Leo Burnett wins the coveted Spike for Effectiveness and 2 Silver Spikes at Spikes Asia
Leo Burnett was the only Sri Lankan agency to be recognized at Spikes Asia 2015
Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI), the local office of the global advertising network Leo Burnett Worldwide, was the only agency from Sri Lanka to be recognized at the Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity 2015. Creating history for the country once again, Leo Burnett won the highly coveted Spike for Creative Effectiveness for their ‘Mosquito Repellent Newspaper’ – which remains the single most awarded creative idea in Sri Lanka to date. The agency also secured two Silver Spikes in the Outdoor category, for the ‘15 kg Extra’ campaign which was created for the dynamic online travel company -findmyfare.com. The agency team received the awards on behalf of the entire team at Leo Burnett, at the exclusive Spikes Asia awards ceremony which took place in Singapore last week.
As a network, Leo Burnett Worldwide was named the second most awarded creative network in the Asia Pacific region, with the Colombo office contributing to the network’s overall performance alongside the Melbourne, Sydney, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai offices. Spikes Asia is a collaboration between the Lions Festivals and Haymarket. The festival and awards recognize the best work in the industry and provide the region’s creative communications industry with a platform to network and exchange ideas. Spikes Asia is the region’s most prestigious awards show and brings together the finest creative thinkers from around the world.
Ranil de Silva, Managing Director of Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI) stated, “We are extremely honoured to have once again won the coveted Spike for Creative Excellence and 2 Silver Spikes at the Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity 2015. This recognition is a testament to our on-going commitment to delivering world-class standards of creativity to our clients in Sri Lanka. Each and every day, we relentlessly strive to be the best in the world bar none. This pursuit of excellence is something that our founder, the late Leo Burnett himself believed in. I would like to commend the entire team for conceptualizing and executing these two powerful ideas, I would also like to thank our valued clients for giving us the opportunity to bring these ideas to life.”
The ‘Mosquito Repellent Newspaper’ addressed one of the country’s most challenging health concerns in a creative and innovative manner. Dengue, the deadly mosquito-borne disease had reached epidemic proportions in Sri Lanka. Over 30,000 people were infected in 2013 and the disease had claimed many lives. People read the newspaper in the hours of the morning and in the evening – the very time the dengue mosquito is known to strike. This led to the idea that if the ink used to print the newspaper was infused with citronella oil – a natural mosquito repellent, each letter of every word printed in the newspaper would help eradicate the threat of dengue. On the last day of National Dengue Prevention Week, which was also World Health Day, the world’s first mosquito repellent newspaper was published in an effort to communicate and demonstrate how to prevent dengue.
Newspapers are traditionally a source of information, but for the first time in the world a newspaper carried both information and provided an active method of dengue prevention. The campaign helped to reduce the spread of dengue in Sri Lanka, and also resulted in a 30% increase in the print run for the publication. The paper sold out by 10 a.m, drove revenue up by 22% and reached new readers. The campaign went viral and gained acclaim throughout the world, even getting the attention of Bill Gates and a plethora of local, international and online publications.
For the April holidays, findmyfare.com was offering an additional baggage allowance of 15 kg with every airline ticket purchased. To promote this offer, Leo Burnett designed a series of distinctive posters featuring those unusually shaped objects that travellers would love to carry but are unable to take with them due to the weight restrictions. The Leo Burnett campaign featured items such as a guitar, golf bag and surf board along with the regular luggage to communicate the benefits of the additional 15 kilograms. This campaign for Sri Lanka’s largest online air travel retailer enabled the company to drive bookings via its portal. The posters communicated the offer through its interesting visuals and directed passengers to the brand’s website.
Over its 16 years of operation in Sri Lanka, Leo Burnett has built many powerful brands and meaningful partnerships with its clients, whilst delivering gratifying results and gaining peer recognition in the industry. The agency’s HumanKind philosophy helps it to derive an enduring purpose for brands and recognizes that ‘Acts’ and creativity have the ability to transform the way a person thinks, feels and ultimately, behaves.
