Lovely Book, But Where’s Your Guerilla And Online?

Ad Age has yet another story on an account win. That doesn’t interest me much. What does is the reason given for the shop’s win.

BMW of North America’s motorcycle division said it selected Concept Farm, New York, as its new agency of record for its estimated $2 million motorcycle account.

Concept Farm won the account because of its capabilities in guerilla, interactive and Web work, said Laurence Kuykendall, the marketing communications manager at BMW Motorrad USA, who led the review.
The brand plans to boost its online presence, because word-of-mouth among riders is more effective and more efficient than advertising, he said. “Not that we are anti-advertising,” he said, because he plans to continue traditional advertising to build brand awareness.

Traditional advertising, at least in this case, is an afterthought. That’s a BIG change, and in many ways it’s change for the better.