Member News

July 20, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO ---- San Francisco’s Duncan Channon claimed Agency of the Year, West, Silver honors at the 2017 Ad Age Small Agency Awards in Nashville. The award marks the second consecutive year Duncan Channon has been recognized as one of Ad Age’s top independent agencies. The Ad Age Small Agency Awards are the industry’s top honor for independent shops with 150 or fewer employees that demonstrate outsized impact for clients and innovation within their own businesses.

“2016 was a year of creativity, resilience and purpose for Duncan Channon, so we’re incredibly proud Ad Age has recognized our agency as one of the best for the second year in a row,” said Andy Berkenfield, CEO, Duncan Channon. “We won nearly $2.5 million worth of new business, delivered outstanding creative work for our clients and launched a timely new Purpose Practice, all while staying true to our operating principle of ‘guanxi’ – the belief that there is no successful business without successful relationships first.”

Duncan Channon earned Ad Age honors thanks to the agency’s work for the California Tobacco Control Program, Kona Brewing Co. and Kettle Brand Chips that tapped deftly into culture – along with the agency’s innovation in launching a new purpose offering for clients that reflects the reality that a brand’s values, actions and social impact matter more than ever in today’s networked society.

“Brands come to Duncan Channon wanting more than a new campaign, they’re really looking to build energized, trusting and long-lasting relationships with their customers to grow their businesses,” said Andy Berkenfield, CEO, Duncan Channon. “That’s why our culture of ‘guanxi’ translates into great work for clients. The habits of listening, caring and collaborating that work internally are no less effective when it comes to today’s well-informed, highly skeptical, social-media-active consumer.”

In addition to the key new hire of MJ Deery to build the agency’s Purpose Practice, Duncan Channon reorganized its leadership team to position the agency for growth – a move that paid off in five new business wins and growth in six existing clients.

About Duncan Channon

A 2017 and 2016 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year, Duncan Channon (duncanchannon.com) is an independent, integrated advertising and design agency based in San Francisco. The agency’s philosophy of guanxi, the belief that clients and staff, brands and customers all win when they build real, trusting relationships, underpins a specialty in re-launching brands. Founded in 1990, Duncan Channon is best known for turning StubHub into a household name, transforming the Esurance brand and educating the public on the dangers of e-cigarettes with its award-winning “Wake Up” campaign. Current clients include So Delicious, Stand Up to Cancer, Kona Brewing, Redhook, John Muir Health, DriveTime, Tahoe South, Sonoma-Cutrer Wines and the California Tobacco Control Program, among others.