Schupp Company Blog

Meet Me in St. Louis

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

My city get’s a bad rap – and, to be honest, I’m not sure why. Alright, so I suppose it doesn’t have the best track record on crime; the City Proper has one of the highest per-capita crime rates in America. And, in 2006, just a few days after the Cardinals won the World Series, it was announced that St. Louis was one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.

Geographically we don’t win any points either. We’re located smack in the middle of the heartland in a state whose official instrument is the fiddle and elected officials frequently – and quite embarrassingly, proudly – mispronounce its name: “Miz-ur-uh,” thus sounding unquestionably “small-town” rather than polished and metropolitan.

So, OK – on paper we might not look so hot, and I guess I can see why people not from here would find St. Louis a little inconsequential at best; unfavorable at worst. But wait: There’s reason to love St. Louis. Many reasons in fact, and no it’s not all about beer and baseball (although the city does offer plenty of both). Here, my list of five reasons to love this town:

(1) Seriously, it’s Really Not That Dangerous: I wouldn’t recommend hanging out in any dark alleyways with a purse full of cash in certain parts of St. Louis, but that’s true of any city…anywhere. Also, that ranking of St. Louis as the “Most Dangerous City” back in 2006 was done by a research and publishing company known as “Morgan Quitno Press.” Now – aside from the fact this company is located in Kansas, which right of the bat indicates they’re shady as hell and likely have it out for all big cities in Missouri that don’t bare their state’s name – even the FBI has called BS on them. The problem is that they use their crime statistics to directly compare cities, but fail to take into consideration factors like population density, the degree of urbanization, modes of transportation, economic conditions, etc. In 2007, The American Society of Criminology said the rankings Morgan Quitno used in their report are “baseless and damaging.” What’s true about St. Louis is that between 2006 and 2007, overall crime in the city dropped 15.6% and reached a 35-year low. In 2009, St. Louis didn’t even make the top 15 on Forbes list of most dangerous cities.

(2) It’s Cheap! I Mean, Affordable: According to the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association, Greater St. Louis has an extremely affordable cost of living, one that’s well below the U.S. metro average. In fact, in 2008 St. Louis tied for the average lowest cost of living among the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., and it’s currently ranked the lowest for the first quarter of 2009.

It doesn’t cost a lot to get around here either. Gas prices in St. Louis are consistently under the U.S. average, generally $0.10-$0.15 less.

What to do with all the money you save on gas and easily maintaining a certain standard of living? Why not buy a house? St. Louis boasts the second most affordable housing market among the 20 largest U.S. cities. Who can’t love that in this economy?

(3) Good Eats: T-Ravs & Gooey Butter Cake. Need I say more? Actually, yes, I do need to say more because St. Louis has some of the best restaurants for a city of its size, not to mention one located in the middle of what many might call, “nowhere.”  Gerard Craft of Niche was recognized by Food & Wine Magazine as one of 2008’s Best New Chefs in America. Monarch’s Brian Hale has been featured in Gourmet and Bon Appetite Magazines. Most recently, the president flew Chris Sommers – owner of Pi in U City – nearly 900 miles from St. Louis to D.C. to prepare food for the Obamas and their staff; apparently the president had tasted one of Chris’ divine pizza-pies while on the campaign trail and just couldn’t get enough.

In addition to renowned chefs, St. Louis’ cuisine is also heavily influenced by the many different German, Irish and Italian immigrants who came by the droves in the 19th century. Districts like The Hill, The Central West End, Soulard, U-City Loop, Dog Town, and the Grove offer up amazing eats fit for a NYC bistro, but priced-right for a fiddle-plucking St. Louis-Missourian.

