We are the digital agency
crafting brand experiences
for the modern audience.
We are Fame Foundry.

See our work. Read the Fame Foundry magazine.

We love our clients.

Fame Foundry seeks out bold brands that wish to engage their public in sincere, evocative ways.


WorkWeb DesignSportsEvents

Platforms for racing in the 21st century.

Fame Foundry puts the racing experience in front of millions of fans, steering motorsports to the modern age.

“Fame Foundry created something never seen before, allowing members to interact in new ways and providing them a central location to call their own. It also provides more value to our sponsors than we have ever had before.”

—Ryan Newman

Technology on the track.

Providing more than just web software, our management systems enhance and reinforce a variety of services by different racing organizations which work to evolve the speed, efficiency, and safety measures, aiding their process from lab to checkered flag.

WorkWeb DesignRetail

Setting the pace across 44 states.

With over 1100 locations, thousands of products, and millions of transactions, Shoe Show creates a substantial retail footprint in shoe sales.

The sole of superior choice.

With over 1100 locations, thousands of products, and millions of transactions, Shoe Show creates a substantial retail footprint in shoe sales.

WorkWeb DesignRetail

The contemporary online pharmacy.

Medichest sets a new standard, bringing the boutique experience to the drug store.

Integrated & Automated Marketing System

All the extensive opportunities for public engagement are made easily definable and effortlessly automated.

Scheduled promotions, sales, and campaigns, all precisely targeted for specific demographics within the whole of the Medichest audience.

WorkWeb DesignSocial

Home Design & Decor Magazine offers readers superior content on designer home trends on any device.


  • By selectively curating the very best from their individual markets, each localized catalog comes to exhibit the trending, pertinent visual flavors specific to each region.


  • Beside the swaths of inspirational home photography spreads, Home Design & Decor provides exhaustive articles and advice by proven professionals in home design.


  • The art of home ingenuity always dances between the timeless and the experimental. The very best in these intersecting principles offer consistent sources of modern innovation.

WorkWeb DesignSocial

  • Post a need on behalf of yourself, a family member or your community group, whether you need volunteers or funds to support your cause.


  • Search by location, expertise and date, and connect with people in your very own community who need your time and talents.


  • Start your own Neighborhood or Group Page and create a virtual hub where you can connect and converse about the things that matter most to you.

775 Boost email open rates by 152 percent

Use your customers’ behavior to your advantage.

045 - Keys to a successful marketing partnership: Good discipline goes a long way

Today we kick off our 10-part series on the keys to a successful marketing partnership by examining why maintaining good discip

774 Feelings are viral

Feelings are the key to fueling likes, comments and shares.

December 2016
By Kimberly Barnes

Going the Distance: Four Ways to Build a Better Customer Loyalty Program for Your Brand

Loyalty programs are no longer a novelty. That means that yesterday’s strategies won’t work moving forward, so look for ways to rise above the noise, setting yourself apart from the cloying drone of countless other cookie-cutter programs.
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Going the Distance: Four Ways to Build a Better Customer Loyalty Program for Your Brand

article-thedistance-lg It’s easy enough for a customer to join your loyalty program, especially when you’re offering an incentive such as discounts. All your customer has to do is give out some basic information, and voila! They’re in the fold, a brand new loyalty member with your company. From there, it’s happily ever after. You offer the perks; they stand solidly by you, bringing you their continued business. Simple. Or is it? In reality, just how many of those customers are act ively participating in your loyalty program? Do you know? Sure, loyalty program memberships are on the rise according to market research company eMarketer, having jumped 25 percent in the space of just two years. However, that figure may be a bit misleading. The truth is that, while loyalty program sign-ups may be more numerous, active participation in such programs is actually in decline. At the time of the study, the average US household had memberships in 29 loyalty programs; yet consumers were only active in 12 of those. That’s just 41 percent. And even that meager figure represents a drop of 2 percentage points per year over each of the preceding four years, according to a study by loyalty-marketing research company COLLOQUY.

When discounts just aren’t enough

So what’s a brand to do? How can you make your loyalty program worth your customer’s while—as well as your own? After all, gaining a new loyalty member doesn’t mean much if your customer isn’t actively participating in your program. Consider this: Does your customer loyalty program offer members anything different from what your competitors are offering? Chances are your program includes discounts. That’s a given. And what customer doesn’t appreciate a good discount? But when every other company out there is providing this staple benefit in comparable amounts, it becomes less and less likely that customers will remain loyal to any one particular brand. Frankly, it’s all too easy for customers to get lost in a sea of loyalty member discounts. They’re everywhere. In fact, just under half of internet users perceive that all rewards programs are alike, according to a 2015 eMarketer survey. The key to success, then, is to differentiate your business from the crowd. If you can offer your customers something unique and valuable beyond the usual discount, chances are they’ll be more likely to stick with your brand. Here’s some inspiration from companies who get it.

Virgin: Reward more purchases with more benefits.

