duffy and shanley

This is a living/changing/growing site for the clients, partners and friends of Duffy & Shanley. Duffy & Shanley is an advertising, public relations and marketing firm based in Providence, Rhode Island. Providence, Rhode Island, is located 50 minutes south of Boston and is New England’s second largest city. Cities are incorporated municipal centers with high concentrations of residents. The Residents are a seminal performance-art band from San Francisco who made waves with their parody of the Beatles.

Duffy Life
What’s an emerging brand, why should you care, and shouldn’t we have a tadpole or something for a logo?

Duffy & Shanley helps emerging brands find their unique voice, garner attention, and improve sales so they can reach their full potential. We help them get their legs under them and get moving, whether just born, or in dire need of a rebirth. Yes, sometimes it’s a startup, a new company with a new product, new people with new ideas that deserve to be heard. But more often, emerging is about starting anew. Some, like Foster Grant, were once worldbeaters but, along the way, lost focus. Other emerging brands have been around forever, just under the radar, like US Mills. They could be a household name in Paris and St. Petersburg, looking to break into the states, like Kaspersky Lab. And then there are the countless small, solid, courageous brands with a cult following (for whom we hold a very special and personal place in our hearts).

Are you emerging?
Are there rumblings about you? Do you have the right product at the right time, but no track record to help you get some market traction? What about your category? Do you see explosive growth potential? An opportunity for new leaders? A chance to steal share from the slow, the complacent, the uninspired? Or do you simply have a newfound commitment to greatness, with exciting, clearly-articulated business objectives? Yes? Good.

Are you ready?
Do you recognize the value of communications in establishing a position for your brand? Is management committed to making it happen? Yes, again? Great. Now, are you prepared to sacrifice?

Do you understand what you stand for?
You can’t be everything to everyone, and as an emerging brand, you certainly can’t afford to be everywhere. But you can be in the right place at the right time with the right message. It is possible to limit your advertising reach to vacationers who live within just a three-hour drive. It’s okay to produce “TV” commercials that never actually make it to a television near you. And yes, UV-protection and spring-loaded hinges should take a backseat to how the sunglasses make you feel about yourself. The point is, it’s human nature to want it all. But what’s going to get you up and running – and the register ringing – ASAP? It’s this kind of thinking that we think that defines us around here, beyond all the designing and buying and printing and seemingly endless copywriting. (Sorry.)