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The Festival and Awards will not take place in 2020

3 April 2020 - Cannes Lions announces today that the annual Festival of Creativity will not take place in October as previously planned. The next edition of the Festival will run June 21-25, 2021.

As the impact from COVID-19 continues to be felt across the world on consumers and our customers across the marketing, creative and media industries, it has become clear to us our customers’ priorities have shifted to the need to protect people, to serve consumers with essential items and to focus on preserving companies, society and economies.

Our difficult decision follows in-depth consultations with our partners and customers and reflects the unprecedented societal, health and economic challenges currently facing the world, as well as our desire to remove any uncertainty about the running of the awards and event for our partners and customers.

Philip Thomas, Chairman, Cannes Lions, commented: “Cannes Lions at its core has always been about creativity and the Lions. We realise that the creative community has other challenges to face, and simply isn’t in a position to put forward the work that will set the benchmark. The marketing and creative industries, in common with so many others, are currently in turmoil, and it’s clear that we can play our small part by removing all speculation about the Festival this year. We have tried to make our decisions as early as possible to give the industry total clarity on the situation, and that is why we are announcing this move today.”

Simon Cook, Managing Director, Cannes Lions, added: “We all look ahead to a more positive time – right now, Cannes Lions will continue to bring the global creative community together and provide inspiration where we can find it. Our recent call for inspirational creative stories from around the world has already garnered hundreds of accounts of our community uniting and showing progress in this crisis. We believe firmly that the Lions continue to offer valuable recognition to that community and we look forward to celebrating and honouring the work in 2021, when the world will hopefully feel more stable, and our community can give their work the focus it deserves.”

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Festival and Lions awards considering move to contingency dates in October

Cannes Lions announces today that the annual Festival of Creativity will not take place in June as previous planned. We are now engaging our contingency plans for the previous published October dates.

The decision comes following much deliberation with our partners and customers, as well as, consultation with public health officials, the mayoral office of Cannes and the French Authorities. We acknowledge the challenging circumstances facing us all as a community - we have and continue to be in deep consultation with many of our customers and partners as we adopt our contingency plans. The health, safety and wellbeing of our customers, employees, sponsors and partners remains our first priority.

Cannes Lions will continue to monitor the rapidly changing developments associated with the Coronavirus outbreak. Although we have sound mitigation plans, we shall continue to monitor this situation carefully and continue to engage closely with our customers, as we start to work in collaboration to ensure we can recognize the world’s best creativity in 2020.

Philip Thomas, Chairman, Cannes Lions, commented: “The global situation is dynamic and changing rapidly, we felt it was critical to provide visibility on June as soon as possible. We will continue to liaise closely with our customers as we develop our plans.”

Simon Cook, Managing Director, Cannes Lions, added: “Our community is facing unprecedented challenges and collaboration has never been more important. We are focussed now on planning the festival – and our beating heart, the Lions – to ensure our community is able to recognise the extraordinary work it contributes to business, organisations and society.”

Leo Burnett wins first ever Cannes Lion Metal for Sri Lanka at the world’s most prestigious adverting festival.

Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. created history by being the first ever Sri Lankan agency to be recognised at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity by winning metal in the Best Consumer Engagement category for work done for the Mawbima newspaper, with the agency’s paper flag concept.

Ranil De Silva, Managing Director, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. commenting on the win at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity stated, “We at Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., are overwhelmed with the acknowledgement that the national flag concept received at the world’s most recognised festival of creativity, this is the first time that a Sri Lankan agency has been recognised at the Cannes Lions. We consider it a great honour that has been bestowed upon Sri Lanka’s ad industry; Leo Burnett Colombo is honoured to bring creative recognition to Sri Lanka.’’

This success was repeated in 2013 with Leo Burnett

winning yet another bronze for Wijeya Newspaper’s Ada newspaper in the Media Lions category once again in partnership with Starcom, Sri Lanka.

The ‘Unity Paper’, an idea conceptualized by Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. was recognised at the prestigious 60th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity by winning metal in the Media Lions Category for the ‘Best Use of Print’. The agency was also named as a finalist in the Design Lions Category for Advertising Typography for the agency’s Unity Paper concept.

Commenting on the initiative Managing Director, LBSI, Ranil de Silva stated: ‘‘Sharing our heart and minds goes beyond cultural and ethnic differences, we truly are a multi-cultural ethnic nation and that is why creating unity and preserving it is so important. It is one of the most fundamental functions of us being Sri Lankan. We hope that the ‘Unity Paper’ does just that and this will be the start of more similar initiatives.’’

The ‘Unity Paper’ was produced to remind Sri Lankans on the importance of national unity and integration in a country such as Sri Lanka with its multiracial population. The Unity Paper aimed to unite groups within the country from different backgrounds into one entity which is bound by common norms, values and interests, which is being Sri Lankan, creating a sense of belonging between people themselves.