That’s not to say you need to get rid of discounts entirely. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Customers still love a good discount. The goal is to be creative in terms of the loyalty perks you offer. Take the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, for example. As part of its loyalty program, the airline allows members to earn miles and tier points. Members are inducted at the Club Red tier, from which they can move up to Club Silver and then Club Gold. Here, it’s not just a discount. It’s status. And people respond to feeling important, elite. Still, even where the rewards themselves are concerned, Virgin is motivating loyalty customers with some pretty attractive offers. At the Club Red tier, members earn flight miles and receive discounts on rental cars, airport parking, hotels and holiday flights. But as members rise in tiers, they get even more. At the Club Silver tier, members earn 50 percent more points on flights, access to expedited check-in, and priority standby seating. And once they reach the top, Club Gold members receive double miles, priority boarding and access to exclusive clubhouses where they can get a drink or a massage before their flight. Now that’s some serious incentive to keep coming back for more. Discounts are still part of the equation – but they are designed with innovation and personal value in mind, elevating them to more than just savings.

Amazon Prime: Pay upfront and become a VIP.

What if your customers only had to pay a one-time upfront fee to get a year’s worth of substantial benefits? It may not sound like the smartest business idea at first glance. But take a closer look. Amazon Prime users pay a nominal $99 a year to gain free, two-day shipping on millions of products with no minimum purchase. And that’s just one benefit of going Prime. It’s true that Amazon loses $1-2 billion a year on Prime. This comes as no surprise given the incredible value the program offers. But get this: Amazon makes up for its losses in markedly higher transaction frequency. Specifically, Prime members spend an average of $1,500 a year on Amazon.com, compared with $625 spent by non-Prime users, a ccording to a 2015 report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Patagonia: Cater to customer values.

Sometimes, the draw for consumers isn’t saving money or getting a great deal. The eco-friendly outdoor clothing company Patagonia figured this out back in 2011, when it partnered with eBay to launch its Common Threads Initiative: a program that allows customers to resell their used Patagonia clothing via the company’s website. Why is this program important to customers? And how does it benefit Patagonia? The company’s brand embraces environmental and social responsibility, so it was only fitting that they create a platform for essentially recycling old clothing rather than merely throwing it away. The Common Threads Initiative helps Patagonia build a memorable brand and fierce loyalty by offering its customers a cause that aligns with deep personal values. OK, so their customers get to make a little money, too. Everybody wins.

American Airlines: Gamify your loyalty program.

If you’re going to offer your customers a loyalty program, why not make it f un? After all, engagement is key to building a strong relationship with your customer. And what better way to achieve that goal than making a game of it. American Airlines had this very thing in mind when it created its AAdvantage Passport Challenge following its merger with USAirways. The goal: find a new way to engage customers as big changes were underway. Using a custom Facebook application, American Airlines created a virtual passport to increase brand awareness while offering members a chance to earn bonus points. Customers earned these rewards through a variety of game-like activities, from answering trivia questions to tracking travel through a personalized dashboard. In the end, participants earned more than 70 percent more stamps than expected – and the airline saw a ROI of more than 500 percent. The takeaway: people like games.

Stand out from the crowd.

Your approach to your customer loyalty program should align with your overall marketing approach. Effective branding is about standing out, not blending it. Being memorable is key. To this end, keep in mind that loyalty programs are no longer a novelty. That means that yesterday’s strategies won’t work moving forward, so look for ways to rise above the noise, setting yourself apart from the cloying drone of countless other cookie-cutter programs.


August 2009
By The Creator

Changing Marketing's Old Guard

Complacency makes traditional marketing firms resistant to change.
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Changing Marketing's Old Guard

Before becoming an agent for Fame Foundry, I invested more than 20 years working for several advertising agencies. I learned, peddled and practiced everything from marketing plans to package design. Like most career admen, I know all about media buying, creative briefs, radio and TV production, graphic design and creative writing. But there's at least one thing I've learned that makes me significantly different from marketing's old guard; I've learned to accept the fact that the Web has replaced all other forms of media.

Even now, marketing firms and advertisers alike seem comfortable with the status quo. This is fine as long as their customers continue to make buying decisions based on reading brochures or seeing ads in newspapers or on television. It's amazing to me that with all the options available, some businesses prefer to pay over $1,500 for one newspaper ad or even $500,000 for a TV spot.

Though there are still clients who don't mind paying through the nose for marketing tactics that do little to improve their bottom line, the smarter population recognizes that the Web is the most efficient method to market its products and services. And while marketing firms continue to preach about how web development is just another tool in their tool chest or how social media is just media, other firms study feverishly to understand the medium. This may seem like progress but many of these firms that struggle to understand the Web will never get past the passe concept of banner ads if their counsel is coming from industry publications like Advertising Age.

