Gampaigns: How to win the brand engagement game

What do you call an online campaign that is centered around a game or contest? You guessed it: “Gampaign”.  Today we launched our latest game, “Search Party”,  for our fashion client Napapijri. The premise is simple: While shooting their Fall/Winter collection in Iceland, they left 3 bags behind. Create a search party and find the bag using an interactive map and you could win tickets for 4 to Iceland. 

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The Best Use of Visual Content in Social Media

I just saw this great Slideshare called 55 Brands Rocking Social Media with Visual Content and thought I'd share it with you. The deck is from a Hubspot PDF and was posted by Laura Lopes. 

55 Brands Rocking Social Media with Visual Content

Kevin Duffy is the Creative Director for The Duffy Agency's Boston office.

Why measurement is critical to managing global brands

The biggest innovation in global marketing in the last twenty years is not what you may think. In fact, true innovation in marketing happens infrequentlyFor example,the focus group was invented back in 1941. 

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The value of a Facebook "Like"

Facebook has turned many brands into a neurotic mess. Like some smothering and needy friend, brands are constantly asking us to show our allegiance to them with a “like.”

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Are there lessons to be learned from @Sweden?

The @Sweden twitter account has captured the attention of social media folks. People are arguing about whether Sonja is helping or hurting the brand of Sweden, but I think they might be asking the wrong question.

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Health Care and Social Media

A recent article in Information Week stated that the health care community in the United States doesn’t take full advantage of social media as a health care tool. Most healthcare organizations in the U.S. use social media solely for marketing.

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Why the interest in Pinterest?

Pinterest is different. And not just because the latest "it" site on the social Web is growing astronomically fast.

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6 ways to write a better brief

The other day, I read a great article from AdAge on the importance of  a well-written brief. It struck a chord with me because I am a firm believer that an effective brief is critical to the success of any project or campaign. In fact, nothing at The Duffy Agency is executed without a brief. 

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Happy Holidays from The Duffy Agency

Everyone at The Duffy Agency would like to thank the readers of this blog and all our colleagues and clients for a tremendous year.

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A Dear John Letter to Google+

Dear Google+,  Let me start this off by saying that it's not you; it's me. Really. I think you're great. These last few weeks have been really fun. Your simple elegance is breath-taking and you are so easy to get along with.

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The lasting legacy of Steve Jobs

Let me start by confessing that I am somewhat of an anomaly in the advertising and marketing world. And it's not because that I am a copywriter who has absolutely no interest in writing the great American novel.

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This time, it's personal

Social media asks a lot from both consumers and the brand. So, before you start putting yourself out there, make sure you are ready for the relationship.

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What the pharmaceutical industry can teach us about social media

Social media marketing has grown faster than most any other business discipline (and I use the term "discipline" loosely) in the last 50 years.  And like many new disciplines, it has been going through growing pains. Social marketing has always had its critics.

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6 Essential Parts to Any Content Strategy

In today's social media driven marketplace, we all know that content is king (and actually, to be more specific, optimized content is king). And to develop the best optimized content, you need to start with a content strategy.

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Is Twitter really helping your brand or your employee's brand?

Does your company have its own Twitter account, e.g., @AcmeCorp? Or do you rely on an employee to use their own personal Twitter account to act as the voice of your brand? If your answer is the latter, then you could be setting yourself (and your brand) up for a social media fail.

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Is Google+ just the next Google Wave?

As most of you know, the new social networking site from Google, Google +,  went live on a limited basis at the end of last month. Since that time there has been a scramble in social media circles to get invites.

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Social Media Summer Survival Guide

After a long, cold winter it is with jubilation and exhilaration that we welcome Summer 2011.

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Will Tout be bigger than Twitter?

On Wednesday, Shaquille O'Neill announced that he is retiring from the NBA via social media app Tout. This is a big score for the internet startup that launched its service on April 12 of this year

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Everything I know about marketing, I learned from the Three Stooges

Considering that they created their first short over 70 years ago, you might think using the Three Stooges as a guide to better marketing might seem strange. But the Stooges have shown that their enduring charm and wisdom transcends time and technology.

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Why customers hating your brand could be a good thing

In today's social media world, brands are focusing on connecting with and engaging their customers. Customers are asked to become fans, to "like" Facebook brand pages, and to follow brands on Twitter.

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