The Unity Paper, created hype through a social media campaign with letters of the alphabet driving each message. Each letter of the alphabet was replicated in Sinhala and Tamil, mirroring each other as a symbol of unity, recognizing that despite the differences in language and religion, unity is the state of many acting as one. The campaign engaged 15% of facebook users in Sri Lanka within the first five days of its launch.

Sri Lankan music icon’s Bathiya and Santhush further stated: ‘‘Great Idea! As artists who use multi lingual lyrics as a medium of communication in our songs, we find this a noteworthy effort. We wish this initiative every success and hope it is a start of similar inclusive efforts in the future.’’

The Cannes Lions is the world’s most prestigious and largest advertising festival celebrating 60 years of inspiring creativity this year, the festival hosts over 11,000 delegates from over 92 countries from the creative community all gathered in one place to celebrate creativity. The’ Unity Paper’ initiative was created by Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., the leading creative communications company in Sri Lanka in partnership with Starcom Colombo an internationally renowned media independent.

Anusha Wijeyaratne
Senior Creative Director

ince 2005 Sri Lanka has had a consistent and growing presence at the festival. Industry leaders as well as aspiring young professionals have had the opportunity to attend the Cannes Lions International festival of creativity. This is what they had to say about their experience:

Cannes: A Pilgrim’s Tale

It was my father who encouraged me to become a copywriter. So, to be standing on the steps of the Palais des Festivals on his fifth death anniversary, was bitter-sweet. My pilgrimage to Cannes was as much for him, as it was for me. I call it a pilgrimage because for any red-blooded advertising person, the Lions is a chance to pay homage to that sacred, powerful, awe-inspiring phenomenon; the Big Idea.

The happy band of pilgrims from Sri Lanka numbered five. All Cannes virgins. Cannes virgins (and the Japanese delegates) are easy to spot. They’re the ones sitting in the front row of every seminar, every screening, and every judges’ de-brief, while the Cannes studs nonchalantly sun themselves on the Carlton Terrace, sipping Kir Royales. (On agency account, of course.)

But it didn’t take long for the Lankans to get with the programme. Soon, we were rubbing shoulders with the big boys (Pandey, Davis, Droga) down at The Gutter Bar. Networking at all the best parties, on all the best yachts. Hell, Sri Lanka even made the Radio shortlist. Bébé, by the end of those seven days, we were swinging.

I wasn’t going home with a Lion. I hadn’t even entered. But as I watched the reflection of the closing fireworks over the French Riviera, I thought, this is my Grand Prix, Peace, Dad.

The snails I ate, the lions I envied and the many litres of rose I downed, made it truly a once in a life time experience. It was more depressing than inspiring for me to see some of the amazingly crafted work on display. And now with celebrities such as Melanie Brown, Nick Cannon, Jack Black and Lou Reed to name a few taking the Cannes stage, it has truly become the Academy Awards or the Grammies of the advertising industry.

Charith de Silva
Creative Director, Triad

2012 Young Lions – Ashan & Dushan

‘Feelings over Ideas’, friendships built over croissants, over hot chocolate, and on the way to a kebab shop with a Ghanian immigrant, foggy lights on the Riviera, sterile TGV rides with most disciplined dogs ( the quiet was great for Bible study for me), a shivering trip up a creaking Eiffel tower (Dushan is fitter than he looks), a man selling locks on the Seine whose long-lost son has eloped with a Sri Lankan (Sewandi I think she was called, but not sure), Adventures with Charith, Hiruni, Suchi, Asela and Lakshita (Charith cooks, Lakshitha is a patriot), the world’s smallest elevator (it stands three people perhaps), the A380, sunlight till 10 pm, Coke cheaper than water (the slanted glasses are exquisite), the boring award shows (good work- too much fluff), discussions where frankness makes refreshing guest appearances, nasty little pranks by old bosses.

We are grateful to each one of you who was with us on our little adventure, and everyone of you who put in the effort towards making it possible. Particularly in this context, Metal Factor and Swarna. We love you more than we do the show!.

2011 Young Lions SL TV Winners – Gayan & Sandun

Being at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity would probably be the highlight of my career in advertising. It’s THE PLACE to be if you are an advertising professional because it’s without a doubt the “OSCARS” in advertising. Listening to the top professionals in advertising and marketing, taking part in the Young Lions competition with 80 of the best youngsters in the world and just staying at one of the most scenic places in the world was an experience of a lifetime.

Obviously this dream became a reality thanks to the efforts of the IAA Sri Lanka Chapter and the Metal Factor. I take this opportunity to thank both these parties for making this dream come true.

Gayan Perera – Senior Account Executive

I had the privilege to attend and participate at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity as a member of the team from Sri Lanka at the Young Lions Competition. For an advertising professional who is committed to the industry experiencing the Cannes International Festival of Creativity is an absolute dream come true. To be amongst the top creative minds in the industry not to mention the creative geniuses from a variety of other fields was mind boggling & overwhelming to say the least. It was also an honour to represent Sri Lanka at the Young Lions Film competition along with Gayan where we competed with young creative talent from over 38 countries. I must thank Metal Factor for this amazing opportunity they gift to young professionals in the advertising fraternity in Sri Lanka to broaden their horizons and to enhance their capacities.

