Author: Sean Duffy

Sean is a founder of The Duffy Agency, a digital marketing agency.  The Duffy Agency specializes in developing proprietary audiences for international brands. The agency has offices in Malmö, Sweden and Boston, Massachusetts with partner agencies in 50 other cities around the world. Sean splits his time between Boston and Malmö.  Sean has over 25 years’ experience working with advertising and brand strategy in Boston, San Francisco, Stockholm and Copenhagen. He began his career in the US as a copywriter with BBDO in Boston and later as creative Director for Knight Advertising in San Francisco. In 1991 Sean moved to Stockholm to work as Creative Director at Sweden’s largest ad agency, Lowe Brindfors. After 10 years with Lowe, Sean started The Duffy Agency in 2001. In addition to his involvement with the agency, Sean is also Lecturer and Practitioner in Residence at the Lund University School of Economics & Management. As a frequent speaker on online marketing and strategic brand development, Sean draws on his experience working with dozens of global brands including IKEA, Saab, Volvo, Absolut, VF Corporation, Pfizer and GSK.  Sean has also served two terms as the European governor of TAAN Worldwide (www.TAAN.org).
Sean is a founder of The Duffy Agency, a digital marketing agency.  The Duffy Agency specializes in developing proprietary audiences for international brands. The agency has offices in Malmö, Sweden and Boston, Massachusetts with partner agencies in 50 other cities around the world. Sean splits his time between Boston and Malmö.  Sean has over 25 years’ experience working with advertising and brand strategy in Boston, San Francisco, Stockholm and Copenhagen. He began his career in the US as a copywriter with BBDO in Boston and later as creative Director for Knight Advertising in San Francisco. In 1991 Sean moved to Stockholm to work as Creative Director at Sweden’s largest ad agency, Lowe Brindfors. After 10 years with Lowe, Sean started The Duffy Agency in 2001. In addition to his involvement with the agency, Sean is also Lecturer and Practitioner in Residence at the Lund University School of Economics & Management. As a frequent speaker on online marketing and strategic brand development, Sean draws on his experience working with dozens of global brands including IKEA, Saab, Volvo, Absolut, VF Corporation, Pfizer and GSK.  Sean has also served two terms as the European governor of TAAN Worldwide (www.TAAN.org).

What is Twitter and why does it matter?

Posted in .

I was going to posts some tips for getting the most out of Twitter today. Then a client asked me what Twitter was. So I thought I’d write this post first.Twitter_logo
 For those of you not familiar with Twitter, it is a micro-blogging site where you can post comments limited to 140 characters. You can also choose to have the comments of people you find interesting fed into a reader so you can read them live as they post them. This is called “following” someone. After you read their comment you can also reply if you like. Likewise, if someone finds you interesting, they may choose to follow you. …  Read Full Post Here

The information age explained (in 5 minutes)

Posted in .

Want some perspective on what the information age is all about? Check out this presentation. It was originally created as a power point presentation for high school faculty in 2006. Since then it has been tweeked and upgraded to its current form. More here.

Ethics, honesty and advertising: time to set the record straight

Posted in .

Last week I was having a quiet lunch with with some backpackers in the lazy fishing village of Mamallapuram, India. The subject of our occupations came up. Turns out I was seated with a cook and a school teacher from Britain, an architecture student from Sweden, a conceptual artist from France and her boyfriend, a factory worker employed by Airbus to paint its planes.“So what do you do?” the Frenchman asked me pleasantly  — Let me stop right here to say that after 25 years in this business I knew what was coming next. As much as I wanted to keep chatting about the heat, Deli-belly, and how Obama would save the world, I knew it was time to take my whoopin’. —  I put down my Kingfisher, straightened up in my seat, leaned forward, looked him in the eye and said,  “I work with marketing and advertising.”  Then I sat back.  …  Read More

What, exactly, is a market insight?

Posted in .

If you work in marketing, particularly on the strategy or account planning side, then you probably use the word “insight” a dozen times a day. But have you ever tried to define it? Click here to see how it was elegantly explained at the recent TAAN meeting in Reykjavik.