BBDO Lanka named ‘Agency of the Year’ at Effie Awards debut

Wednesday, 4 March 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The BBDO Lanka team with their Agency of the Year award BBDO Lanka tied for Agency of the Year at the Effie Awards that were held on Friday 27 February at the Water’s Edge. It also took home a Silver in the Products and Services category for Anchor Newdale and a finalist medal for CEAT Sri Lanka in the Automotive category. BBDO Lanka was nominated for all three of its entries – Anchor (food and beverage – nonalcoholic), Anchor Newdale (snacks and desserts) and CEAT Sri Lanka (automotive) – at its debut entry at the Effie Awards Sri Lanka. BBDO Lanka MD Santosh Menon said: “This is the first time that we entered the Effie Awards in Sri Lanka and we were extremely delighted to have been recognised as Agency of the Year. We were elated when we found out that we had been nominated for all three of our entries, and now we’ve been recognised with a finalist medal, a Silver award and the biggest award of the night.” He added: “The Effies award ideas that work, the great ideas that achieve real results and the strategy that goes into creating them. So, we are proud to have been recognised for our insightful strategy, outstanding creative, market results and of course hard work over the past year.” “Of course, this is a marketing effectiveness award and therefore a lot of credit goes to the marketing teams at Fonterra Brands Lanka and CEAT Sri Lanka. They and the contributing agencies played a crucial role in the evolution and execution of the ideas. For us both the awards and the medal are significant. On Anchor Newdale, we focused on developing a campaign that illustrated the strengths of the brand and the team while at the same time creating stronger consumer loyalty. As for CEAT Sri Lanka we feel proud to be able to change the image of a very strong brand in Sri Lanka and make it even stronger,” Menon continued. “Of course many congratulations to the other agency and brand winners at Effies 2014. Given that only 8% of the entries this year were awarded metal, each and every other winner deserves plaudits and congratulations,” he said further. The Silver award winning entry, for Anchor Newdale, details how BBDO Lanka helped Fonterra Brands Lanka Ltd. create an education program to communicate the brand’s high nutritional quality and that it is made from locally sourced milk – from 4,000 Sri Lankan dairy farmers. The big idea – Kiri Charika – educated consumers by bringing the production process to life and letting them experience it firsthand.

The BBDO Lanka team behind the award winning work The finalist medal award winning nomination described BBDO Lanka’s brand building exercise for CEAT radial tyres with its pioneering ‘Where Have You Been Lately?’ campaign. The campaign transformed CEAT from being perceived as merely for trucks and buses to an aspirational brand used by the higher end car and SUV owner. The nomination for the ‘I Believe in Anchor’ campaign for Anchor milk powder detailed how BBDO Lanka addressed the serious communications challenges that faced the Anchor brand in 2013. BBDO Lanka’s insightful strategy, in the midst of a ban on advertising, included perhaps one of the largest word of mouth campaigns ever, reaching up to 500,000 people first hand. “This proves once again that creative work is effective work, as has been proven over and over again across the world,” said Ranil Nalawansa, Creative Director of BBDO Lanka of their creative and effective, award-winning work.