In the past few years, it seems the entire world has shifted their focus toward millennials. It’s not just brands that are reaching out to this key audience. The latest study by Youthful Cities, pulls together great insights into millennial behaviors and how cities themselves are mobilizing to attract this demographic.

As of 2012, 50 percent of the world’s population is under 30 years of age and 50 percent of the world’s population now live in cities.  Cities are extending offerings and services that accommodate millennial-friendly lifestyles and brands should look to the cities who are most successful in this for inspiration.

Here are the top 10 cities who’ve been most successful in attracting millennials:

1. New York City
2. London
3. Berlin
4. San Francisco
5. Paris
6. Toronto
7. Chicago
8. Los Angeles
9. Mexico City
10. Amsterdam

As marketers, it’s  key to understand our audiences behaviors, so that we can continue to develop engaging content, campaigns and experiences that connect with this audience.

What sparks our fire: Data data data! Knowledge powers our creativity.

There are a lot of ways to gauge the best brands around. And with the help of Brand Finance, Forbes, and Interbrand, we’ve created an infographic breaking down the best brands of 2014. Find out which brands made it to the top, below.

According to this NY times article, here are the top 3 most tweeted shows from 2014.

What do you think the top tweeted shows were from NYFW 2015?

The Super Bowl is widely known to be the most watched American Television event of the year and it’s not just because of the football.  Let’s face it, half of America is tuning in just for the commercials and we as marketers, love it.  It’s the biggest single broadcast advertising play any brand can make, both in terms of dollars and impressions. So, in anticipation of what’s to come this Sunday, we’ve narrowed down the top 5 most memorable commercials from last years big day.

It seems like a pretty easy decision. But when you break it down, it’s actually a bit more challenging. Who wouldn’t pick a trip to Paris in a heartbeat? When you look at what you would have to pass up for that, it makes the decision a little more difficult.

The above infographic from ValuePenguin demonstrates how much money can be saved by brewing coffee at home instead of purchasing a cup everyday on the way to work. It is pretty amazing when you look at the numbers laid out to see how much more a cup of coffee from Starbucks can be compared to using a Keurig or a drip coffee machine. But, as I look at my large iced coffee I picked before coming into the office, I still doubt I will be able to completely drop this luxury from my life. Even if that means 20 years from now that money could go towards tickets to the Super Bowl.

What Sparks our Fire: A look at how much we are truly spending on our coffee addiction.

Will you switch to brewing your coffee at home?

Many of the successes I’ve had in the field of writing have been a result of the kick in the pants coffee offers, and I took to the internet to research the science behind it. During this search I found the blog I <3 Coffee, and a wonderful infographic on how both coffee and beer affect the creative idea and inspiration process. In order to better harness your creative ability, check it out below.

And, of course, everything in moderation. Except coffee.

What Sparks Our Fire: It could be coffee, beer, naps, or music. Whatever it takes to get those creative juices flowing.

How do you get in a creative mindset?

The short answer is no. No it can’t.

According to YouTube channel Vsauce, if the bones supporting a beast several times longer, taller, and bigger than the largest animal on earth did not shatter under its own weight, the caloric intake necessary would increase the human mortality rate by 1.3%. So if gravity didn’t kill the thing outright, he wouldn’t have the energy to eat enough to not starve to death.

So yeah, don’t worry about it if a Godzilla actually comes out of the ocean. Just hide and wait for him to starve to death.

What Sparks Our Fire: Knowing that in this world of danger, at least we don’t have to worry about Godzilla.

Are you seeing the movie this weekend?

Imagine your parents started hanging out at your favorite spot while you were in high school. It would quickly get uncomfortable and you’d leave to find somewhere new to uphold your sense of privacy.

Personally, my parents and even my grandparents have friend-requested me and I won’t accept, but even then I don’t want them to see my public profile, even though there’s nothing inappropriate. I prefer to have my own space, but my personal network is so tied to Facebook I simply can’t make the switch easily. Teens who are just starting out on the internet can make the choice more easily.

Here’s a chart from Mashable that approximates the breakdown of demographics in both 2011 and 2014. Note, it doesn’t take into account users who aged out of being a teenager during those years, so the “millions of teens” may or may not be significantly less than it appears.

What Sparks Our Fire:  Watching trends, especially on social networks, is incredibly important to the work we do at Canopy.

Do you find Facebook uncool?

These are an international few, ten mega-corporations whose multi-industry holdings create a situation not unlike the coal and iron trusts of Industrial Revolution America: basically, a few large entities own huge chunks of industry, and whoever can outbuy or undercut the competitors. The fact of the matter is that this is a product of a free market economy, where the larger corporations have the ability to diversify the industries they involve themselves in while increasing revenue and industry influence.

While parallels might be drawn to the monopolies of the early twentieth century, the new supercorporations don’t sell under their own names. Rather, they own, own shares of, or partner with hundreds of thousands of brands, which leads to mass appeal based on what Reddit refers to as “The Illusion of Choice”.  This is a deceptive use of terminology because the fact is that while these brands and companies are all associated, they are not companies within companies, like Russian nesting dolls, as the chart leads one to believe. The reality of the situation is much more complicated than a simple infographic can demonstrate.

What it is effective at showing, however, is that there are several very large, very influential corporations behind the multitude of brands that many people use daily. Whether or not this is a good or a bad thing remains to be seen. However, it’s important to know.

What Sparks Our Fire: Knowing the behind-the-scenes workings of corporate America.

Does this affect the way that you view your favorite brands?

Let’s be honest, a lot can be said about a company based on its logo and slogan. But do these brands live up to their positioning? Despite honest logos and truthful advertising, brand slogans can be brutally dishonest. Checkout these customer centric slogans above generated by Buzzfeed.

What sparked our fire: The honesty in these slogans is more appealing than the slogans themselves.

Are these slogans realistic?

Enjoy!

-Canopy Team