Duncan/Channon

Duncan/Channon is an independent advertising and branding agency headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a second office in Los Angeles. The agency describes itself as a 360° offering that spans advertising, branding, social, experiential, and media and analytics. It positions itself as a generalist rather than a specialist, stating that for 30 years it has been counseled to specialize but never listened, and that this breadth allows it to deliver the right answer to a brand even when that answer was not the brand's original ask. The agency's self-described credentials include being a four-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year and having placed $1 billion of media. It claims to be the only independent agency in California with a media and analytics department strong enough to win accounts on its own, and the only indie to acquire another indie that pioneered the social, experiential, and influencer space. Duncan/Channon's client work spans a wide range of categories. It has worked with Kona Brewing for over 15 years, producing the brand's first ad, "Sad Hour," featuring Hawaiian actor David Bell and Brutus La Benz. It created the "Healthy Conversations" campaign, which broke enrollment records by focusing on real conversations people have about healthcare. For Outrigger Resorts, ahead of the resort brand's 75th anniversary, the agency was asked to help elevate the brand for a global stage, with surf and sales reportedly up. For PG&E, entering 2025 with low customer trust, the agency developed a media strategy focused on receptivity rather than reach, using channel selection, sequencing, and format to open a real exchange with customers, with the goal of moving trust and sentiment among existing customers, particularly in high-scrutiny markets and across a diverse, multilingual customer base. On the branding and design side, Duncan/Channon helped build the Farrier wine brand for Jackson Family Wines from the ground up, creating an identity and packaging that tapped into the property's authentic 19th-century background as a blacksmith shop and community meeting place. The agency also worked with Marqeta, a payments startup, on brand identity and website design to communicate a complex story with authority, concision, and style. Other named clients include Golden Road Brewing, Viator, SweeTARTS, and Rakuten. The agency maintains a news and work section on its website and publishes thought pieces and creative experiments, including a face-melting rock opera made using Midjourney, Runway, ChatGPT, Suno, Flow, and Higgsfield. Duncan/Channon presents itself as an independent agency at peace with doing too much, arguing that breadth works quantifiably well for its clients even if it does not make for a tidy elevator pitch.

Duncan/Channon is an independent advertising and branding agency based in San Francisco, California, with a presence in Los Angeles. The agency states that for 30 years it has been counseled to specialize in order to give potential clients a better handle on how to see it, but that it never listened. This refusal to specialize is central to its identity: it describes itself as possibly the only independent agency in California with a media and analytics department strong enough to win accounts on their own, and the only indie to acquire another indie that pioneered the social, experiential, and influencer space. The agency's work spans more than a decade and a half with some clients. It created the first Kona Brewing ad over 15 years ago, titled "Sad Hour," featuring a young Hawaiian actor named David Bell and Brutus La Benz. In 2010, it created the identity and packaging for Farrier, a new luxe wine brand from Kendall-Jackson (Jackson Family Wines), built from the ground up around a Sonoma County property's authentic 19th-century background as a blacksmith shop and community meeting place. In 2013, it worked with payments startup Marqeta on brand identity and website design, communicating a complex story to consumers, partners, and merchants with authority, concision, and style. Duncan/Channon has been recognized as a four-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year and reports having placed $1 billion of media. Its client roster has included Kona Brewing, Outrigger Resorts, PG&E, Jackson Family Wines, Marqeta, Golden Road Brewing, Viator, SweeTARTS, and Rakuten. For PG&E, entering 2025 with one of the lowest customer trust levels in its history, the agency developed a media strategy centered on receptivity rather than exposure, using channel selection, sequencing, and format to open a real exchange between the company and its customers, with the goal of moving trust and sentiment among existing customers, particularly in high-scrutiny markets and across a diverse, multilingual customer base. The agency continues to operate as an independent, full-service shop offering advertising, branding, social, experiential, and media and analytics services, and maintains an active news and work section on its website, including creative experiments such as an AI-generated rock opera.

• Created the first Kona Brewing ad, 'Sad Hour,' featuring David Bell and Brutus La Benz

• Created identity and packaging for Farrier, a new luxe wine brand from Kendall-Jackson

• Worked with Marqeta on brand identity and website design

• Developed media strategy for PG&E entering 2025 with low customer trust

Independent, full-service agency that refuses to specialize, offering a 360° range of advertising, branding, social, experiential, and media and analytics services.

• Advertising

  Full-service advertising across linear TV, streaming, online video, social, and localized media.

• Branding

  Brand identity, packaging, and UX design, including work for Farrier and Marqeta.

• Social

  Social media capabilities, including through an acquired indie that pioneered the social, experiential and influencer space.

• Experiential

  Experiential marketing services as part of the agency's 360° offering.

• Media + analytics

  Media planning and buying supported by analytics, with a department strong enough to win accounts on its own.

1. 1Duncan Channon | Top Advertising Agency in San Francisco and Los Angelesduncanchannon.com
2. 2Opening line | Duncan Channonduncanchannon.com
3. 3New wine, old bottle | Duncan Channonduncanchannon.com
4. 4Marqeta | Duncan Channonduncanchannon.com