Live from the Gulf of Mexico (brough to you by BP)

The power of video and infographics is brought home by this PBS (Public Broadcasting System) Gulf Oil Tracker widget. The video feeds from 5,000 feet (1,500 m) below the ocean surface are provided by BP. Their web site actually provides 12 different feeds to choose from. Nice of them to share, and I do admire their transparency. But it doesn't make me feel any better about what I'm seeing or the brand that's sponsoring the show.

Click to read more ...

With So Many Specialized Agencies, Who Should Get Your Marketing Dollars?

Today, the various services that make up a marketing campaign are siloed among so many specialized players, from Web developers to PR firms to social media agencies, that one must ask, ‘Who manages the big picture?’

Click to read more ...

Why "Social Media" is neither

I recoil a little every time I say “social media.” I think the term is just plain wrong and fuels misconceptions. I prefer the term “peer-to-peer networks” instead. Here’s why. 

Click to read more ...

Our Top 10 Social Media Fails

The spring edition of The Duffy International Tribune is ready for download

The Summer edition of our newsletter, The International Duffy Tribune, is ready for download. This issue has a heavy focus on social media. Inside, we go through the top ten mistakes we have made launching and managing social media campaigns and what we all can learn form them.

Click to read more ...

Recruitment, Retention, Training: the core of an HR social media campaign

A few ideas on how an HR Department could use an integrated social media campaign to achieve its objectives . At the heart of any social media endeavor is one singular commercial endeavor: building communities of like-minded individuals who, in some manner, can help your business.

Click to read more ...

Social media: Your company's most powerful (and underutilized) human resource tool

Do HR departments actually have the most to gain from Social Media?

A funny thing happened in the middle of a marketing campaign we're
running.We realized that we also created a very efficient HR
campaign pretty much by accident.

Click to read more ...

The real reasons why pharma fumbles in social media

FDA and EU regulations are the least of pharma's challenges.

I’m in Berlin on the eve of the Digital Pharma Europe “Unconference.” I’m very excited about the prospect of two days of open dialogue about pharma and social media in Europe.

Click to read more ...

Why we are not a Social Media Agency (and how that benefits you)

A prospective client recently contacted me because he heard that The Duffy Agency is “one of Europe’s best social media agencies.” At the risk of losing his business, I had to tell him we are not a social media agency, we are an advertising agency that is highly skilled in social media.

Click to read more ...

Why Your Brand Doesn't Need a Social Media Expert

Most social media experts are simply people who understand how certain social apps work. Many are skilled at being social on the Internet themselves. Yes, they can amass small armies of followers overnight.

Click to read more ...

Embrace Life: the marketing power of positive

Negative can be funny. Negative can be edgy. But if you really want to build brand equity with your marketing communication — embrace the positive.

Click to read more ...

Death by Power Point

Recently I was asked to judge a series of presentations made by a group of masters students. The exercise was based on a live project we are working on at The Duffy Agency. They were presenting their marketing plans for a beverage we will be launching in the Spring. 

Click to read more ...

The Superbowl’s biggest winners were also its biggest losers

The winner of the populist vote in this year’s Super Bowl ad war is the Betty White Snickers commercial. According to the 2010 USA Today Ad Meter, the commercial received an 8.68/10 score.

Click to read more ...

What next: 2010 Youth Trends Report

"The future is here... It's just not evenly distributed." This quote from William Gibson is a fitting opening to Graham Brown's 2010 Youth Trends report.

Click to read more ...

Social Media ROI vs RODN

Has anyone ever asked you to demonstrate the ROI of a $1M TV spot or $25K brochure? Me neither. But suggest to a marketing executive today that they spend a few thousand on a social media initiative and they won't budge — unless you can prove ROI beforehand. And it's not the recession that's to blame. These are the same marketers who still invest in traditional media without any more ROI data than "that's the way we've always done it."

Click to read more ...

Kudos for Methodical Madness and a request for your vote

It's been a good start to the new year for The Duffy Agency's other blog Methodical Madness. Social Media Examiner has short-listed the blog along with 20 others for the distinction of the world's Top 10 Social Media Blogs. Our fellow finalists include a roster of stellar blogs like  Chris Brogan, CopyBlogger, Mashable , and Social Media Explorer . Winners to be decided soon by jury.

Click to read more ...

Old dogs & new tricks: Saatchi and the Yaris social media debackle

Four years into the social media surge and I'm still not convinced that many of the large agency networks get it. The same way they didn't get branding in the late 80's, or the internet in the early 90's.

Click to read more ...

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

This is a video of a speech Dr. Michael Weschgave gave to the library of congress. As you will see, Dr. Weschgave is a delightful speaker and a lot more down-to-earth than the name given to his area of specialty at Kansas State University: digital ethnography.

Click to read more ...

Social Media: Giving entrepreneurs a new edge

I never knew you could study to become an entrepreneur. I was enlightened when I received a call from the School of Economics and Management at Lund University in Sweden.

Click to read more ...

Congrats to Methodical Madness blog

We have two blogs at The Duffy Agency: Brand Rants and Methodical Madness. The latter has just been voted #1 among 58 ad agency blogs globally according to a poll run by Michael Gass.

Click to read more ...

Too busy to read the latest business books?

While you and I are sleeping Steve Cunningham is reading all the latest business books and condensing the good bits down into 10-minute videos. The series is appropriately called "Read it for me" and features a new book every week. Here's a sample: "Awesomely Simple" written by John Spence.

Click to read more ...