~ MullenLowe Group retains top spot in Effie Index for 8th consecutive time
~ Group also maintains Top 10 Global Network Ranking
~ 5 of its offices Make it to Global Top 100 Agency Offices with MullenLowe Lintas coming in 3rd globally and 1st in the APAC region
~ Only agency to have 2 offices in the Top 10 in North America

MullenLowe Sri Lanka was recognized as the ‘Most Effective Agency of the Year’ at the 2017 Effie Awards held at the Water’s Edge recently. The Sri Lanka office of IPG’s MullenLowe Group emerged as the most awarded agency of the evening, walking away with 3 metals - 2 Silver and 1 Bronze - and 9 Finalist Awards.

MullenLowe Sri Lanka’s Chief Executive Officer, Thayalan Bartlett, accepted the ‘Most Effective Agency of the Year’ award on behalf of the agency from Hon. State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Dr. Harsha de Silva. Commenting on this, Thayalan said, “This recognition is an apt endorsement of the agency’s strategic and creative intent which breaks the impasse of run-of-the-mill work that is mostly done to appease the volatile business environment we operate in. The sharpness of our strategy and the boldness of our ideation come together to further the relevance of our brands by making them engagingly conversational. The awards won and the bestowment of Agency of The Year are a great way to end 2018.”

MullenLowe Sri Lanka bagged 2 Silver Effies – one in the Beauty category for its “Itch” campaign for Clear and the other in the Small Budget category for its “How Else Can I Say This?” campaign for Rexona – and a Bronze Effie in the Packaged Foods category for its “Keells is now Krest” campaign for Krest.

The agency also received 9 Finalist Awards for its “A Nation's Bonds Rekindled” and “Spreading the Fragrance of Purity” campaigns for Sunlight in the Home Supplies & Services category; for “Breaking the Barriers” for Closeup, “How Else Can I Say This?” for Rexona, “Protecting & Preserving the Sri Lankan Smile” for Signal and “Skin by Vaseline” for Vaseline in the Personal Care category; for “Batter Katta” and “Paint Your Tub” for Astra in the Packaged Food category; and for “Protecting & Preserving the Sri Lankan Smile” for Signal in the Renaissance category.

“We are delighted to become the most effective advertising agency in Sri Lanka yet again. Our teams try their hardest to ensure that every brief they work on wins consumers’ hearts and aces marketing objectives for our clients. This work ethic is what has seen some of our most talked about campaigns from last year being recognized in multiple platforms including the Effie Awards in Sri Lanka now,” said Dilshara Jayamanna, Senior Vice President / Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Sri Lanka.

Globally, the MullenLowe Group proudly retained the top spot in the Effie Index as the most effective global network in terms of points per dollar revenue for an eighth consecutive time. The Group also retained its top ten global network ranking and has five offices in the global top 100 agency offices with MullenLowe Lintas coming in third globally and number one in the Asia-Pacific region. And in North America the MullenLowe Group is the only agency to have two offices in the top ten.

A global symbol of achievement with award programs honoring effective marketing communications in 42 countries and 6 regions, the Effie Awards have been held in Sri Lanka in partnership with the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) since 2008.

Established as LDB Lintas in 1993, and thereafter referred to as Lowe LDB, the agency is a vibrant creative legacy. 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, lubricants, foods, FinTech, personal care and beauty products, mobile communications, data and consumer electronics. The company dominates the top 10 most advertised categories by 80% and the top 20 most advertised categories by 50% making it by far, the largest creative agency in the country.

Photo caption: Thayalan Bartlett, Chief Executive Officer, MullenLowe Sri Lanka accepting the ‘Most Effective Agency of the Year’ award from Hon. State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Dr. Harsha de Silva