Ogilvy’s Geometry Global wins Bronze at ADFEST 2025

• Sole Sri Lankan agency honoured this year, marking the country’s first ADFEST victory since 2019

Geometry Global Creative Group Head Nadeera Warawita with the Bronze Sustainable Lotus Award (Education Category) at ADFEST 2025 in Pattaya, Thailand

Geometry Global, a strategic business unit of the Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka, continued its winning streak at international advertising awards by clinching a Bronze Sustainable Lotus Award at ADFEST 2025 in Pattaya, Thailand. The agency won the award in the Education Category for its ‘Books that Keep on Giving’ campaign for ProMate (Printxcel), a leading stationery manufacturer in Sri Lanka. The campaign was the only Sri Lankan entry to be recognised this year at the awards show and further, the first ADFEST win for the country since 2019. 

ADFEST is a key international awards show and creative festival that focuses on nurturing and supporting the creative industry in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The Sustainable Lotus category in the awards show is presented for campaigns that promote social, environmental, and economic sustainability in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the role such campaigns play in driving transformational change.

The Books that Keep on Giving campaign by Geometry Global addresses the social need of supporting visually impaired students’ education amid Sri Lanka’s 300% surge in paper costs. Leveraging the insight that over Rs. 25 billion worth of paper are discarded annually in the country, the campaign called on the public to donate their used notebooks, which were then upcycled for Braille writing. Repurposing the donated notebooks in this manner meant that they offered visually impaired students the same learning opportunities of a brand-new book, making them ‘Books that Keep on Giving’.

The win at ADFEST 2025 is the latest international recognition for Geometry Global and its Books that Keep on Giving campaign. The agency won the Best Campaign in Sri Lanka at the Dragons of Asia 2024 Awards in Malaysia and was the sole Sri Lankan agency to be awarded at the global Epica Awards 2024. Locally, the campaign was recognised at the Effie Awards 2024 in Sri Lanka, winning two Golds.

Geometry Global, Ogilvy Digital, and Ogilvy Media Managing Director Lalith Sumanasiri noted, “Winning at ADFEST 2025 is not just an accolade; it’s a powerful reminder of the responsibility we hold as marketers in today’s world. Our Books that Keep on Giving campaign is about transforming lives and providing visually impaired children in Sri Lanka with the gift of education and the opportunity to dream big. By repurposing discarded paper into Braille books, we are turning waste into hope and possibilities. This recognition underscores the incredible power of community and creativity to tackle 21st-century social and economic challenges. We are profoundly grateful to ProMate and everyone who believed in and supported this mission.”

The campaign’s message inspired widespread contributions, and collection points were set up nationwide through ProMate’s network and Volunteer Sri Lanka. It successfully gathered enough materials to support the visually impaired students in all government schools across Sri Lanka.

Geometry Global Creative Group Head Nadeera Warawita, said, “The beauty of Books that Keep on Giving is in its simplicity. By turning discarded notebooks into Braille books, we’ve shown that what one person discards can become a treasure for another. This initiative sparked a nationwide movement, encouraging everyone to embrace upcycling and support inclusive education. Receiving international recognition like the ADFEST Lotus validates the impact we’ve made, and I’m incredibly proud of the difference we’ve achieved.”