Sandun Kankanamge – Senior Copywriter

2010 Young Lions SL TV Winners – Udara & Dishan

“Connections, made easy” was the Theme for the Cannes Lions 2010. Though true to its theme, the Festival was not just a hub for networking and celebration, but most importantly it served as a cradle for Inspiration. The Master classes, Seminars, Exhibitions, the Young Lions Film Competition, Awards Ceremonies, Galas and the Opportunity to meet in person industry icons from around the world are definitely moments I will treasure for the rest of my life.

All in all, life hasn’t been the same since Cannes.

This Dream came true thanks to the efforts of the IAA Sri Lanka Chapter and Metal Factor. I wish to take this opportunity to thank both entities for all efforts taken.

Udara Withana – Account Executive
Dishan Coilparampil Senior Account Executive

2009 Young Lions Sri Lanka TV Winners – Firzan & Lali

Well if you have been in the ad industry long enough you know that every ad person’s dream is to claim stake to a Golden Lion from Cannes, Well if not that the next best thing is to visit the festival that dishes out these pieces of metal, which upon receiving turns mere mortals into legends.

Well imagine the emotions and sentiments of a young ad professional from Sri Lanka getting an opportunity to experience this mecca of advertising. We were truly lucky to witness this for ourselves.

When Lali and I joined the local competition it was purely for the “kick” of it. Nobody was expecting us to win as we did not belong to the traditional “creative” department in the agency, every other team had people from the creative department competing. We had fun and before we could enjoy the glories of scripting, art directing, casting, directing and editing our very own commercial we had won a trip to Cannes!!! And as if going to Cannes wasn’t a good enough reward, we got a chance to represent the country in a global competition.

It was a truly rewarding experience seeing ad legends walking the corridors, awe struck while legends peed in urinals next to you in public toilets!! Listening to them and hearing firsthand how they changed the way the world thinks feels and acts. We were truly excited every day of the event.

The competition was tough and the challenge kept us up every night, working late trying to do the best we could to make another winning commercial. (Well luck was not on our side at the global competition, Mexico made a brilliant commercial that was a truly deserving winner).

It was France it was Cannes and it was a ball!! I am sure we were envied by the older folk in the Sri Lankan ad scene, they sure didn’t have the opportunities we had, they never got the exposure we got, We should be truly grateful to the people who conceptualized and executed these activities in Sri Lanka. The vision they have for the industry would truly bear fruit with the future generation of ad professionals in Sri Lanka.

Thank you Ranil and Metal Factor for organizing such an event. Thank you for giving us this once in a lifetime opportunity, Thank you for helping us realize our true potential. That trip to Cannes truly did change our careers and lives forever.

Firzan Mulafer – Brand Manager
Lalindra Amarasekera – Event & Activation Executive

The highly-feted Young Lions Competition, which takes place annually at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France, every June, will have the best of Sri Lankan creative talent participating at the international competition this year as well. 11 talented young professionals from Sri Lanka’s marketing communications industry have been selected to compete at fiercely contested competition. They were selected via a rigorous local competition conducted by the IAA Sri Lanka Chapter under the auspices of Metal Factor, The Sri Lanka Representative for the Cannes Lions festival.

A total of 31 teams took part in the local competition which involved an extensive evaluation process. This year’s winners in the Media category are Sanoj Fernando and Pavithra Sandaruwani from Ogilvy Media. The PR category was won by Kaishika Rodrigo and Aneeka Seneviratne from Leo Burnett Sri Lanka. Nonim Yasith Dayaratne and Tharushi Sarathchandra of Geometry Global were selected as the winners in the Print category. Dawveed Senaratne and Lakshitha Priyankara from Triad will compete in the TV category. This year’s Young Marketer’s Competition was won by Ashane Ranabahu and Tharusha Hettiarachchi of Fonterra Brands Lanka. Dinidu Seneviratne from the University of Moratuwa was selected to attend the Roger Hatchuel Academy. The Sri Lankan competition has the full participation of the local industry with leading advertising professionals, serving on the jury panel.

Commenting on the Cannes Lions festival and the Sri Lankan Young Lions contingent heading for the festival to France, Ranil de Silva, Founder of Metal Factor said: "I am confident that we have talented teams representing Sri Lanka at the Young Lions competition this year. Metal Factors and IAA are proud to facilitate the local competition and to provide the necessary impetus for young talent in Sri Lanka to have the opportunity to hone their skills. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the world's most prestigious advertising festival. The experience gained by our young professionals will enable them to pursue world class creativity. The IAA and Metal Factor are committed to help nurture and groom the industry's young talent to elevate our industry."

After a briefing, the competing teams need to produce a stand-out, captivating and unique campaign be it print, PR etc. The idea that leaps out and captures an audience, motivating and moving them towards the cause will be judged by a representative international jury before the winners are awarded at the festival – This award is a dream of every young advertising professional!

