In a city as diverse and vibrant as Chicago, each of its 77 neighborhoods pulses with its own unique rhythm, offering a mosaic of arts, culinary wonders, historical depth, and resilient communities. With a growing demand for authentic, local travel experiences, Choose Chicago embarked on a mission to reveal the true essence of the city through an innovative neighborhood travel docuseries, The 77: A City of Neighborhoods. The 77: A City of Neighborhoods is more than just a travelogue—it’s a testament to Choose Chicago’s commitment to equity, community-led initiatives, and resident-centered storytelling. True exploration goes beyond admiring tasty restaurants and cultural amenities; it’s about understanding the stories that define a place, both the uplifting and the difficult, such as gentrification, redlining, community building in immigrant spaces, and LGBTQ+ empowerment. By highlighting these narratives, our objective was to educate not only visitors but also Chicagoans themselves, fostering a deeper connection to the city’s culturally diverse communities. This series is also part of the organization's goal to position the city’s neighborhoods as premier destinations, promote economic activity beyond the Central Business District, and help push back on the negative stereotypes that often dominate media portrayals of the city.
To bring The 77: A City of Neighborhoods to life, Choose Chicago adopted a collaborative storytelling approach to highlight the neighborhood gems that are often overlooked. We spent months conducting in-depth interviews with community members, historians, and small business owners. The selection of neighborhoods—Pullman/Roseland, Humboldt Park, Bronzeville, Uptown, and Little Village—was the result of years of neighborhood engagement with local organizations, ensuring that the series represented Chicago’s rich cultural and geographical diversity. We selected participants who could convey the unique challenges, opportunities, histories, and assets of their neighborhoods. Once these individuals and businesses were shortlisted, we partnered with Skalawag Productions to create a series of concise, 22-minute episodes that would captivate and inform audiences about the distinctive character of each community.
During the video production process, one of the primary challenges we faced was ensuring each episode remained as authentic and community-driven as possible. Many communities in Chicago have expressed concerns about being misrepresented in the media, so it was crucial for Choose Chicago to work closely with local leaders to accurately craft each neighborhood’s narrative and gather meaningful community input. While this community-led approach did lead to delays in video production, we recognized that gaining community buy-in was essential to build trust and ensure the series genuinely reflected the unique stories of each neighborhood.
After production, we needed to ensure the series reached a wide audience so we collaborated with vendor agencies HausCo and Spurrier Group to develop a comprehensive social and paid media campaign that would capture attention and pique curiosity for viewers to learn more. Additionally, we worked with local social media content creators to spotlight the businesses featured in the series. These creators produced engaging videos that provided a behind-the-scenes look at specific businesses, while also teasing the upcoming episodes.
We also hosted a red carpet premiere screening at the historic CIBC Theatre on April 6, welcoming local media, community stakeholders, and public figures. The event featured food provided by the businesses showcased in the series, creating an immersive experience that celebrated the neighborhoods in every detail. Following the premiere, we took the series directly to the communities it highlighted by hosting free neighborhood screenings, ensuring that residents come together and celebrate their own stories.
On a broader scale, Choose Chicago strategically invested in social media advertising on platforms like TikTok, Youtube, Meta, and CTV targeting frequent regional and national travelers in major cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. To leverage the national attention brought by the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, we featured episodes of The 77: A City of Neighborhoods on free tour buses transporting DNC visitors throughout the city. This included national reporters, global influencers, and elected officials. Understanding the importance of cultural representation, Choose Chicago made the strategic decision to film the Little Village episode—set in a predominantly Mexican immigrant neighborhood—in English and Spanish. We showcased the Spanish episode at an international travel and tourism conference in Mexico.
During the eight-week outreach campaign, The 77: A City of Neighborhoods successfully reached a broad audience, showcasing Chicago's rich history and diversity across the five featured neighborhoods: Pullman/Roseland, Humboldt Park, Bronzeville, Uptown, and Little Village. The campaign's impact was evident through strong digital engagement, as reflected in the following platform metrics.
