Lankan advertising industry to be represented at inaugural Mauritian TEDx event

BBDO Lanka MD Santosh Menon is scheduled to speak at the first ever TEDx event to be held in Mauritius. He will be one of the five local and international voices chosen to address the occasion, for having a unique story or an unusual perspective and can convey it in a short and dynamic way. The conference, which has been organised under the theme ‘Going Beyond’, is scheduled to take place on Thursday, 31 January at the Star Cinema, Bagatelle.

TEDx is a non-profit and independently organised event operated under license from TED which is devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. Established as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives.

The annual TED conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, for free, at www.ted.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Julian Assange, Philippe Starck, Peter Gabriel, Richard Branson, Gordon Brown, Bono and Frank Gehry.

Viti Kothari, Curator, TEDxPlainesWilhems, commented: “We are excited about bringing the premiere TEDx event to Mauritius. TEDx is an extraordinary forum for sharing ideas that go beyond sectors, age, gender, education and professional achievements. At the inaugural event five amazing national and international speakers will speak about their one idea worth spreading.

“From using music to fight poverty, to transforming the ordinary into extraordinary, to using technology as an extension of human capability, to making brands purposeful -- going beyond the status quo in all aspects of life and inspiring a generation to believe in themselves and make a difference.”

BBDO Lanka MD Santon Menon counts over two decades of advertising experience across a diverse range of locales and cultures in the countries of India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia – where he was GM at DraftFCB. Over the course of his career, he has handled major brands such as Fonterra, Godrej, Wipro Consumer Care, Seven Seas and Standard Furukawa.

“I am delighted to be given this opportunity to present my views on brands in Mauritius. I am conscious that in a sense, I will be representing the Sri Lankan advertising industry in Mauritius and so, I will be at my best,” he stated. Menon whose address is titled ‘Brand Magic’ will be speaking on brands making a positive difference in the communities they operate in.

“Products meet needs but brands create magic and advertising has been a key tool in brand creation. In today’s world, new and engaging ideas make brands more magical and relevant to consumers. A creative idea can solve a difficult marketing problem, but whilst exciting and engaging people also make a genuine difference in their lives,” he said.

Since August 2011, Menon has been the driving force behind BBDO Lanka, the Sri Lankan affiliate of the BBDO global network, which soon after celebrating its first year of operations in the country, was named ‘Rest of South Asia Creative Agency of the Year 2012’ – Silver by ‘Campaign Asia-Pacific’ magazine.

BBDO Lanka, under the helm of Menon, is uniquely positioned in the advertising industry having launched its ‘Force for Good’ initiative in 2012 by becoming the first carbon neutral advertising agency in South Asia. It also launched Asia’s first ever mechanical air purifying billboard and contributed to the ‘Bikes for Life’ initiative which provides children in the North with bikes and thus a means to get to school and not miss out on an education.

BBDO Lanka is also the only Sri Lankan advertising agency with branch operations in Mauritius and since 2011 has been engaged in doing truly exciting work for Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB). MCB is the oldest and largest banking institution in Mauritius and a true pioneer in its banking sector. BBDO Lanka also does projects for the Edendale Ltd.

d Global Agency of the Year by both Adweek and Campaign magazine and is recognised as the world’s most creative AND effective agency network.  For the past five years, BBDO has been Network of the Year at Cannes as well as the world’s most awarded agency network in The Gunn Report and the number one ranked network across all marketing communication platforms in the Directory Big Won. And Effie Worldwide named BBDO the world’s most Effective Agency Network in its inaugural Effie Effectiveness Index released last year.

BBDO is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE-OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.