Excited about this year’s competition, Laila Gunasekera – President, IAA stated, “It is that time of the year, when Sri Lanka’s shining creative talent will make their presence felt on a global stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This competition has inspired the youth in our industry to think outside the box and to seek break through ideas. The local competition itself provides high benchmarks for judging which prepares the selected winners to face some of the best talent from around the world.”

The winners will be travelling to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France to compete against other global competitors at the respective Young Lions competitions. Popularly known as the “Olympics of the advertising world”, the Young Lions Competitions and the Cannes Lions International Festival of creativity, attract the best of the best young talent from all corners of the globe. This is a unique opportunity for the young competitors to showcase their creativity in front of their peers and industry leaders; to be noticed and identified as future leaders in the industry. Seven Competitions are held at the competition in Cannes, with an abundance of global young talent aiming for the Gold. The Young Lions competition in Cannes is open to professionals who are 30 or under and it is designed to inspire and uncover talent for the future of the industry

A team of 13 young Sri Lankans from the local marketing communications industry have been selected to represent the country at the numerous programmes designed to develop the youth in our industry which is said to take place this June at the Cannes Lions international festival of creativity in Cannes, France. This year marks the 10th year that Sri Lanka has had an active partnership with the Cannes Lions under the auspices of Metal Factor in Sri Lanka.

Six teams emerged victories at the local Young Lions competition, which had an excess of 74 participants, and was organized by Metal Factor in collaboration with the International Advertising Association (IAA), the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM). The winning local teams will now prepare to compete against the best teams in the world at the Cannes Lions competition in their respective categories. Hailed as the “Olympics of the advertising industry”, the Cannes Lions competitions attract the industry’s top talent, who will come together to compete on a global stage.

The Sri Lankan teams will go on to compete in Cyber, Design, Media, Print, Film and Young Marketers categories of the Young Lions Competitions at Cannes. After a rigorous judging and evaluation process at the local competitions, Udara Dharmasena and Havishmi Sivananthan from Neo Ogilvy won the title in the Cyber category, Amrit Paulraj and Falul Hallaj from Leo Burnett Sri Lanka secured the top spot in the Design category, whilst Achala Ramanayeka and Kumarini Rajakaruna from Dentsu Grant won in the placement in the Media category. Jayana Silva and Aysha Musthafa from Leo Burnett Sri Lanka were chosen to be contenders in the Print category and Kaushalya Kathireson and Sahil Gunesekera from Shift Integrated won the title in the Film category. In the Young Marketer competition conducted in partnership with the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, Umeshinie Kurukulasuriya and Ashani Ratnayake from Nestle Lanka won the Young Marketers competition. This year an under graduate from the University of Moratuwa Samangi Wadinambi Arachchi was selected from students from across section of tertiary institutes attended the Roger Hatchuel Academy.

Commenting on this year’s competition, Ranil de Silva – the Sri Lankan Representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity stated: “This year, we celebrate 10 years of adding immense value to the Sri Lankan marketing communications industry. We will have a wide cross section of representation at the festival this year which will definitely enhance the depth and breadth of our professionals in the industry. I have been advised by the juries that the performance by each team was very impressive and the titles were hard fought. I am extremely proud of these thirteen young professionals who will now represent their companies and our country at the 64th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Since 2008, Metal Factor has provided opportunities for nearly 100 young professionals to gain international exposure at some of the world’s most renowned advertising festivals. These Sri Lankan professionals will carry the flag for Sri Lanka when they compete against the best young professionals in the world. I do hope they will bring home a Lion. They will also have an opportunity to learn, network, expand their horizons and gain valuable new insights from the greatest and biggest festival of advertising. At the Cannes Lions festival industry leaders and movers and shakers from creative industries who are redefining the global communications landscape will be sharing their perspectives. The experience will certainly have a remarkable impact on the professional growth of our young professionals.

The Sri Lankan level of the competition also brought together top leaders from the advertising fraternity, who reviewed and judged the work that was submitted by each of the competing teams. The young Lion competition were chaired by Laila Gunasekera – Martenstyn – Vice President, Dentsu Grant, Sri Lanka, Surani Perera – Manager Brand Planning, Leo Burnett, Sri Lanka lead the Roger Hatchuel academy selection process and Sean Pompeus – Director Client Service, Mullen Lowe Sri Lanka chaired the young Marketer competition in Sri Lanka.

Founded in 1954, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is an eight-day programme that focuses on creative inspiration, celebration, education and networking. Over 15,000 delegates from around 100 countries attend the festival, making it the only truly global meeting-place for communications professionals to connect, share and discover the latest advancements, trends and innovations in the industry. The most coveted creative accolades, The Lions, are also judged and presented at the festival. Over 40,000 submissions in 23 categories are rigorously reviewed by respected industry professionals before the highly coveted awards are presented.

