BBDO Lanka receives Silver award at international advertising awards

BBDO Lanka was awarded the coveted ‘Rest of South Asia Creative Agency of the Year 2012 – Silver’ at the Agency of the Year Awards 2012 conducted by Campaign Asia-Pacific magazine. The awards, which recognise excellence in the advertising industry in the Asia-Pacific region, were presented at a gala black-tie event at the St. Regis Hotel in Singapore on 10 December.

Since 1994, the Agency of the Year Awards has recognised both organisations and individuals who have contributed to raising industry standards as well as excelled in business performance. It is the only agency performance awards in the region with results tabulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the past nine years.

In its 19th year of acknowledging the accomplishments of agencies and talented advertising professionals in the regions of Australia/New Zealand, Greater China, Japan/Korea and Southeast Asia, it launched the prestigious awards into the region of South Asia.

The judging panel comprised of senior marketers from key business categories and Campaign Asia-Pacific editors. Entries were open to all media, advertising, creative, digital, PR, independent and specialist agencies from all countries in the Asia-Pacific region – whether big or small. Only work done during the period 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012 was considered.

Campaign Asia-Pacific magazine focuses on analysing industry issues, reporting on trends and delivering expert industry opinions, case studies, plus heavyweight sector and platform reports.

The monthly magazine dives deep into the key issues of the month, uncovering the performance of agencies and individuals, examining topical questions, giving essential career advice plus a 16-page section of industry insight.

BBDO Lanka MD Santosh Menon said, “We are proud to have won this coveted accolade of international significance for our achievements in only our first year of operations. It is very satisfying to note that a neutral international jury has evaluated our achievements against others in the entire Rest of South Asia region and deemed us to be in the top. It reinforces our faith in the decisions we took – to be a ‘force for good’ in Sri Lanka.”

In 2012, BBDO Lanka launched its ‘Force for Good’ initiative by becoming the first carbon neutral advertising agency in South Asia. It also launched Asia’s first ever mechanical air purifying billboard, contributed to the ‘Bikes for Life’ initiative and supported the first ever PGTI golf tournament in Sri Lanka.

“We would like to reiterate our commitment to delivering work of high quality for our clients and ideas of top quality for the community,” Menon continued, adding that BBDO Lanka is the only Sri Lankan agency which has clients in Mauritius.

The Agency of the Year awards was presented in both Singapore and China. The Network of the Year winners will be recognised at a separate event in 2013.