within these commercial strips. We need to see stability in this--whether some kind of court decision or some sort of new ordinance preventing these arbitrary downzonings--in order to stabilize property values in these strips.

Zoning law is enshrined at the Federal level via a series of Supreme Court cases interpreting the 14th Amendment regarding regulatory takings. Zoning regulations may diminish the economic return on the property (which must be certain, not speculative). That is permissible. What isn't permissible is destroying the economic viability of the property or making it impossible to develop (e.g. requiring a 75 foot deep residential lot to have 100 foot setbacks for any structure built).

That won't change. However, that problem is true throughout the country. Chicago is hardly alone in aggressively applying zoning regulations to advance urban land use concepts.

[Freefall]

Originally Posted by gebs

The city's skyline was featured in Stranger Things Season 2!

... but it was a 2017 skyline from a show set in 1984 ... and it was in a slum that looked designed by what a suburban teenager thinks a slum in the big city looks like ... and it was set in the middle of Lake Michigan.

Baby steps!

Shameless, Empire, Chicago Law, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire. Chicago is red hot in the film industry right now

[gebs]

Originally Posted by Freefall

Shameless, Empire, Chicago Law, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire. Chicago is red hot in the film industry right now

Oh, definitely -- it was also in recently in Now You See Me and Office Christmas Party. I was just bringing up the most recent popular sighting.

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by Freefall

Giving tax breaks to movies/shows that shoot in Chicago/feature Chicago. And yes, that stuff does have an impact whether you think it does or not.

I absolutely believe something like that can. The Dark Knight and the Transformers movie are well known to have been shot here. But I'm not convinced yet we've experienced enough recent films that sell our city very well. Like I said in a previous post, there's very little in these particular films that would have changed if you used NYC or Toronto instead of Chicago. We need neighborhood name drops and significant screen times in those neighborhoods. We need locally loved restaurants in commanding scenes. We need movie characters to explicity talk about the uniqueness of Chicago.

You can easily imagine a movie character verbally expressing their cliche stereotypical view of what makes LA or NYC. Instead Chicago is just used as a generic big city backdrop for events to unfold with just a quick mention of location or building, something most people won't remember. I hope as more movies continue to be shot here, there will be more desire for film directors to not only say the story is taking place in Chicago, but to also express why being in Chicago is uniquely influential to the story. In NYC for example, the statue of liberty, the empire state building, the UN building, the brooklyn bridge, times square... hell even their streets get name dropped constantly to a point that they are famous (broadway, 5th, 6th, 42nd, lexington, etc) and they are all a part of the story. I would enjoy seeing Chicago experience similar coverage.

[intrepidDesign]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Do you know where they come from?

Surrounding states.

How much more do we really need to convince Michigan and Wisconsin that we are a place worth visiting?

Geese man, who cares where they come from, 50+ million is 50+ million, and as long as their money is green I don't care if they come from the moon. Perceptions are not changed over night. Start with your neighbors, convince them to visit, then move outward from there. Maybe if even more people from Michigan and Wisconsin visit Choose Chicago will get a bigger budget to go after tourists in Shanghai or Dubai or wherever you'd rather they come from. Conde Nast (very much a NYC company) just listed Chicago as the #1 American city to visit, so to call the efforts of people promoting Chicago an ABSOLUTE failure is a bit unfair.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by donnie

I gues the 50+ million that visit every year is just from word of mouth!

Originally Posted by intrepidDesign

Geese man, who cares where they come from, 50+ million is 50+ million, and as long as their money is green I don't care if they come from the moon. Perceptions are not changed over night. Start with your neighbors, convince them to visit, then move outward from there. Maybe if even more people from Michigan and Wisconsin visit Choose Chicago will get a bigger budget to go after tourists in Shanghai or Dubai or wherever you'd rather they come from. Conde Nast (very much a NYC company) just listed Chicago as the #1 American city to visit, so to call the efforts of people promoting Chicago an ABSOLUTE failure is a bit unfair.

Have you met your average Michigander or Wisconsinite? They don't talk to people in Shanghai or Dubai. What originates in Michigan stays in Michigan.

Also, the per capita expenditures of foreign tourists is WAY higher than domestic ones. And Chicago way lags its peer cities in international tourism. So there is money being left on the table.

[intrepidDesign]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Have you met your average Michigander or Wisconsinite? They don't talk to people in Shanghai or Dubai. What originates in Michigan stays in Michigan.

Also, the per capita expenditures of foreign tourists is WAY higher than domestic ones. And Chicago way lags its peer cities in international tourism. So there is money being left on the table.

All I'm saying is you have to start somewhere. If someone from the midwest decides to visit Chicago instead of NY or LA one year, I'd call that a victory, and I'm sure the local hotels and restaurants will gladly accept them. Do I think that someone from Wisconsin is going to Facebook their friend in Shanghai about their wonderful trip to Chicago? Probably not, but maybe. But so much of this stuff is built upon perception. Let's say someone from Shanghai actually decides to visit, well I'd rather have the restaurant they decide to dine at full of people (even if it's Wisconsinites) so they go back to Shanghai with the perception that Chicago's buzzing. Long and short, pack 'em in and who cares where they come from, build upon the momentum of past success (of which lately there is ample) and try not to be such a sour puss.

[cmmcnam2]

I absolutely believe something like that can. The Dark Knight and the Transformers movie are well known to have been shot here. But I'm not convinced yet we've experienced enough recent films that sell our city very well. Like I said in a previous post, there's very little in these particular films that would have changed if you used NYC or Toronto instead of Chicago. We need neighborhood name drops and significant screen times in those neighborhoods. We need locally loved restaurants in commanding scenes. We need movie characters to explicity talk about the uniqueness of Chicago.

I believe this will come out more as Chicago just has more film infrastructure. LA and New York are in so many movies because they have everything you need in abundance. An indie director can find camera men, grips, etc much more easily. Films with a lesser budget don't have to pay premiums for equipment, and so on. We have many people who want to film here. Joe Swanberg is a native and he tries to film his movies in Chicago and actually use it. For instance, the film Drinking Buddies used neighborhood names, the main characters worked at Revolution, and they took a trip to Michigan (St. Joe's if I'm not mistaken.) As the industry builds up you will get more films like this, films that show the heart of the city.