Metal Factor is established by a renowned advertising professional Ranil de Silva which he spearheads as a CSR initiative for an industry which has rewarded him immensely. Metal Factor represents in Sri Lanka some of the world’s most respected festivals. Metal Factor via these festivals provides young professionals with the opportunity to gain immense experience by participating in the various competitions. Metal Factor is committed to uplifting the standards of the marketing communications industry in Sri Lanka and is dedicated to help Sri Lanka’s Ad industry to gain global acclaim

Nine young marketing communications professionals from Sri Lanka have been selected to represent the country at the Young Lions Competitions and the Roger Hatchuel Academy, which are part of the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

These young professionals were selected to represent Sri Lanka at a local competition which had in excess of 60 participants. These programmes are organized by Metal Factor in partnership with the national industry bodies the International Advertising Association (IAA), the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM).

The local winners will now compete against the best teams in the world in their respective categories at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France later this month. The Young Lions competition is the equivalent of the Olympics in advertising.

The nine Sri Lankan Young Lions will compete in the Cyber, Media, Film and Young Marketer categories. Metal Factor which is headed by leading advertising personality Ranil de Silva serves as the Sri Lanka representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

This year the competition was conducted for the ninth consecutive year and continues to attract the very best industry talent from the leading agencies in the country as well as the marketing fraternity and institutions specializing in marketing communications and corporates. Ryan Rebeira and Sameera Ratnayake of Shift Solutions emerged as the winners in the Cyber category, Wasim Akram of Arc Sri Lanka and Anfaz Amanulla from Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. won the top spot in the Media category and Hibshi Moulana and Kavinda Welegedera from Sarva secured first place in the Film category. Abitha Pathmanathan and Aaqib Reyal from Unilever went on to win the Young Marketers Competition whilst the Academy of Design’s student Malika Jinadasa secured his place to attend the renowned Roger Hatchuel Academy.

Ranil de Silva, the Sri Lankan Representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity said, “I am extremely proud of these nine exceptional young professionals who have been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the 63rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It is my fervent hope that these teams will excel at the Young Lions competitions in Cannes and bring recognition to Sri Lanka. I am very happy to have been associated with the world’s most respected advertising festival for the last9 years.

Since 2008, via Metal Factor we have provided opportunities for 57 young professionals to participate at the Cannes Lions and to gain invaluable leaning and experience.”

“These 9 professionals will have a once in a life time opportunity to learn and to network. They will be able to learn from the global industry’s biggest names. I would like to wish each of the winning teams, all the very best as they embark on this incredible learning experience which will undoubtedly have a significant impact on their professional growth,” he said.

Someone once asked me to “describe Cannes in one word”. I said “cannot”.

Its true. Cannes is the personification of “you get what you give”. Actually, you get more. The venue is a hive of activity, creativity, levity and learning. Everyone’s there,from newbie hot shots to global heavy weights, from Oscar winners to Box Office Giants, from Indie Directors to Creative visionaries. The sessions are usually jam-packed. So here’s a tip, if the Lower Auditorium is full, then head up to the ‘nose-bleeds’ and once the lights go off, make your way down the stairs. If you don’t mind sitting on a step, you’ll be right near the stage where some of your heroes will be engaged in a casual chat on the subject of what it takes to change the world. All this and then of course there’s Cannes itself, a bustling festival port city on the French Riviera, with gorgeous weather, beautiful people, charming cafes, great food and, did I mention it’s on the French-freakin-Riviera! And, the parties. Yes, the parties. Where ever you start the night though, the Gutter Bar’s where you’ll end up from 1am onwards. It’s the social epicenter of the Festival. The place where doe-eyed awards aspirants and Gold Lion-wielding superstars converge till the wee hours of the morning… Cannes is a singular experience that should be earned and enjoyed and I’m grateful to Metal Factor for the amazing opportunity. For some, Cannes is the culmination of a journey. For others, it’s just the start. Either way, it’s a trip.

Nine young outstanding marketing communications professionals from Sri Lanka’s advertising and marketing fraternity have been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the annual Young Lions Competitions and the Roger Hatchuel Academy in Cannes, France in June 2014. The local competition to select the contenders was organised by Metal Factor the Sri Lankan representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, in partnership with the International Advertising Association (IAA), the Association Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing.

The Sri Lankan Young Lions will compete against teams from around the world at the Young Lions Competitions in the categories of Film, Print and Design. This year, a total of 48 young professionals participated in the competition. The winning duo in the Film category was JWT’s Dinesh Maheswaran and Amanda Aluvihare. In the Print category, Nigel V. Nugawela and Dushan Romesh Pieris of Phoenix Ogilvy took the title. Leo Burnett’s Sithum Walter and Shayani Obeysekara won the Design category. The jury for these three competitions comprised of Firzan Mulafer of Publicis Solutions, Varuni Fernando of Triad, Suminda Gamage of JWT, Bickramjeet Gosh of Phoenix Ogilvy and Rushain Rodrigo of Grant McCann.