4. Everybody Knows Your Name: OK, not really, but they do want to know where you went to High School. The “High School Question” probably isn’t unique to St. Louis, but it certainly is something we all do – if we’re “local.” Where this comes from or the reason for asking isn’t exactly clear, but just like the Red Knot Sandpiper intuitively migrates 18,000 miles every year from the southern-most tip of South America to Northern Canada and back again, a true St. Louisian instinctively knows to ask this question to another St. Louisian. The answer to the question is what’s important as it tells the asker a great deal about the other person – where he or she grew up; who their friends were; where they went to church; who they might both mutually know; etc. And that’s what’s great about it – it’s an “I-want-to-get-to-know-you” kind of thing because people in St. Louis like getting to know other people, even when there’s no indication we’d ever meet again. We’re a rather social bunch by nature, and it makes this town one of the friendliest I’ve ever known.

5. There’s a Ton of Stuff to Do!: Most people know St. Louis is home to three professional sports teams; most people know about the Arch; and I would surmise that most people know about the Mississippi River and Anheuser-Busch. What people – not from here – don’t know is that St. Louis has a boatload of things to do. Forrest Park – site of the 1904 World’s Fair – is one of the nation’s largest – it’s more than 500 acres bigger than Central Pack in New York. In it are incredible attractions including the St. Louis Zoo, one of the oldest zoos in the U.S., and what’s more – it’s free! Forrest Park also has the Saint Louis Art Museum, the History Museum, the Science Center, the Muny – the oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre – two golf courses, tennis, trails, soft ball fields, boating…the list goes on and on. If you’ve got kids, St. Louis offers up endless possibilities with attractions like the St. Louis City Museum – named one of the “World’s 10 Best Public Spaces” in 2005 by Project for Public Spaces. Not long ago, St. Louis’ Magic House children’s museum was named as the #1 National Attraction for Child Appeal by Zagat Survey. It actually ranked better than Disney’s Magic Kingdom; say what?! Rounding out the list of kid-friendly activities are the Missouri Botanical Garden, Grant’s Farm, the Butterfly House, and The Museum of Transportation. If you prefer more adult activities, St. Louis knows how to entertain with hundreds of outdoor music events, festivals, art shows, wine tastings and social occasions that are often – you guessed it – free (and have booze!)

So there it is – my shameless and unsolicited diatribe on all the reasons to meet me in St. Louis. While maybe not the rebranding campaign my city needs, it’s from the heart(land).

Tags: food, st. louis
Posted in Culture, Miscellaneous, Water Cooler | No Comments »

Wired MetaPuzzle

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

I stumbled upon this article a while back and though my patience to figure it out was short-lived, I think it’s one of the most interesting puzzles I’ve ever seen. Not only is the concept fascinating (who thinks of this stuff, much less, is able to solve it?!?), but it has ties to one of my favorite shows, Lost, as one of its creators, J.J. Abrams, was a guest editor for the May issue of Wired and contributed to this puzzle’s inception.

A hidden metapuzzle threads through the pages of this month’s issue of Wired magazine, which is built around the theme of magic and mystery…Below the surface of the May issue lurk 15 puzzles, all of which combine into a giant metapuzzle, created for Wired.

Tags: interactive, popular, science-fiction, Television
Posted in Culture, Television | No Comments »

Starbucks Goes Micro?

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

It looks like Starbucks is rolling out a new coffee shop concept that is being presented as the anti-Starbucks. The Fifteenth Avenue East coffee store is being test marketed in Starbuck’s hometown of Seattle. (The Seattle Times Article)

What are the main differences you ask? Well first of all, the stores are being named after the neighborhood intersections on which they’re placed. It gives off that local vibe that so many Starbucks-haters are searching for in their gourmet-coffee-to-go. They’ve also applied for a liquor license. It looks like these coffee shops will be serving beer and wine in the evenings. Now this is truly brilliant. Starbucks has taken one of the single advantages independent coffee houses have used to attract customers away from the coffee behemoth and is using it against them. They’re also adding mild entertainment like poetry readings and small bands to add to the quaint homeliness. Now coffee shop patrons can feel like they’re supporting a neighborhood start-up while dumping their money into the corporate coffee monster. Good luck, ma and pa, you never stood a chance.

