Leo Burnett’s Murtaza Tajbhoy is the first Sri Lankan to serve on the jury of the AME Awards
Renowned advertising strategist, Murtaza A. Tajbhoy, Head of Brand Planning, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI), has been selected to serve on the respected jury of the Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy (AMES) Awards which will take place this June in Singapore. Each year, the AMES bring together communications professionals and acknowledges campaigns that have delivered exceptional results. Murtaza A. Tajbhoy is the only Sri Lankan advertising professional selected to participate on the panel of judges at the AMES Awards show.
Now in its 13th year, the Asian Marketing Effectiveness and Strategy Awards are Asia Pacific’s foremost awards show for honouring clients and their agencies for marketing strategies that deliver solid results to transform businesses and brands. The annual awards are evaluated by a panel of top client and agency professionals who review the submissions against stringent criteria to determine the winners. Set to be even bigger than before, it is the must-attend event for everyone who is involved in effective brand strategy. The seminar sessions provide excellent opportunities to hear from the “big thinkers” in the industry, and to engage in client-agency discussions on strategic brand solutions. Presentations of shortlisted entry case studies from the 2015 Awards offer unique insights to today’s most successful brands.
The Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy (AMES) Awards are designed to celebrate the outstanding collaborative efforts of client marketers and agencies. The AMES Awards have come to be recognized as the region’s most rigorous effectiveness competition and recognize work that has delivered the best results. Similar events also run to celebrate ground-breaking solutions and marketing challenges, however the Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy Awards show is considered the region’s premier marketing effectiveness awards event.
Commenting on Murtaza A. Tajbhoy’s nomination as a jury member, Ranil De Silva, Managing Director, Leo Burnett (LBSI), stated, “I am delighted that Murtaza has been selected to represent Sri Lanka as a jury member at the upcoming Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy Awards show, which is the region’s leading event for recognizing work that has yielded exceptional results. I am also honoured that Murtaza from our team will be the first ever Sri Lankan to gain this honour and to be the only Sri Lankan representative on the panel of judges. This is a significant achievement for Sri Lanka’s advertising industry and for Leo Burnett and it is also a worthy recognition of Murtaza’s professional success as a strategist with exceptional abilities. Murtaza has a contagious passion and enthusiasm for life and he doesn’t just fulfil his role as a Planner, he truly lives it. He’s constantly on a quest to find out what makes people and things tick. I believe that he will make a truly valuable contribution towards the success of the AMES awards.”
Murtaza A. Tajbhoy’s career in the advertising industry extends over 16 years, all of which was spent at Leo Burnett. Today he plays a critical role at Leo Burnett by leading the agency’s strategic responsibilities. Murtaza underwent extensive training at Leo Burnett in India prior to taking up his current position. Today he formulates strategies for clients and brands in a cross-section of industry categories such as Telecom, FMCG, Retail, Banking and Education. He also has numerous Effie awards to his credit and is the author of many AME and APPIES winning case studies. Murtaza joined Leo Burnett as a Junior Brand Executive and rose to his current position as the Head of Brand Planning. He is a qualified marketer of CIM UK and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He has also completed Leo Burnett’s Ad College programmes including the People Management Programme in Hong Kong. In 2013 he was named a Star Reacher of the Leo Burnett company and was invited to Leo Burnett’s head office in Chicago to celebrate the company’s 75th anniversary.
As Leo Burnett celebrates its 15th year of operations in Sri Lanka and looks ahead to the future, the agency will continue to focus on delivering excellence through its HumanKind approach to creativity. The agency remains dedicated to building powerful brands and meaningful partnerships with its clients, while delivering gratifying results and gaining peer recognition in the industry.