In the Film competition the contestants were required to create a TV commercial to draw attention to the prevailing water crisis in Sri Lanka. The participants were requested to develop a campaign to educate the public about the wastage of water and encourage them to use it wisely. The participants of the Print category were provided with a unique challenge from a fictional not for profit organization ‘The One Project’. The challenge was based on the recent racial tensions between different communities in Sri Lanka. Participants had to develop print executions to help educate people and ease the tension amongst the communities, thereby promoting the message of ‘The One Project’. For the newly introduced Design category, participants were requested to design a logo and collateral material including a letterhead, envelope and visiting card for Metal Factor. The logo then needed to be rationalized using no more than one hundred words. Metal Factor is a non-profit partnership created to support the Sri Lankan advertising industry and has been responsible for many programmes that have benefited the industry.

The ABC Radio Network supported the nomination of the student to the Roger Hatchuel Academy as ABC remains dedicated to supporting the growth and development of young talent in Sri Lanka and is also a committed partner of the marketing communications industry in the country. With leading media outlets both in TV and radio, ABC is a mover and shaker in the electronic media environment. Natasha Fernando of Academy of Design was adjudged the winner of the local competition from amongst five contestants. A jury comprising Subhash Pinnapola of TBWA TAL, Chrishantha.

This is the third consecutive year in which the Young Marketer Competition has been held. This competition gives young professionals in the marketing fraternity an opportunity to gain from the world’s most prestigious marketing communications event. The Young Marketer Competition attracted several teams from various marketing companies in Sri Lanka. The competition was conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing. This competition was coordinated by Sanjana Seneviratne of SLIM. Munazza Rafeek and Vidhushi Rambukwella of Unilever emerged as Sri Lanka’s Young Marketers who will now travel to the Cannes Lions Festival to compete in the global contest. This year the competition saw an enhanced interest from the marketing fraternity. A jury comprising of Gamika De Silva of Etisalat, Leroy Ebert of Logiwiz Ltd. Sharon Jayasundera of Bates Strategic Alliance Sri Lanka and Murtaza Tajbhoy of Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. selected these two Young Marketers of Unilever to represent Sri Lanka at the Young Marketer Competition in Cannes, where Sri Lanka won the Gold last year. SLIM has also generously sponsored the competition and is meeting part of the costs for these two Young Marketers to represent Sri Lanka.

Commenting on the programme, Kalana Ratnayake, President of SLIM stated, “It is a great honour to be associated with a programme such as the Cannes Lions which provides a tremendous opportunity for young marketers to gain exposure, experience and access to the global industry. This event is an opportunity for our young talent to become world class. It will enable them to learn from the communications greats from around the world.”

Commenting on this year’s competition, Ranil de Silva, Sri Lanka’s representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity stated, “I am proud to be standing here today as nine of our very own young talent have been selected to attend the 61st Cannes Lions Festival this year. It is a great pleasure to see such enthusiasm from the industry. This year we are proud to have the largest number of entries competing at the festival as well as the biggest delegation representing Sri Lanka at Cannes this year.”

In 2012 Sri Lanka made its mark with Leo Burnett winning Sri Lanka’s first ever Lion, for its innovative idea the paper flag for the “Mawbima” newspaper. This Bronze Lion was in the Best use of Media category and earned credit for Starcom, Sri Lanka as well for this innovative media idea.

If you watched Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris and chuckled at how Owen Wilson marveled at meeting Hemingway, Dali & the Fitzgeralds, then you could perhaps transpose the very same chuckle to how I reacted when I ran into a certain Mr. Piyush Pandey & the newly crowned Lion of St. Mark. The latter I saw talking to some other luminaries as I was strolling down the rue Antibes (coincidentally I was walking to the cinema to watch Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris which had opened the Cannes Film Festival a few weeks before). My reaction? I froze. No seriously, I did. I mean, it was Sir John Hegarty. And before you could say Vorsprung Durch Technik an Audi R8 almost ran me over (ok I made that bit up, but I did meet a dude who owns one). Did I talk to the man? Sadly no I was just a bit too awestruck. A week full of the most amazing advertising and wine. Later it was all over and I was walking into the plane, when the most glorious moustache I’ve ever seen (sorry Lorax) fell into stride with me. I introduced myself and he said ‘Win the first one and you won’t be able to stop ‘em coming’. So that then was Cannes. Brushes with Legends, Rides in Supercars and inspiration that leaves you with a hunger that just won’t be sated until you have a Lion to call your own.

Dilshara Jayamanne
Executive Creative Director
Lowe LDB

Seven young outstanding marketing communications professionals from Sri Lanka’s advertising and marketing industries have been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the annual Young Lions Competitions and the Roger Hatchuel Academy in Cannes, France in June 2013. The local competition to select the contenders was organised by Metal Factor the Sri Lanka representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, in partnership with the International Advertising Association (IAA), The Association Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing.

