Shalendra Mendis appointed GroupM Sri Lanka’s new Digital Media Director

Shalendra Mendis

In a move to further strengthen the company’s digital media strategies, GroupM, Sri Lanka’s leading media investment management and consolidation agency, has announced the appointmentof Shalendra Mendis as Director of Digital Media.

With many Sri Lankan, regional, and global digital innovations to his name, Shalendra brings to the role a wealth of skills and top-line experience in the field, and will now lead the digital practice of GroupM, providing digital services for the company’s ever-increasing repertoire of esteemed clientele.

Having previously worked in London, and subsequently for a leading ecommerce company, Shalendra joined GroupM in 2015 as the Assistant Manager for Digital Media for the group’s primary agency Mindshare. Shalendra has quickly ascended the career ladder since, and has deployed over 40 of Sri Lanka’s landmark digital media campaigns prior to this new appointment. 

Since his employment at Mindshare, Shalendra has been a part of many regional and global awards, including more than 15 Effie Award winning campaigns for the company.The most prestigious feather to his cap however, is the Gold Award in the ‘Best Use of Digital Media’ category at the Festival of Media Global Awards 2017 held in Rome for the Marmite ‘Spoiler Mite’ – TheGame of Thrones Spoiler Blocker campaign. The award is widely recognised as Sri Lanka’s biggest global accolade to date in digital marketing.

Throughout his stint at the agency, Shalendra has undergone many local and global training programmes – bothinternally, and with global partners such as Google – andhas as a result, been exposed to the latest in digital technologies and offerings.

Shalendra will henceforth be responsible for the designing and implementation of effective strategies, working closely with his carefully selected team of passionate professionals, overseeing that all digital projects align with GroupM’s ongoing digital media plan.

“Shalendra is the perfect candidate for the role of digital lead,” says Sabry Haniz, Chief Operating Officer of GroupMSri Lanka of Shalendra’s appointment. “GroupM is in a leadership position within the digital agency landscape of the country much like it leads in the traditional sphere. After having personally led the delivery of many award-winning campaigns bringing much success to the company, I know that Shalendra’s capabilities and digital acumen will be able to further establish the leadership position of the company in a rapidly evolving digital media market.”

“The digital revolution continues to disrupt and drive the evolution of the modern-day marketing landscape,” says Shalendra commenting on his new position.  “Leading Sri Lanka’s largest digital agency–GroupMin the midst of this is truly an exciting challenge. I look forward to leading my team and delivering only the most innovative digital solutions to our clients, and thereby taking GroupM, as a brand, to even greater heights.”

This appointment is one of many moves across the global GroupM network, marking a bold new direction for the company as it continues to build on its reputation as the flagbearer of excellence in the media industry.

With its primary focus on innovative client collaboration and cross-media partnerships in order to drive engaging, digital-first solutions, GroupM is making marked changes to its structure on a global scale, ensuring that it always stays miles ahead of the digital curve. The brand’s unique, multinational presence strengthens its position in offering unparalleled service to clients.

GroupM’s restructured digital offering will additionally provide a wider scope of services, giving clients an even more competitive advantage. With specialists from across the industry leading each performance pillar within the digital division – namely social, search, mobile, etc., GroupM’s digital services supersedes any other in the Sri Lankan advertising market.