Leo Burnett News – Wins 5 Effies’ for 5 Brands in 5 Categories

Leo Burnett News – Wins 5 Effies’ for 5 Brands in 5 Categories

Wednesday 26th November 2012, Colombo:Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI), the Sri Lankan office of the internationally acclaimed advertising agency made its mark in the annals of the Sri Lankan advertising industry yet again by winning 5 Effies comprising two silver and three bronze awards at the Effie Awards Sri Lanka.  Leo Burnett’s solid performance was even more remarkable considering the agency was able to achieve recognition for a cross section of clients for five different brands representing five different categories thus demonstrating the breadth and competency of the agency in delivering effective communications solutions for a wide and varied range of clients and their brands.

Commenting on the wins at the Effie Awards, Ranil de Silva, Managing Director, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. stated: ‘‘My team and I are extremely honoured to have received 5 awards at this year’s Effie’s. Our creative successes both locally and globally are further augmented by these wins as it clearly demonstrates that our work is both creative and delivers the desired results. We at Leo Burnett believe that ‘Creativity has the power to transform human behaviour’, these 5 awards are a testament to our belief. These awards recognize not only the prowess of our creative teams but also of the Brand leaders and the thinkers within the team. So it is a fitting tribute to great insights, thinking, ideas and executions. Winning these Effie Awards reaffirms the effectiveness of our work and our ability to produce results across a broad range of categories for a diverse client portfolio.’

Further commenting on the wins, Ranil de Silva said: ‘‘These wins would not have been possible without our clients, who are an invaluable partner to our pursuits. I would like to thank the Heads and Marketing teams at Nestle, Commercial Bank, People’s Leasing, Stage Light and Magic for giving us the opportunity to jointly create winning campaigns for their brands. ’’

The two silvers awarded to the agency were in the Packaged Food and the Entertainment Categories. The first silver was awarded to Nestle for the Maggie Devilled campaign. An integrated communications campaign designed to appeal to the youth built around their tribe culture. This campaign revived a new terminology as the word “Dhaiya”has become a part of the lingo of the youth. Maggi Devilled which was launched in January 2012 rose to instant success and further strengthened the Maggi portfolio. The growth of the brand and the appeal of the communications are unprecedented in the category.

The second silver was won in the Entertainment Category, for the Pusswedilla- Arsetolk campaign for the client Stage Light & Magic Inc., where the agency created and launched a new language, Arsetolk – a hybrid between English and the Sri Lankan native tongue, Sinhala. This campaign created many a wave in the country and grew Pusswedilla to even greater popularity. The public and media attention received for the campaign was an amazing tribute to the communications and the brand Pusswedilla who has now become a popular icon amongst society. The performances were sold out and the repeats too were performed to packed houses.

Winning one of the three bronze awards in the Beverages Category was the campaign created by the agencyfor Nescafe. The Hey-ya song and dance routine created by the agency for Nescafe propelled the brand to new heights.The dance routine and song illustrating the 3 simple steps to make the perfect cup of coffee was an instant hit and helped the brand to generate new users and energy for itself.  This campaign which resonated with the youth has made Nescafe a contemporary beverage of choice for the youth of today.

Bagging a bronze in the Financial Services & Product category was the Peoples Leasing Company’s (PLC) IPO campaign. This integrated campaign created by the agency established PLC as the leader in the leasing industry whilst highlighting its financial prowess and generating excitement amongst the retail investing publics. This campaign helped to raise Rs. 7 billion for one of the country’s biggest IPO’s in the Colombo Stock Exchange’s history. This campaign helped to ensure that the IPO was oversubscribed by over Rs. 2.5 billion on the day of its launch.

The Commercial Bank Savings commercial was awarded Leo Burnett’s third bronze in the Corporate Reputation & Professional category. This commercial derived from a deep human insight and developed on a human story differentiated the brand and its offering in a vastly crowded category. It brought to life that Commercial Bank understandstheimportance of safeguarding one’s hard earned money. This commercial enabled the bank to successfully achieve its numerous goals and targets in an excessively competitive environment.

Commenting on this success, Subhash Pinnapola, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. stated, ‘‘At Leo Burnett we firmly believe that big ideas will always deliver big results. These awards we have won are a clear demonstration of this belief. I appreciate the work of the entire agency team and the support of every client who made these awards possible. MurtazaTajbhouy, Director Brand Planning at Leo Burnett Solutions Inc stated “There are only two things that matter – People and their Behavior. In this pursuit we are actively engaged in trying to understand people and their behavior. It is this understanding which enabled us to create these winning ideas.

Winning because they are not just creativeachievements, these campaigns are communications which have successfully delivered results for our most valuedpartners, our clients.’’

The Effie Awards Sri Lanka held in partnership with the Effies International recognizes campaigns that are the most effective and those which produce results in marketing communications.

The Effie Awards in Sri Lanka is conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing in partnership with the 4 A’s. On behalf of the team at Leo Burnett, ChrishaniKotelawela, Chief Operating Officer stated “We are very grateful to SLIM for putting together this awards show and for giving us this recognition for our work. We do hope the Effie awards and SLIM will grow from strength to strength.”