Grey Colombo wins Global Effie award

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The award is a tremendous achievement for the industry as well as for the country. This will boost the industry capabilities and would enhance the opportunities. It is a prestige and will encourage us to be more creative in the future, President Local Effies Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing Saliya Weerasekera said.

Grey Colombo created history by becoming the first agency in Asia to win a global effie, the world's most prestigious award for effective marketing. The "Garments without Guilt" campaign became the country's most awarded campaign internationally.

The Global Effie award honour marketing campaigns that have proven effectiveness and creativity with all submissions goes through two rigourous rounds of judging. The final round was judged by over 15 global marketing leaders.

The award marks a major milestone in Sri Lanka's marketing and advertising history and we are proud to be ahead of other Asian counterparts by winning this award, he said. The award is considered the Oscar in advertising and marketing. This shows that we are capable of competing with global giants and also capable of producing winners, he said.

"We take this opportunity to enhance the quality of our work and also aim at more international awards. This will promote the industry in paving the way for more international recognition", he said.

Grey Colombo developed "Garments without Guilt" as a people-based movement using digital and new age marketing techniques, to increase awareness as well as preference for Sri Lanka's apparel industry.

Through the promotion of its "Ethical and Manufacturing and Sourcing" positioning to top fashion and retail apparel brands, the campaign leveraged local communities in more than 10 countries and attracted global attention with web-based PR programs. These includes blogs, online newsgroups, news distribution networks and social networking websites.