The Sri Lankan Young Lions will compete against teams from around the world at the Young Lions TV, Print and Young Marketer Competitions. This year, once again saw enthusiastic competition from the youth in the advertising industry who vied for titles in the print and TV competitions. A total of 20 teams engaged in the competition. The winning duo in the TV category was Phoenix Ogilvy’s Ashan Bandaranaike and Dushan Peiris. In the print category Shehan Samarasinghe and Suchintha de Silva of Triad took the title.

The jury for these two competitions comprised of Thushari Palipane (LOWE) as Chairman, Eraj Weerasinghe (Leo Burnett), Ransley Burrows (Phoenix O & M), Dilshard Ahmed (Grant Mc Cann) and Johan Latiff (JWT). In the TV competition the contestants were required to create a TV commercial to promote the Galaxy Tab. They shot their commercials using Samsung Phones from its intuitive yet simple galaxy range. Samsung’s commitment to the marketing communications industry and the development of youth prompted them to support the Young Lions competition.

Unilever Sri Lanka under the Lipton Laojee brand sponsored the Young Lions print competition for the fourth consecutive year reaffirming their support to their partnership with the marketing communications industry. They challenged the contestants to bring out the 3 unique features of the Lipton Laojee brand. Unilever is one of Sri Lanka’s longest standing advertisers and invests significantly in marketing communications. Therefore they are committed as a company to the upliftment of the advertising industry in Sri Lanka.

The ABC Radio Network supported the nomination of the student to the Roger Hatchuel Academy as ABC remains dedicated to supporting the growth and development of young talent in Sri Lanka and is also a committed partner to the marketing communications industry in Sri Lanka. With leading media outlets both in TV and radio, ABC is a mover and shaker in the electronic media environment. Leo Burnett’s Induwarani Munasinghe won the placement for the Roger Hatchuel Academy at the Cannes Lions Festival from amongst five contestants. A jury comprising Selonica Nalawansa (Leo Burnett) as Chairman of the panel, Madurim Gupta (Phoenix O & M), Rajeeve Wirasingha (Heensare) and Renuka Marshall (TBWA) selected Induwarani for this opportunity, based on the compelling presentation made by her.

This is the second consecutive year in which the Young Marketer Competition has been held. This competition gives young professionals in the marketing fraternity an opportunity to gain from the world’s most prestigious Marketing Communications event. The Young Marketer Competition attracted several teams from various marketing companies in Sri Lanka. The competition was conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing. This competition was coordinated by Shohan Chandiram of Microsoft and was judged by Michael Holsinger – CEO (Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka), Sheron Jayasundera – Chief Operating Officer (Bates Strategic Alliance), Rochelle de Silva – Director Brands (Hemas Manufacturing (Pvt) Ltd) and M. Makshoodh – Marketing Manager – Home Care & Pureit (Unilever Sri Lanka). Lakshitha Wijesinghe and Hiruni Mendis of Etisalat Lanka (Pvt) Ltd emerged as Sri Lanka’s Young Marketers who would travel to the Cannes Lions Festival to compete in the global contest. SLIM has also generously sponsored the competition and is meeting part of the costs for these two Young Marketers to represent Sri Lanka. Thus demonstrating their commitment to the marketing fraternity and the development of young marketers.

Commenting on the programme President of SLIM Gammika De Silva, stated, “We are very happy to be associated with a programme such as this. The Cannes Lions is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a young marketer as it will give them invaluable exposure and access to the world out there. This experience and learning would fuel our own industry to greater heights.”

“I am delighted that seven young Sri Lankans will be attending the 60th Cannes Lions Festival this year. It is encouraging to see more and more youth in the industry eager to avail themselves of this opportunity. Such enthusiasm augurs well for the development of our own industry in Sri Lanka” stated Ranil de Silva, Sri Lanka’s representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

“My experience at Cannes was a real eye-opener to the level of talent in the global industry and the different perspectives which all come together in creativity. In addition to the competition itself, I had an amazing time in France, getting to see the culture in-depth and up-close. The people, the food, the roads, the balconies and everything you see and hear are so artistic in so many different ways. You have to go there to experience it, because it is like no other.”

Suchintha De Silva
GD – Triad

“Unlike most of the others, getting the opportunity to go to Cannes was met with a greater degree of nervousness as it was also my first flight experience. Needless to say, the first few seconds of going at full throttle and then taking off was more nerve wracking than having to present our work to the judges in Sri Lanka!

Before leaving for Cannes I told myself two things. Number one, ‘I’m going to win.’ Number two, ‘If I don’t win, I will learn as much as I can.’ And since those of you reading this have never heard of me, what I ended up doing was the latter. I attended as many seminars, workshops, master classes and forums as possible. From witnessing the latest technological developments in big screen cinema advertising by SAWA (Screen Advertising World Association) to seeing Jensen Button in the McLaren F1 car do a pitstop change, to even being part of a workshop where a company called MindScapes did a presentation on how they have developed a tool which can predict the likelihood of a certain piece of work winning a gold lion (which had an impressive 88% success rate), the experience was breathtaking and unforgettable.

