CHICAGO Leap Wireless has shifted creative work on its Cricket brand to Omnicom Group's Element 79 Partners without a review, the company said on Monday.
Leap, headquartered in San Diego, in August 2003 moved its creative and media business to Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, an independent shop in Sausalito, Calif., following a review.
Element 79 was asked to do a "brand assessment" study earlier this year, leading to the shift based on the shop's "stronger brand competence," a client representative said.
The Chicago shop is working on a campaign for the first quarter to support Cricket. Omnicom's PHD media unit is handling media.
Campaign spending was not disclosed. Leap spent $10 million on measured media last year, and $4 million through July 2004, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
Targeting smaller, regional telecom markets, the company is a 1998 spin-off of Qualcomm. It emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.