Courts and Leo Burnett part company

Singapore - Retail giant Courts will drop Leo Burnett in favour of an in-house advertising model being developed and supported by DDB.

The news follows speculation that DDB, Leo Burnett and Batey were involved in a mini-pitch to decide which agency would help Courts set up a dedicated in-house agency.

Leo Burnett will continue to work with Courts until the in-house model is up and running.

Sources say, DDB has already walked away victorious from the pitch but a Courts spokesperson would only say that DDB will be "helping to support this model".

Based in Singapore, the in-house team will provide support to Courts in Singapore and its Malaysian and Indonesian markets. This arrangement kicks in from 1 July 2008.

The decision was arrived at after a rigorous evaluation process of various models.

Yvonne Low, former account director on the Courts business at DDB, has been tipped to run the in-house model but Courts would not confirm this, saying only that the company was "working with DDB on an arrangement".

Courts also declined to comment on whether Batey was still in the running to contribute to the in-house agency proposal.

"In line with our regional priorities, we felt that a different arrangement where we build advertising competencies within Courts can better support the business and is essential to our future success," she said in a statement.

Courts appointed Leo Burnett in March last year following pitch with DDB, Batey and M&C Saatchi. DDB had held the business for five years prior to the Leo Burnett appointment.

"We are grateful to Leo Burnett which will continue to work on our business until our in-house studio is functional. They have demonstrated great professionalism during this partnership," Terry O'Connor, Courts Singapore CEO, said.

At press time, DDB could not respond with comment.