The Yonder Boys

Lessons from Mom and Pops

How essential are "Mom and Pops" in the energy and transportation sectors — both for the innovations they deliver and the stories they can tell that the establishment can't? Geoffrey is worried about their potential demise or assimilation. Our guest, Elaine Kwok from Peak Power, might give him reason to hope.  In this episode, the boys discuss how the smaller auto-makers will take on the Tesla's (foibles and all), an Instacart/Kohls alliance that could shake up Amazon for the heartland and the ever-generous Mr. Beast changing lives with electric bikes. Next we are joined by Elaine, director of marketing for an energy company that uses it's nimble-ness to out-strategize the bigger players. And finally, we wrap things with a rant about how essential mom n pops are to the community and to culture and yet, no one seems to be stopping the whales from swallowing them all up.  It's all happening as Greg and Geoffrey take on big oil at the CHARGE energy branding conference, here in sunny Houston, TX. Y'all come back now, ya hear.

Ice Cream and River Dips

We have a new episode, and a decidedly new focus for the Yonder Boys. It occurred to us - Greg and Geoffrey - that it isn't only transportation models that need to change. It's the whole freaking city. And when cities change, the rest of the world tends to follow suit.   So with that, The Yonder Boys have sharpened our focus on messaging needed to create more livable, enjoyable and prosperous cities - new transportation models included. As always, we kick things off with the news, highlighting Houston's attempted "road diets", Ben & Jerry's making a point about city infrastructure through the metaphor of free cones, and taking a swim in the Seine. Next we're joined by Creative Director, Lucas Bongioanni to talk about super bowl ads selling EVs. And finally, we rant this episode over the notion that big data is winning the ad wars, taking way more budget than the creative. We hate that, but does the emotional tug work anymore? Yonder Boys talk about all this and more in our latest.

Keeping up with the Transportations

Sure we all love our gear. New watches. New phones. New ways of getting from A to B...well, not so much.  As the Yonder Boys unravel the latest news and rant, we discover that there are lots of technologies ready (or close to ready) to enter the mainstream. Oh, and by the way, they may even make life a little easier. But we are creatures of habit and one habit we just can't shake is our god-given dependence on the car.  GM's AV set aflame by an angry mob of pedestrians, Rivian dropping prices, but at what cost, and the good people of Texas voting to decrease their city parking lots, while simultaneously expanding their highway systems. Go figure? Jordan Deffenbaugh joins us on the show from Sioux Falls South Dakota, where he is currently running for city council, and repping Strong Towns along the way. And what the heck is a "stroad?" Trust us, you don't want one. Tune into our latest to find out.

Flag on the Play - Super Bowl Edition

Global creative luminary Matt Cramp, one of the minds behind last year's "Edgar Scissorhands" spot for the Cadillac Lyriq [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tBDsNVo9OA]  joins the Yonder Boys to deliver an electrifying alternative to featuring a new(ish) form of transportation.  He tells is the extradordiary story that led to this  spot — with their only creative brief being to "win the superbowl." Geoffrey and Greg start off praising  Rivian's attempt to build a lifestyle brand, but can't get away from the problems facing the EV industry as a whole - lower consumer demand than hoped by now. Hertz and Ford among the many hedging their bets on electrification.  We wrap the show with a rant that questions Biden's $632 million plan to extend the nations charging network - what comes first, the chicken (supply) or the egg (demand). Game on, people. .

Gaming the System

The Yonder Boys are finally back! So much to talk about but we kept it to a quick-moving 50 mins for your listening pleasure — featuring one of the most fascinating interviews yet on this show. You won't want to miss it. We start off recounting Geoffrey's recent trip to Brussels (02:00) and how he found their urban mobility, both so much more advanced than US cities, and yet, not all the romantic, bike-loving people he had dreamed. This episode's news starts with a recap of the biggest headline from COP28 (05:10). We then chat about EV manufacturers putting out misleading (dare we say, 'deceptive') range claims on their big trucks (08:00). And lastly, kudos to Detroit, and their one-mile of wireless charging infrastructure (11:20)  Our guest, Shirin Oreizy (14:30), founder and CEO of NextStep explains how people make decisions (specifically around social responsibility) and how we might use behavioral science to move the needle in the right direction. We wrap this episode with a rant on all the benefits of a 15-minute city (41:30) and the conspiracy theories that intrinsically come with it - WTAF? Get your long over-due dose of Yonder Boys banter while it's hot!