Obsessed with Conformity

Spreading the Love. Maximizing the Media.

2010-03-05T12:11:36-05:00

How do you feel about people who are paid to tweet something they believe in - within their social networks? Here's where we talk about it.

The Ultimate Driving Experience

2010-03-04T16:24:31-05:00

I recently experienced the thrill of driving a high-performance BMW in a controlled environment. This is my story of survival.

Name The Restaurant, Win $500

2010-03-02T11:53:44-05:00

Name our restaurant, win $500.

Is that an iPhone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

2010-02-25T22:43:56-05:00

Some guys drive Corvettes...other guys.... Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of smashcommunications. You can find him on Twitter @smashadv

A (real) Social Experiment

2010-02-23T11:58:46-05:00

This April, Boxman Studios is launching a mobile restaurant. Yes, the same cool concept of bringing the party to the people will now...bring food. The idea is for the restaurant to move each day to designated areas around Charlotte (which have been approved by the city) and offer fresh, organic fare to the hungry daytime business crowd. Organic makes sense for a brand that's built on 'green' technology, as well as how we'll grow the...

The Nightmare of Losing Cable

2010-02-21T10:43:07-05:00

After four years of buggy and frustrating performance, our Bose Cinemate home theater audio system finally died. Good riddance. Oh, and hello again Sony brand. It's been a while. But when you upgrade a major component, you also tend to consider what else you can do. Our Vizio (also 4 years old) is working great, so that's staying. However, we think it's time to kill cable. Yesterday I bought a Mac Mini to replace cable....

Community Building

2010-02-19T10:08:25-05:00

If Social Media is the best mass mobilization idea that man has discovered for global reciprocal communications that bring humans together, then it can be argued that Communications + Unity = Community. Pretty cool. Posted via web from Jim's posterous

Answer to Yourself - The Soft Pack

2010-02-16T18:36:08-05:00

Everything about this song reminds me of being twenty. Drink in its awesomeness. The Soft Pack. Jim Mitchem is a father, husband, writer and started smashcommunications, llc. You can find him on Twitter @smashadv

Twenty Bucks

2010-02-16T16:58:55-05:00

I'm pretty sure those teenagers ended up in a ditch that night after spending the twenty bucks on a bottle of booze, plus the buyer's fee, and then taking Daddy's Lexus for a spin.

The Formula for (Social Media) Success

2010-02-15T14:51:45-05:00

Authenticity = credibility. Credibility = loyalty. Loyalty = influence. And influence is what drives social media. It's not exactly brain surgery, people.

Old Dogs

2010-02-11T13:09:38-05:00

I’ve never had a dog get old on me. As a kid, a couple were put down for health reasons and I left home before another one got old, but until Tucker - I’ve never had to care for a senior canine. He's nearly 13, has wicked hip issues and uses one of his rear legs like an old man uses a cane. But he’s happy. Last fall, when his hips stopped working and he...

Face for Radio, Voice for Twitter

2010-02-10T14:28:26-05:00

Last Saturday I participated in an ad industry podcast. My first one. How'd it go? You can judge for yourself by clicking here. Bob Knorpp, @thebeancast on Twitter, was kind enough to invite me to join some very smart people on The BeanCast, a weekly, hour-long audio broadcast that brings the brightest minds from the ad business to a virtual round table to discuss current industry trends and news. This week's show featured Bill Green,...

How To Write Memorable - Old Spice

2010-02-09T20:24:18-05:00

Evidently, the really smart people are working on the Old Spice account. Wow. If this ad had run during the Super Bowl, Betty White is an afterthought. Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of smashcommunications, llc. You can find him on Twitter @smashadv.

The Parable of Social Media

2010-02-09T18:55:04-05:00

Guest post by Callum Saunders Once upon a time, there was a small classroom in a local school. The teacher used to come in every day, ordered his pupils to sit down and began talking at them, using methods he had crafted over many years. The children were docile – they didn't know any different. One pupil put his hand up to ask a question. The teacher told him to be quiet. The boy was....

Thanks for the RT

2010-02-09T10:20:25-05:00

This post is dedicated to everyone who has ever thanked anyone for an RT (retweet.) I used to do it, but don't anymore. Here's why - 1) Clutter. I talk enough here for most streams. 2) I don't understand why people thank others for passing along information. I'm a fairly nice guy. So part of me wants to follow the general rules of etiquette and do the polite thing. After all, I'm a writer. It's...