Now I for one am not a Starbucks-hater. As a matter of fact, I hit a Starbucks at least four times a week. But the beauty of launching this new coffee shop concept is that now I have the illusion of choice. Instead of deciding how far I want to walk to a Starbucks in the morning (across the street, around the block, down two blocks or driving through on my way to work), I can decide whether or not I want to support a “local” or “national” décor … even though we know they’re both national chains. Ultimately the money goes to the same place. But it doesn’t look as bad seeing two green mermaids staring each other down from opposite sides of the street.

When it’s all said and done, I’m still going to need that cup of joe to get my brain moving in the morning. It’s nice to know that I’ll be able to stop in the same place for a cold beer to slow things down in the evening. Maybe they’ll even offer a nice cheese plate or hummus? That’d be nice.

Tags: food, marketing, news
Posted in Culture, Miscellaneous, Water Cooler | 5 Comments »

The Love/Hate Relationship with Right Field

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

There are plenty of great right fielders in the baseball world, from Vladimir Guerrero, to Ichiro Suzuki, hell even Rick Ankiel is pretty good. Reggie Jackson, Hank Aaron, Tony Gwynn are all Hall of Fame right fielders. But right field has developed a reputation as being a position where less talented players can be “hidden” without damaging a team’s defense in any significant way. And the same can be said in the world of Coed Ad League Softball. Normally when a female player has never played softball before, or she doesn’t want to play but does so just to be nice, right field is were they’re put.

Since most batters are right-handed, this means that the left fielder will have far more opportunities to make a play than the right fielder. So when a left-handed hitter comes up to bat, it usually means trouble for that nice girl in right field.  When a surprise catch is made in right, there are usually cheers and screams of joy coming from both the girl and the rest of team.  But more often than not when a ball is hit to right field, it usually goes sailing over her head; and there are mixed emotions from the batter – usually shame, maybe a little guilt, but then there is also the competitive side of it that brings happiness and joy, knowing that you will either get a triple or a cheap homerun.

So the question I ask is this, “In coed softball, is it wrong to hit it to right field knowing that the ball will most likely not be caught by the girlie girl playing right field?” I have gotten a lot of grief for hitting the ball to that poor lost girl in right field, and I hate it when someone from the other team hits it to right field too.  But when you can’t hit it over the fence and you need to score some runs, guess where the best place to hit it is.

Tags: sports, st. louis
Posted in Culture, Recreaction | 3 Comments »

For the Spatially Impaired…

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Last year, IKEA Frankfurt launched a new outdoor ad campaign all about “Bigger Storage Ideas,” and they didn’t wait for space savvy Frankfurt apartment dwellers to come to them.  Instead, IKEA took over an apartment building on a busy Frankfurt street where 12,000 pedestrians, cyclists and motorists pass through the street on an average day.  There they built several oversized, 3-dimensional, eye-catching replicas of the storage products they offer.

Not only do they manage to grab the attention of thousands with the displays, three words and an IKEA logo, but they quite literally link themselves to the very place they are trying to impact.  Brilliant.  IKEA storage products, meet Frankfurt apartment dwellers.  Frankfurt apartment dwellers, meet IKEA storage products. It’s really that easy.

Tags: Advertising, marketing, news
Posted in Advertising, Culture | No Comments »

Don’t Sweat It

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Perspiration:  A salty, watery fluid secreted by the sweat glands of the skin, especially when very warm as a result of strenuous exertion (dictionary.com).  Well I’m surely not participating in any strenuous exertion in the physical sense at the moment, yet I am drenched in my own sweat. As I sat in my office today with a small oscillating fan as my only means of “air conditioning,” I pondered what to write about for this blog entry.

Just before heading to an afternoon meeting, I stood up and slowly peeled the skirt off my legs, waving it in front of the fan in an effort not to look like I just wet myself.  Then it dawned on me…

None of us really likes to sweat.  I mean, let’s face it. Sweating is unpleasant. It makes you feel sticky and disgusting, and it often causes people to smell bad.  I hope no one forgot their deodorant today!

