MullenLowe in APAC’s Top 10 for Advertising Effectiveness in Effie Index 2020

• First agency office in Sri Lanka to enter the Asia Pacific Top 10 and to be ranked 36th in the world for effectiveness
• Two MullenLowe agencies make it to the top 100 agencies in the world – MullenLowe Sri Lanka at 36th and MullenLowe USA at 86th

MullenLowe Sri Lanka has been ranked 9th in the Asia Pacific region’s Top 10 Most Effective Agencies of 2020 on the Effie Index. 

MullenLowe Group Global CEO Alex Leikikh

MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka CEO Thayalan Bartlett

It is the first and only agency office from Sri Lanka to be listed on the Effie Index’s APAC Top 10. MullenLowe Sri Lanka outperformed much larger, well-established agencies from across APAC markets like China, India, Australia, Singapore and Indonesia, among others, establishing its presence in the very competitive Asia-Pacific leaderboard.

In the Global ranking of the most effective agencies, MullenLowe Sri Lanka ranked impressively at 36th. It was one of only two offices from the MullenLowe network that made it to the top 100 on the Global Effie Index this year, with MullenLowe United States coming in at 86th position. The APAC and Global rankings are hugely significant for Sri Lanka as much as it is for MullenLowe. 

MullenLowe Sri Lanka was adjudged ‘Most Effective Agency of the Year’ for two consecutive years at the Effie Awards Sri Lanka. The agency also won the Gold award in the Creative Agency of the Year – Rest of South Asia Category for the second year running at the Campaign South Asia Agency of the Year Awards in 2019. It is accolades such as this that have helped pave the way for MullenLowe to be recognised among the leading agencies in the region which is attracting talent from across the region to work in its Sri Lanka office.

“We strive for a culture of effectiveness throughout the MullenLowe Group and are proud of our strong showing in Sri Lanka,” said MullenLowe Group Global CEO Alex Leikikh. “Our network’s strong Effie Index performance throughout the world is directly tied to delivering results for our clients and their brands.”

Commenting on MullenLowe Sri Lanka’s continued dominance, MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Thayalan Bartlett stated, “This recognition is timely and hugely uplifting at a grim time for businesses all over the world. It energises us to fight harder and to recover faster from the last three months. As a resilient and highly skilled team that performs best in turbulent conditions for our clients, country and ourselves, we are even more resolute with this recognition to do better this year. We will!”

Released by Effie Worldwide, the Effie Index, published at www.effieindex.com, is considered to be the most comprehensive global ranking for marketing effectiveness. Now in its 10th year, the Index identifies and ranks the most effective agencies, marketers and brands by analysing finalist and winner data from more than 50 national and regional Effie Award competitions. The 2020 rankings reflect a compilation of over 4,000 worldwide Effie winners and finalists announced between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019.

Known world over for its effectiveness, the MullenLowe Group is a creatively driven integrated marketing communications network which offers everything from brand consultancy, communications planning and through-the-line advertising to customer engagement, digital and PR to social mission development, brand storytelling, thought leadership, influencer engagement and organisational change.

Established as LDB Lintas in 1993, and thereafter referred to as Lowe LDB, the agency comes from a powerful creative lineage. It came to be known as MullenLowe as a result of a merger with US-based network Mullen in 2015. A majority of MullenLowe’s business comes from global FMCG giant Unilever. In addition, it works with some of the country’s leading brands in carbonated soft drinks, banking and finance, insurance, biscuits, milk foods, sanitary napkins, foods, FinTech, personal and beauty care products, mobile communications, data and consumer electronics. 

The company possesses vast cross-category knowledge which gives it an edge when it comes to effective work. The company continues to dominate the top 10 most advertised categories by 80% and the top 20 most advertised categories by 50%, making it by far, the most influential brand communications company in Sri Lanka.