From small beginnings, Mediafactory’s entrepreneurship pays off
View(s):From a tiny 4-member operation down Sellamuttu avenue in Kollupitiya to a current 95+ communication group, the Mediafactory has pulled out all the stops in its 9-year journey to reach the top.
Launched by two young Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, Prashanth Supramaniam and Kapila Vidanagamage – owners and joint Managing Directors of the Mediafactory group of companies, the company said in a statement that in a market that has been dominated by global giants, the young organization has grown to become a recognized powerhouse in advertising.
The outfit began in a small room with just two laptops and one computer. “I remember how dust from the ceiling would fall every time a train passed by. Sheer hard work, dedication and drive has seen us against all odds not just grow and sustain ourselves at very top of the media business, but also seen us grow into one of Sri Lanka’s largest communication groups,” said one of the founding duo.
The company started off with a Rs 2 million – Heinz Ketchup – and that success led to another Rs 5 million account in annual billing.
Within a year the billing had reached Rs 1billion. “It was in-between this growth charge that Madison Media, India’s largest independent media agency aligned with us as a second media buying arm. In doing so, we created the first of Sri Lanka’s media buying cartels,” the company statement said.
Overnight, the company says, it became bigger than most of the multinationals. “We now threatened the monopoly of global agencies and had done what no one else ever had. Thus began the fictitious attacks on us and our reputation. Unperturbed by these distraction tactics we remained all about the work. We continued to focus on delivering superior consultancy and increasing the gap between us and our competitors,” it said.
The company then diversified into digital, being one of Sri Lanka’s first digital agencies. The company says one of its successes is getting the right people for the job.
“For example Udaya Tennakoon is one of Sri Lanka’s most awarded creative directors in the island. He is seconded by Rohan Piyadasa and Nalaka Mallawarachi, both well known and experienced Executive Creative Directors. Similarly Prasanga CEO of Mediafactory for his analytical skills, Monika CEO Madison for her leadership skills and similarly almost every member in the core team comes together to build a powerful resource of human intellect. Shashi De Silva COO of Primus, a key SBU within Mediafactory is a MSc in Statistics. Together with Harshana, the two develop Mediafactory’s modeling tools and analysis methodologies which gives us our unique perspective and differentiation to other agencies,” the statement said.
Moving forward Mediafactory recently won its first off-shore creative account.
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