Sri Lankan Young Lions to compete at Cannes
Jayantha DE SILVA
Seven young prominent marketing communications professionals from Sri
Lanka's advertising and marketing industries were selected to represent
the country at the annual Young Lions Competitions and the Roger
Hatchuel Academy in Cannes, France, next month, after having
successfully completed the Sri Lankan Cannes Young Lions Competition.
The local competition to select the contenders was organised by Metal
Factor the representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of
Creativity in Sri Lanka, in partnership with the International
Advertising Association (IAA). The Association Accredited Advertising
Agencies (4As) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing.
The Sri Lanka Young Lions will compete against teams from around the
world at the Young Lions TV, Print and Young Marketer Competitions. This
year we once again saw a keen competition from the Youths 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 Leo Burnett's Rameez Fazal and
Danushka Kathriarachchi. In the print category Ruani Wijenaike and
Tarisha de Alwis of Triad took the title in a close competition.
The jury for these two competitions comprised Gian de Rose (Leo
Burnett) as Chairman, Russell Miranda (Grant McCann Erickson), David
Blacker (JWT), Rajiv Wirasinha (Heensare) and Krishna Iyer (Phoenix O &
M). In the TV competition the contestants were required to shoot their
campaign on a Samsung Note.
Sri Lanka Telecom came forward this year to be a partner to the Young
Lions Competition and were the sponsors of the print team. Their
commitment to the marketing communications industry and the development
of the youths in it prompted SLT to support the Young Lions competition.
Commenting on the programme, President of SLIM Tilan Wijeyesekera,
stated: "We are happy to be associated with a programme such as this.
The Cannes Lions will give young marketers in Sri Lankan invaluable
exposure which would fuel our industry to greater heights."
Grant McCann Erickson's Lakmini Wahalathanthri won the placement for
the Roger Hatchuel Academy at the Cannes Lions Festival from amongst
nine contestants. A jury comprising Laila Gunesekere Martenstyn (Grant
McCann Erickson) as Chairman of the panel, Murtaza Tajbhoy (Leo
Burnett), Renuka Marshall (TBWA/TAL), Chandini Rajaratnam (JWT) and
Sheron Jayasundera (Bates Strategic Alliance), selected Lakmini for this
opportunity, for the compelling presentation made by her.
"I am delighted that seven young Sri Lankans will be attending the
Cannes Lions Festival this year. It is encouraging to see the delegation
growing as well as to witness the growth of the local competition. More
and more youths in the industry are eager to avail themselves of this
opportunity. Such enthusiasm augurs well for the programme and
development of the industry," stated Ranil de Silva, Sri Lanka's
representative for Cannes Lions. |