Sources like these (and many of the nation's most recognizable agencies) try to understand the Web within the context of the industry's milieus of the past 50 years. These advisors feel threatened and resent the fact that now anyone can produce a video or publish a magazine. Yet because they hear social media is hot right now, these publications do their best to educate their subscribers. Marketing firms are drinking in as much of this swill as they can so they can appear knowledgeable to prospective clients. Despite what they've read or how many webinars they attend, they're only able to glean a rudimentary understanding of the Web, while hoping to make a quick buck off it before anyone notices.

Complacency in their ability to sell smoke-and-mirrors tactics and resentment of the Digital Age are the reasons the old guard doesn't make an effort to understand the true nature of the Web. It's also why traditional firms are losing bids to nimble, forward-thinking shops. If marketing firms are to survive in today's economy, they must stop pontificating about the glory days of advertising and begin selling the Web as their clients' primary rainmaker. It doesn't mean firms are prohibited to sell another full-page ad or media kit, but it will require the old guard to learn more than just a few new tricks.


December 2010
By Jeremy Hunt

Jumping Into Jumo

Can social media change the world?
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Jumping Into Jumo

jumo_article

New social media platforms seem to crop up and die out (or get bought out) with regularity in this day and age. Whereas the social media map used to consist primarily of MySpace and Facebook (and Friendster if we’re feeling generous), now there's Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Wikipedia, just to name a few. With stories of upstarts like FriendFeed or Lala getting swallowed up by the big guns in the business, it’s a landscape that’s constantly changing.

But the great thing about this open environment is that it isn’t a zero-sum game, as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg put it at the Web 2.0 Summit 2010 a couple of weeks ago. As a result, while it’s a noisy scene, the best “artists” making the best “music” rise to the top and get noticed.

The newest kid on the block

Which brings us to Jumo. The latest project from Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, Jumo is a new attempt to merge the burgeoning movement for social change with the power of social networking itself.

While social change and humanitarian efforts have existed in many formats (with varying degrees of success) on the Web, Jumo’s concept is centered upon fostering a deeper interaction with issues and causes. By focusing on the heart of what drives people to get involved in generous giving and living, Jumo is banking on helping charities and nonprofits connect with potential supporters.

The point of connection is not the “ask,” whereby a nonprofit initiates their relationship with you by requesting a donation. No, Jumo takes a few steps back to first ask, “What is it that you’re passionate about?”. From there, the site connects you with organizations that are working in related fields.

In other words, the relationship that you develop with a charity begins organically with a question of the heart, not a question of the wallet. The end result – financial support – might not be that dissimilar, but the means are profoundly different. Jumo's approach could mean the difference between creating a one-time giver and inspiring a life-long supporter who not only gives but actively recruits others to join the cause through their heartfelt passion.

Why Jumo matters

What does this mean to you as an online citizen?

The Jumo model is important because there are lessons from this approach that apply to us all. Whether you’re running a business or a charity, your interactions – both online and in-person – with your clients are what ultimately drive the machine. You might have the coolest product or the most moving cause in the world, but if you’re not taking care of your customers or donors, you won’t last long.

While on one hand, social media has made it easier to keep people at arms-length behind the safety of a computer screen, it’s also helped to remind us all of what’s important in the social realm: relationships. Without them, you’re sunk.

The nuts and bolts

So how does it all work? It’s quite simple, really.

Step one is signing up for an account, which unsurprisingly starts with a prompt to connect to your Facebook account.

jumo_homepage

Next you create your profile, with Jumo pulling in your profile picture and basic personal information from Facebook. From there, you review a list of core issues and causes, including poverty, peace and governance and human rights. Each topic leads you further down a path of discovery that ultimately ends in a list of specific organizations that are doing work in the fields that you’ve selected.

Once this process is complete, your Jumo home page will be generated. This page features an aggregated news feed from the projects that you have chosen to follow. You’ll also have a sidebar with suggested projects and issues that might interest you as well as a “Talk” column that reflects updates from all projects, issues and people with whom you’re connected.

If all of this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The format and terminology will be second nature to anyone who’s already on Facebook and Twitter. That familiarity should be a strength for Jumo moving forward, as it makes the new environment easy to get used to.

It’s also fairly easy to add a new organization or project on Jumo; the key is that you must have a valid Employer Identification Number (EIN) as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity. Beyond that, it’s a simple process of plugging in basic information such as your organization's mission and links to your website.

Again, Jumo presumes that your organization has already established a Facebook Page, as it will ask for your Facebook ID number to pull a profile picture in for your new project. From there, it’s up to you to connect with individual users on Jumo, though the platform aids the process by allowing you to select the same topics of interest of as an individual, only this time the selections will help to define what your project is.

A step in the right direction

Only time will tell if Jumo will actually reach the lofty goals that its creators have set forth, but it so far it seems to be off to a promising start.

The interface is easy to navigate, but the site has been plagued by performance issues due to an overwhelming amount of traffic in its first few days of beta launch. The team is working to alleviate those problems, and hopefully, once fully launched, any minor issues will be resolved so that users can get down to the business of changing the world.