Perspectives

What is Street-Level Thinking?

Mike Chatfield, Cofounder of MIJO

Street-level thinking is pretty simple. Get close enough to actually know what you are talking about. Yet, most marketers don't do it or don't know how.

MIJO is a street-level agency. That starts with where we are. Our office is literally street level at 169 Bowery in New York City. But that is really just a physical expression of how we think.

Street-level means getting out of the room and closer to the people, communities and culture around the thing you are working on.

Proximity is the MIJO Way

That instinct to get outside has always been part of how we approach strategy. Years ago, working on a cottage cheese brand, I went into grocery stores, put cameras on shopping carts and talked to moms while they were actually standing in the dairy aisle. On another project, I interviewed guys in bars, bowling alleys and on sports fields to understand how their friendships were changing as they got older.

The point was never the interviews themselves. The point was proximity.

That same instinct runs through MIJO today

We interviewed people while developing Noble Mobile and used those conversations to help lay the groundwork for the brand. For Carver Bank, we have gone into Harlem and talked directly to people about the neighborhood, money, culture and community. When we work in tech, we spend time in the platforms, communities and conversations where that technology actually lives.

Because you can tell when somebody does not know ball

Literally. You can tell when an agency is working on basketball but nobody actually follows basketball. When people are marketing technology they do not understand. When they are trying to speak to a community they have never spent any time around.

The work gets generic because the understanding is generic.

Street-level thinking is the opposite

It means talking to people. Watching what they actually do. Knowing the language. Understanding the references. Following the rabbit holes. And when we do not know something, finding the people who do and listening until we have a real point of view.

The street is not always a literal street either. Sometimes it is the Bowery. Sometimes it is a subreddit, a group chat, an X community, a basketball forum or some incredibly niche corner of the internet.

Street level is wherever the real culture around something is happening.

Our job is to get close to it.

Because the further you get from people, the easier it becomes to make something that technically makes sense and nobody actually cares about.

Mike Chatfield is an award-winning Creative Director, Brand Strategist and Marketing Professor with 20 years of advertising experience developing breakthrough ideas and strategies for global brands. He is cofounder and Chief Creative Officer of MIJO, an independent creative agency in New York City specializing in street-level thinking and world-class craft. Connect with Mike on LinkedIn or .

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