Tasneem Dawoodbhoy announced 2015 Roger Hatchuel Nominee

Tasneem Dawoodbhoy of the CIM was nominated for Roger Hatchuel Academy for 2015.

Natasha Fernando announced 2014 Roger Hatchuel Nominee

Natasha Fernando of the Academy of Design was nominated for Roger Hatchuel Academy for 2014.

ABC Radio Network sponsors Sri Lanka’s Roger Hatchuel Nominee Leo Burnett’s Indu Munasinghe to attend the Academy at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

The ABC Radio Network, the premier media network in the country, has once again sponsored this year’s Sri Lankan nominee for the prestigious Roger Hatchuel Academy, a seven day training programme for students from around the world studying advertising, communications and marketing, to be held in Cannes, France this month. Induwarani Munasinghe of Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI) will be representing Sri Lanka at this year’s Academy, which is held concurrently with the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Rayynor Silva, Chairman, Asia Broadcasting Corporation said, “ABC is committed to developing the abundance of young talent in Sri Lanka. We believe in the marketing communications industry in Sri Lanka and have been a long standing partner to the fraternity. ABC is delighted to be a partner to an initiative such as this where we are providing an opportunity to a young professional in the industry to grow and reach higher. International exposure of this nature is invaluable, and I wish Indu the very best for her journey and her very promising future.”

Students attending the Roger Hatchuel Academy participate in a distinctive programme of dedicated sessions which include guest lectures from industry leaders from around the world. In addition to these exclusive sessions, students also have full access to the Cannes Lions Festival, which offers them further opportunity to absorb and learn about the diverse elements of the global marketi8ng communications industry.

Commenting on Sri Lanka’s nominee for the Academy, Ranil de Silva, Managing Director, LBSI, said, “I am extremely proud of Indu’s achievement and her selection to attend the Roger Hatchuel Academy this year. At Leo Burnett, we believe in constantly fostering and growing the skills and talents of our team. This is yet another opportunity that a young Burnetter has gained, I have no doubt that she will make the most of this unique training opportunity. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Rayynor Silva and the ABC Radio Network for their continued support of the advertising and communications industry.”

The local representative for the Roger Hatchuel Academy is selected through a competition organised by Metal Factor, the Sri Lanka representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. At this year’s competition several contestants presented their campaign ideas in response to the brief on “How to Sell Facebook to Parents.” The jury comprised Selonica Nalawansa of Leo Burnett, Madurim Gupta of Phoenix O & M as well as Rajeeve Wirasingha from Heensare and TBWA’s Renuka Marshall.

Commenting on her achievement, Indu Munasinghe, Brands Executive, LBSI, said, “I am honoured and excited to be representing Sri Lanka at the Roger Hatchuel Academy this year. I am fully aware of the enormity of the opportunity presented to me and will take full advantage of it to learn more about this industry which I have begun to love. I am extremely grateful for the support of the ABC Radio Network, as well as Ranil and the team at LBSI whose encouragement enabled me to secure this success.”

From the day I started my career in advertising, I knew this is where I belong. Since then I’ve developed a great passion for the industry and my biggest goal has been to learn and grow in this industry. When I was selected as Sri Lanka’s representatives to attend the Roger Hatchuel Academy at the 60th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, I knew it was my chance to touch my dreams.

The festival is astounding. The personality of the industry that makes it so innovative, vibrant and creative comes to life through the people there, the material on display and even through the architecture of the city of Cannes. The celebrations of its 60th anniversary made the festival host a bigger audience, showoff a bit more work, judge a bit more intensely and finally party a little harder.

As a student of the Roger Hatchuel Academy, I would say I got the best of it all. We got private screenings of the material, VIP entrance to judging rooms, exclusive seminars by Gurus of the industry and most of all, a once in a life time opportunity to make great friends with a diverse set of students from all around the world. The things I’ve seen, the people I’ve met and the lessons I’ve learnt in those seven days, is so much more than what I could have learnt in a life time. If all the hours and effort put in to the work done in advertising pays off with experiences such as this, I’d say it’s worth it.

The Cannes Lions Festival is the quintessence of the advertising fraternity coming together to celebrate and confer the talented minds of the industry. This is also a great platform to learn and share new technology, mediums and ideas as well as socialise with people in the same industry who come from different cultural backgrounds. It is an imperative experience for anyone who is passionate about advertising and desires to pursue it as a career path.

I was fortunate enough to experience the Cannes Lions Festival 2012 as the Sri Lankan representative to attend the Roger Hatchuel Academy 2012. The Roger Hatchuel Academy is a week-long training programme which is conducted with the participation of more than 25 students from different parts of the world who are currently studying different aspects of advertising. The academy is held under the guidance of the Dean Rick Boyko, Director and Professor at VCU Brandcenter and Course Tutor Clive Challis, Head of the Advertising Course at Central Saint Martins, London. These students also get to participate in seminars held by the advertising gurus of the world while being lucky enough to meet some of them in person in the classroom. Attending a seminar by Bill Clinton, Dick Costolo; CEO of Twitter at the Grand Debussy and meeting Sir John Hegarty of BBH in person are a few of the key highlights of my experience.

The Roger Hatchuel Academy is a pre-eminent advertising experience I’ve had which has granted me much learning and helped me develop myself further as an advertising professional. It aided me in appreciating the scope of the global advertising platform and inspired me towards professional development. The network of friends I have made from all over the world in the advertising fraternity is also a great gift that I truly cherish.

Ever since I remember I have loved advertising and being able to attend the Cannes Lions Festival by winning the Roger Hatchuel Academic placement was like a dream come true. Attending a series of master class seminars and lectures was a true learning experience. During this week I learnt so much and met industry experts from all over the world, experts that you would never think you would meet in your life. The Roger Hatchuel Academy is an experience that I will never forget because it’s also a place where Creative Strangers from different parts of the world became a family.

“What really made the Cannes experience truly amazing was the opportunity of sharing the festival week with 30 students from 32 other counties. We experienced firsthand all the festival seminars, award shows, mind-blowing parties, and got the chance to hear from some of the most influential people in the industry.”

The Roger Hatchuel Academy – The BEST way to experience the Cannes Lions Festival

Living, learning & partying with 34 strangers from around the world sounded unnerving at first. To do this at the hallowed Cannes Lions Festival, ‘The’ biggest advertising festival in the world sounded unbelievable! Never had the excited 23 year old me, thought I’d find so much in common with students from cultures from Portugal, Nigeria, Spain & Dubai. Clive Challis & Rick Boyko guided us through a week packed with absorbing learning at the Palais des Festivals, including discussion sessions with advertising God’s like Piyush Pandey, Neil French, Michael Conrad & Donald Gunn – the list is exhausting! We even got to attend the festival seminars. The most inspirational for me being Kofi Annan’s tik tik tik discussion on climate change & Obama’s campaign manager on how they executed the ‘Change’ campaign. I did all of this with minimum sleep. Karaoking & partying till 3am with my new found roomies guaranteed late nights. Being a student at the academy entitled us invites to all the award ceremonies & VIP parties. My mates and I got our hands on a real Grand Prix award trophy & posed for photographs! All this culminated with a graduation ceremony at the end of the week. It really widened my eyes to the world of advertising, & how communicating through engagement can really change the way people think – in ways unimaginable. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to be exposed to the many possibilities out there, at just the beginning of my career (I’d call it a hobby), The Roger Hatchuel Academy – definitely is the BEST way to experience the Cannes Lions Festival

Roger Hatchuel is an opportunity to be amongst the world’s next generation of industry leaders. Cannes Lions is the world’s largest festival of creativity, but we must realize it’s not the final word on great advertising.