Campfire Consulting

08/09/2026

Advertising isn’t just a place for the tidy campaign message.

This morning, this full-page message from MaineHealth’s CEO appeared in the Maine Sunday Telegram, in print and digital. For nearly a decade, we’ve worked with Northern New England’s largest healthcare organization, and it continues to be some of the most important work we touch because this is the same healthcare our families, friends and communities depend on.

Sometimes a story can’t wait for an earned media cycle. It’s too nuanced for a social post, and owned media alone isn’t going to reach everyone who needs to hear it. That’s when advertising becomes something bigger than an ad.

And premium media doesn’t have to mean slow media. From realizing we needed to be active within the current news cycle to having the letter, contracts signed and print and digital placements confirmed with the publisher, less than two hours had passed. Process, systems and relationships around ALL media is the only way that happens.

We talk a lot about moving at the speed of digital. Turns out, print can move pretty damn fast, too.

When a community is looking for answers and reassurance, where the message shows up carries weight.

08/07/2026

How about a hot take for a hot day: local media isn’t a charity case and it’s the most undervalued media strategy for national challenger brands.

Local media is community infrastructure.

When a radio station broadcasts live from a fundraiser or event like this one here today, people don’t show up because an algorithm served them the perfect piece of content or ad. They show up because someone organized a town.

Brands that put themselves around moments like this aren’t “giving back” they’re buying into something every marketer says they want but rarely invest in:

Real attention.
Real trust.
Real community.

You want behavioral change at scale, movements start on the ground floor. Turns out the original social network wasn’t an app. It was Main Street.

07/26/2026

Built in Maine.

Working with brands everywhere.

Happy Sunday from one of our favorite corners of the world. 🦞

07/25/2026

The advertising industry spends a lot of time asking what’s next in media. We think the answer is remembering what always worked.

The humble tin can telephone has more to teach marketers than you think.

Our latest Campfire Journal explores why trust, community, and human connection aren’t making a comeback. They never left.

Maybe the future of media isn’t about inventing something new. Maybe it’s about returning to something real.

Read the latest edition of the Campfire Journal.
https://www.campfire.consulting/journal/the-tin-can-telephone-is-a-warning-sign

07/24/2026

We can’t promise Tom Hanks.

We can’t promise Meg Ryan.

We can promise that when Campfire Weekly lands in your inbox, it’ll be something worth opening.

Every Friday, we share the ideas, trends, and media stories shaping where attention is headed. Thoughtful, a little opinionated, and written for people who care about media, advertising, and culture.

Meet us in your inbox. Subscribe here:
https://www.campfire.consulting/campfireweekly

P.S. Shopgirl 🤝 NY152. If you know, you know. 📬

07/14/2026

Media is an investment.

So is where you choose to build your life.

We believe quality delivers a better return on both.

That’s why Portland is home.

Because where you invest influences what grows.

Happy Tuesday friends.

07/03/2026

As America celebrates 250 years, we found ourselves reflecting on another story that’s been unfolding alongside it: the story of media.

From colonial newspapers to today’s algorithms, the ways we communicate have helped shape our country for generations. As an independent media agency, it’s something we think about often.

This Fourth of July, we invite you to take a few minutes to explore how American media has evolved, what we’ve gained along the way, and why the choices we make about where we invest our attention and dollars matter more than ever.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸

From colonial newspapers to programmatic advertising, American media has followed the same arc for 250 years. Here's what that history means for how brands show up today.

06/26/2026

Drinks at . Views for days. A team that lights you up.

That’s a Friday. ✌️

📸:

06/02/2026

Pride has always been about more than celebration. Pride is protest. Pride is visibility. Pride is action.

One of the great things about being a media agency is that we’re not a t-shirt company. So we get to make stuff just for fun.

Which means when people tell us they appreciate that we wear our values on our sleeves, we can literally put them on our sleeves. Or our chest. Or our back.

That’s why we built the Responsibly Different Shop at ShopCampfire.com, creating another way for our team and community to support the causes we care about.

To kick off Pride Month, we’re highlighting our Equality Collection. Every purchase helps support The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on ending su***de among LGBTQ+ young people through crisis services, advocacy, research, and education.

Because the work of creating a more inclusive world doesn’t begin and end in June.

Happy Pride. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Check out the Equality Collection at ShopCampfire.com

05/20/2026

One way to onboard a new Camper is taking a strategy meeting on the ferry… because when your office is the next pier over, why not?

One thing we’ve been thinking a lot about at Campfire is that the future of work doesn’t need to feel so boxed in. We work in media and storytelling. Creativity needs movement, conversation, fresh air, community, and sometimes a ferry ride across the bay.

We’re building Campfire to be not just a different kind of media agency, but a place where good people can do meaningful work and still feel human while doing it.