4As joins ‘Seeni Meanie’ campaign for judging of entries
Tuesday, 23 July 2013 01:34
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The Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies, also known as the 4As, recently joined in to judge the entries submitted for the ‘Seeni Meanie’ campaign, which was organised by the Rotary Club and the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka with the aim of creating diabetes awareness among school children.
Prominent members of Sri Lanka’s advertising fraternity made up the panel of judges, who took on the task of examining the thirty shortlisted entries to select the ultimate winners based on their creativity, innovation and ability to convey the campaign’s message eloquently and convincingly.
Diabetes in Sri Lanka is a long-time problem, with the common man frequently in the dark about its causes and consequences, which has resulted in the spread of Diabetes reaching dire proportions. The ‘Seeni Meanie’ inter-school advertising competition was organised by the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka and the Rotary Club of Sri Lanka to create much-needed awareness of this problem. The ‘Seeni Meanie’ project motivated the participating children, representing schools from across the island, to create their very own advertising campaigns, designed to generate maximum awareness and change among their peers and communities.
120 schools, recruited by 60 Rotary Clubs within the Rotary District of Sri Lanka, took part in the competition, from which 30 projects were short-listed. The final judging took place at the Bates Strategic Alliance advertising agency’s office in Colombo 5, where the projects were methodically assessed by a panel of advertising industry experts.
The judging panel comprised Dinesh Perera, Head of Creative, Bates Strategic Alliance; Shanker Vamadeva, Strategic Planner, JWT; David Blacker, Creative Director, JWT; Sheron Jayasundara, Chief Operating Officer, Bates Strategic Alliance; Shane Wilson, Brand Strategist, Triad; Arqam Azhar, Brand Strategist, Leo Burnett; Darren Edirisinghe, Account Director, LOWE LDB and Udeni Perera, Head of Client Servicing, Triad.
The overall, national winning team received items of their choice worth Rs. 100, 000, while the first and second runners up received items to the value of Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000 respectively. In addition all winners were awarded trophies and certificates by Rotary District 3220.
“Advertising is a powerful medium for facilitating positive change in society, and as members of 4As, it was our pleasure to be a part of this campaign wherein advertising industry talent took part in judging the budding creative minds of Sri Lanka’s future change-makers,” said Chalaka Gajabahu, President of 4As, at the conclusion of the judging sessions.
Reiterating these sentiments, head of the judging panel, Sheron Jayasundara said: “We are certain that this initiative will also inspire and spur on its participants to greater things, since the talent and innovative thinking we witnessed in the entries was most commendable.”
Expressing his views on this campaign, Trevor Reckerman, Chairman, Diabetes Awareness of the Rotary District 3220 said: “The Rotary District 3220 – Sri Lanka, is delighted with the successful conclusion of its first year programme for Seeni Meanie, a program on Diabetes Awareness initiated by the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka (DASL). The programme targeted school children and was conducted in over 70 registered schools from a pool of 120 schools recruited by the 60 Rotary Clubs in this District. The Rotary District is thankful to the 4A’s for a professional and well co-ordinated contribution made in a very short space of time. Our gratitude extends to 4As President Chalaka and Panel Leader Sheron for their commitment and diligence in this task!”