Not being primarily a creative (as I am in servicing), I gained greater appreciation for creative work and did my best to bring something back that I could share with my colleagues.”

Shehan Samarasinghe
Account Group Head – Triad

Suchintha De Silva
GD – Triad

Shehan Samarasinghe
Account Group Head – Triad

We created a new range of recharge cards. Out of the profit of the card range, we decided to donate 25% to the charity fund. Apart from this we facilitated the customers to donate money from their own mobile account. To trigger the customer for this, we prompt a popup message to the customers, where the customer would be able to transfer money from his account by replying to that message.

Further we wanted to minimize the impact to the business by this project. For this we needed to drive the company revenue higher. For that we decided to have a mechanism where, for each customer who collects the full range of cards, the company will donate Rs. 100 to the fund, on behalf of them. This will drive the sale of the high denomination cards, thus driving the average revenue per user higher.

In designing the card we wanted the agency to put an emotional, yet strong message on the face of the card, which created the appeal for the target group. The card would also carry a QR code, which will lead the customer to a dedicated website which would again facilitate the customer to further donate money.

We decided to target women for this campaign. Because this program is about supporting education of girls. A woman/girl will always understand and empathize with another in a similar manner. Thereby our key message for this campaign was “Empower another you” which focuses on giving the opportunity for Sri Lankan women to come forward to support empowering another female.

In the feedback session, the jury mentioned that they were really impressed with our presentation. They said that it was so emotional that they were tearing. They mentioned the following factors which helped us to win.

• Firstly our proposal made business sense and it was sustainable and practical.
• Secondly they loved our concept, one woman empathizing with another woman.
• Thirdly, they really appreciated our confidence. For every question they asked we answered it with confidence.

We had a wonderful and a very memorable experience at the Cannes festival. We sincerely thank SLIM and Metal factor for conducting this competition and for giving us this opportunity to represent the country at an event of this scale.

We feel really proud and honored to bring pride to our Country. We will help SLIM in every way possible to help and support to groom the future Young Marketers of this country. We need to bring back the Cannes Lions Gold next year as well!

Hiruni Mendis
Asst. Manager – Media & Advertising
Etisalat

Lakshitha Wijesinghe
Product Manager –Enterprise Solutions
Etisalat

Cannes Lions, the 59th International Festival of Creativity, held from June 17-23, 2012 was an amazing and insightful week that added great value to our marketing careers. We were privileged to attend many stimulating seminars featuring not only world famous brands such as Coca Cola, Facebook, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and VISA but also global celebrities such as Bill Clinton and Nadia Comaneci. The Young Marketers competition was an exhilarating experience and it was disappointing to just miss out on being placed in the top three. We would like to thank SLIM, Metal Factor and Aitken Spence for providing us this wonderful opportunity to participate in this year’s festival.

Wishmini Perera – Corporate Communication Executive
Dinal Edirisinghe – Assistant Marketing Manager

Bonjour Cannes!

For people like Shayani and I, Cannes is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Just walking over to the Palais des Festivals was like a journey through the first few pages of Vogue magazine; Prada, Valentino, Jimmy Choo, Burberry, Gucci, along with some extremely good looking people. People in the south of France are really laid back and friendly, with shopkeepers always greeting you with a cheery “bonjour!”

The first day of the Print Competition was nerve-wracking, and I remember being instantly intimidated the second we saw all the other teams. There were 42 in all. The most memorable ones were the overly confident Brazilians, the cynical South Africans, the girls from Hungary who looked like supermodels, the guys from Singapore (one of whom went to college with Shayani), the guys from the UK who were inexplicably always in khaki, the Russian copywriter who eventually fell out with her art director, the guys from Belarus who were sporting enough to wish us luck before the competition, and the guys from the UAE, neither of whom were actually Arab. A rep from Adobe gave us some basic training in CS5 and then we were briefed on a print ad for a charity. We were required to work on CS5, and use images from Getty.

The next day was endless. We were stuck in that little booth at the Palais for nearly 12 hours, our mindsets seesawing from panic to apathy, and then back to panic. The mood in the competition area lightened towards the end as the teams hung around the printing room, waiting for our final pieces. Even though Shayani and I were pleased with our efforts, we didn’t win. Peru swiped the gold with a disarmingly simple ad, though I was more impressed by Colombia’s print innovation, which won them the silver. What surprised me in the end was our own competitive nature. We’d previously never allowed ourselves to think that we could actually win at Cannes, but when we didn’t, we were both unexpectedly disappointed.

To cheer ourselves up, that night we went to our first Cannes party organized by the Dutch Young Creatives. On our way in, one of the guys gave us glowing wristbands and asked us, “Did you guys win?” “No,” we replied morosely. He laughed, and said, “Ah, don’t worry girls. There’s always next year.”

Shayani Obeysekera – Junior Art Director
Samantha Weerawardena – Junior Copywriter