Leo Burnett Colombo honoured at the Leo Intel Awards 2011:

The UNICEF 'Campaign on Child Protection'

Leo Burnett Solutions Inc (LBSI), the Sri Lankan office of the internationally acclaimed advertising agency was honoured with the prestigious Leo Intel Award for their 'Campaign on Child Protection' - a campaign created by the agency for a pitch presentation to UNICEF.

The winning presentation for UNICEF was recognized as an inspirational example of the creation of a Human Kind act to focus attention on the need to protect children and their rights. The campaign highlighted the National Child Protection Authorities response mechanism (the telephone number) 1929, but more importantly sought to bring out the issue of the violation of children to the public’s attention. The campaign focused on children to ensure it would have the most impaction behavioral change. It sought to empower children with the knowledge that they could call 1929 to report or seek help if they ever felt that they were in an uncomfortable situation. This simple but very effective approach of understanding ‘People’ and ‘Behaviour’ based on the company’s global philosophy of ‘Human Kind’ helped the agency’s team to uncover valuable insights which led to a compelling communications idea.

Managing Director, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc.,Ranil de Silva stated “A Leo Intel recognition is a very significant accolade as it recognizes our thinking. To receive such an honour from our peers makes the reward even more valuable. This award recognizes our ability to grasp a problem at its core which enables us to create a marketing communications campaign which has been rated to be of a global standard. This honour is a fitting and auspicious start to the New Year!’’

Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. has been awarded two Leo Intel Awards in the past. All of which have been won for pitch presentations made for UNICEF. The first was won for the pitch presentation made for ‘Combating child sex tourism in Sri Lanka’ in 2007.

The other award was gained for the campaign executed by the agency for their campaign “Against the Recruitment of Child Soldiers” in 2008.

A Leo Intel award is exceptionally significant as the company presents only five Leo Intel awards each year.

Submissions by the company’s 94 offices from across the world are evaluated by a panel of senior professionals and five submissions are selected to be honored with a Leo Intel Award.

For Leo Burnett Sri Lanka to be among one of best global offices in the network is a very special achievement for the company.

This insightful and perceptive strategy for the campaign was crafted and led by the brand planning team comprising Murtaza A. Tajbhoy, assisted by Rasanga Weerasinghe, the creative team led by Anusha Wijeyaratne, assisted by Ashan Dias Bandaranaike, Dileep Kulathunga, Athula Kathriarachchi, Thushara Malalanayake and the senior copywriter Somasegaram Nadaraja.