JWT wins Sri Lanka’s first ever Lotus Roots Award at ADFEST 2012

JWT Colombo made history by winning the first ever Lotus Roots award at the recently held ADFEST 2012 in Pattaya.

While JWT offices from across its Asian network shone at ADFEST with awards across multiple categories, Sri Lanka’s metal was in the most prestigious category in the festival.

Lotus Roots is an award category unique to ADFEST created to recognise and reward work that is rooted in the rich legacies, history and traditions of local cultures in Asia.

JWT Colombo won this award for the Vesak Pandol on ‘gender based violence’ created for Care International.  The agency commissioned paintings done in a traditional style and using this ancient art of storytelling reminded people about the Buddhist philosophy of treating all humans with equal respect. The tale was on a two-story high pandol, illuminated by 7,500 light bulbs, displayed in Colombo in celebration of the 2600thSambuddhathvaJayanthi.

“Lotus Roots recognises and celebrates ideas born of Asia. By winning this award we have shared something uniquely Sri Lankan with the region. It reiterates JWT’s depth of immersion and appreciation of all things Sri Lankan. Winning the highest international accolade for Sri Lanka so far, we are proud to have been able to bring recognition to our industry and honour to the country.” said Chandini Rajaratnam - Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, JWT Colombo.  

Lotus Roots is considered the toughest category to win in, as the jury for it consists of the jury presidents in the other categories. They were Bob Greenberg - R/GA New York, George Mackenzie - The Sweet Shop, Auckland, Merlee Jayme -DM9 Jayme Syfu, Manila, Prasoon Joshi -McCann Worldgroup India, Stanley Wong -84000 Communications, Hong Kong, Trong Tantivejakul - Y&R Bangkok and Yukio Nakayama -Dentsu Inc. Tokyo.

Sharing the sentiment, Tay Guan Hin, Regional Executive Creative Director, South East Asia said -

“I’m very proud and happy for Sri Lanka. The first Lotus Roots award for the country. This category is primarily dominated by Japanese agencies, yet JWT has managed to deliver a stunning installation that captured the hearts of the ADFEST judges. This just goes to prove that you don’t need to have a huge budget to compete against the big boys.”

ADFEST is Asia Pacific’s largest annual regional advertising festival celebrating and raising the standard of creativity in the region. It is the only regional advertising festival that can proudly call itself an Asian creative event by Asians, for Asians. It is a platform designed not only to promote and recognize creative excellence in the region, but also to provide a unique learning opportunity for participants through seeing the best work in the region, listen to inspiring speakers, and exchange ideas with other participants.

JWT Colombo, part of WPP, is Sri Lanka’s only 100% international agency with integrated communication expertise across Advertising, PR, Activation, and Design& Digital. With over 3 decades of operations in Sri Lanka, JWT has some of the most prestigious clients in the country.