Regardless of how it makes us feel, sweating is essential to good health.  According to Wikipedia.com, “sweating is primarily a means of thermoregulation.”  In plain English, sweating keeps your insides cool.  When we sweat, we also release many of the toxins that settle in our body from the greasy hamburger we just scarfed down at lunch, or from the beer we drank last night.

I find it interesting that, although sweating is essential for everyday human survival, most people cannot tolerate it in ordinary daily situations. As we pull ourselves through the 8+ hour workday with no air conditioning, the fact that we have sweat rolling down our backs and foreheads seems to overtake our will to complete the PowerPoint presentation due to the client in less than two hours.  Even in non-work related scenarios, like a Cardinal’s baseball game or a BBQ with friends for instance, we do not happily welcome the drops of water that accumulate in every crack and crevice of our body.

Unfortunately, when you are hot, your body will react naturally.  Just like a dog pants to cool itself down, sweating is the body’s natural reaction to avoid overheating.

On the flip side, it’s amazing how we welcome the sweat when partaking in physical exercise.  I teach group fitness classes at Club Fitness in the evenings after work.  It amazes me how sweat becomes almost a status symbol at the gym. The harder you sweat, the harder you are working. It sounds crazy, but it really is true, and not only with those guys you see grunting while attempting to bench press a whopping 350 lbs.

When it comes to group fitness classes, it’s a great disappointment to the instructor if they don’t see their students breaking a sweat. We do all we can to provide the best workout possible, and the only physical evidence of the students’ hard work is the amount of perspiration dripping down their faces.  I will admit, when I finish teaching a class, I consistently find myself making remarks about my drenched appearance, which is as if I have just jumped out of a swimming pool.  And when I look around and see others who may not be sweating as hard, I wonder if I delivered the workout they came for.

As a fitness instructor, I strive to provide not only a great workout for my students, but also a fun and safe environment. Although sweating is important, I never hesitate to offer a break for water, and I always encourage my students to rehydrate any time they feel is necessary. Over sweating can be very dangerous in that it can cause dehydration and dizziness, among many other things. The same goes for other aspects of physical activity. It is important to be conscious of how all elements of exercise can affect your body.  In the coming months, I will share with you some fitness tips and ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine at work or at home. In the meantime, don’t sweat the small stuff.

Tags: popular, work
Posted in Culture, Recreaction, Water Cooler | No Comments »

Does Advertising Reflect the World We Live In?

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

“Advertising is the richest and most faithful reflection that any society ever made of its entire range of activities.” Marshall McLuhan, Advertising Age.

Is this a load of crap or what? Do we really want to believe that the insipid imagery we see on TV is supposed to be a reflection of our lives?

Well, yes. It is.

This horrifying thought is the answer to the question that has been asked of every ad creative in history, “how do you come up with all those ideas?”

No one ever asks why we come up with them. The answer is obvious: Fear and greed. Money, the greatest of all motivators, is why we stay up all night until it’s right. Awards, the other motivator, are why we seek peer recognition as a measure of excellence.

So, the answer to the question is simple; pay attention.

Advertising does reflect the world we live in. If you are narrow-minded, you will produce narrow-minded ads. If you are afraid, you will produce timid ads. If you only read the newspaper, you will never understand the freedom of You Tube.

Pay attention to everything you can. Look, learn, record and investigate everything that is going on around you, and your ideas won’t float in a crowded vacuum.

Values, morals, moods, trends, rebellions, attitudes, tastes: all are on display around us. You just have to accept them, and see which ones you can use to help persuade a consumer to believe in your product or service.

It’s simple. Every product, no matter how lame, makes a promise. Every consumer, no matter how rich or poor, has values, moods and morals that we refer to mindset. And every good agency has the talent to connect a consumer desire with his or her client’s product.

It all comes down to whether or not you have the courage to find the truth, the wit to make it interesting, the patience to suffer fools and the strength to endure failure.

Tags: Advertising, marketing, trends
Posted in Advertising, Culture | No Comments »