The boy appears at the end of the driveway. She laughs and races toward him, then past him along the street. Another laugh. Her hair flowing behind her. Shining under the streetlamp. He hurries to catch her. And they disappear. *** Jim Mitchem
First of all why is it called America? It should be the United States of North America, right? Canada is America. Mexico too. Belize. Costa Rica. Columbia. Peru. Anyway. One of the biggest problems we face as people of the USA is that we’re so divided. It’s crazy ironic. We’re the great experiment for pluralism. What makes us us is our diversity. The best people and brightest minds from all over the globe converging on a continent where our ambition…
Everyone wants the perfect commercial website, right? So let’s look at how you can get one. First, as with all things, it has to be branded well. You also need to create the traditional chunks of info, provide logical navigation, and start to tell the brand’s story. Second, and this is huge, don’t try to make it do everything. Unless you’re selling tee shirts via e-commerce, this site isn’t going to close one sale for you. The best it can…
When you’re 15 you can’t wait to be an adult. To drive. Vote. Drink. Have sex. Take adventures. All the fun stuff. A few short years ago you were chasing make-believe boats along gutters in the rain. Now you want to be grown up. At 25 you feel caught in between. Sure, you’ve got all the stuff you wanted to get when you were 15, but somehow it’s not as great as you once thought. And it feels like no…
With the Super Bowl ads breathing down our necks, it’s time to admit that traditional advertising doesn’t sell shit. Times have changed. No longer is the :30 second TV spot, or the full page print ad a guarantee of anything like a bump in sales. (If it ever was.) That is, of course, unless you’ve got a coupon. No, advertising isn’t advertising any more. When advertising exists as an entertainment vehicle, it’s no longer about sales. It’s about branding. Brands…
Most of what constitutes branded content these days is so formulaic that it’s indecipherable. It’s as though everyone bought the same book and is following it to the letter. It’s boring and uninspiring. And that’s not just an elitist writer saying this. When I read branded content I think from the perspective of the audience. And, well, yawn. Sure, there are some outliers who get it, but most don’t. The problem started a couple of years ago when the benefits…
