At the Chicago Sun-Times, Lewis Lazare doesn’t usually have breaking news, but today he’s got an exclusive story:
United Airlines will stun the ad world today when it shifts its advertising account from Fallon/Minneapolis — its home for a decade — to a startup boutique agency, Barrie D’Rozario Murphy/Minneapolis.
United now will become the new shop’s flagship account. Per United Senior Vice President of Marketing Dennis Cary, the shift to BDM was designed to ensure the airline’s forceful and wonderfully sophisticated “It’s Time to Fly” ad campaign is sustained at the high level it has been at since being launched three years ago.
Cary is convinced the airline made the right move to go with BDM for its creative. Two of the principals in the new agency, Stuart D’Rozario and Bob Barrie, were instrumental in the original creation of the United campaign when they were top creatives at Fallon. Both Barrie and D’Rozario left Fallon some six months ago. David Murphy, former president of Saatchi & Saatchi/Los Angeles, recently announced he would join Barrie and D’Rozario.
Wow. From what I’ve always heard, Bob Barrie is a class act, so I think this is great news. Account people seem like they’re always the ones who lure accounts away with established client relationships, so it’s interesting to see an account move along with the creatives who’ve worked on it. Although it might be extra chilly in the Minneapolis ad scene today, as sometimes happens when accounts move with people.
UPDATE: Read the Press Release here.