News
Ogilvy PR Sri Lanka wins top Asia Pacific award for RTI Campaign
View(s):Ogilvy Public Relations Sri Lanka beat out 1,200 entries from across the Asia Pacific region at the SABRE APAC Awards 2017 held in Hong Kong recently.
The agency’s ‘Uncover the Truth’ campaign for Sri Lanka’s ‘Right to Information Act (RTI) won two Certificates of Excellence, a Gold Award in the ‘Charities and Not-For-Profit’ category and the Best-in-Show’ campaign at the awards show.
On behalf of Ogilvy Public Relations Sri Lanka, Scott Kronick, Ogilvy PR’s President and CEO for Asia Pacific (right), accepts the Platinum ‘Best in Show’ Award from Paul Holmes, Founder and Chairman of the SABRE Awards (left).
The campaign, for Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), focused on educating the Sri Lankan public on the Right to Information Act, which came into effect on February 4, 2017. The PR campaign titled ‘Uncover the Truth’, was executed in partnership with Neth FM station and its online channels, to promote the Act among the public.
“The ‘Uncover the Truth’ campaign beat out four other Platinum-nominated campaigns for ‘Best in Show’. Last week was a proud moment for all of us in Ogilvy Asia Pacific. Thank you, team Sri Lanka for making us so proud,” said Scott Kronick, Ogilvy Public Relations, President and CEO for Asia Pacific.
The SABRE Awards Show is the world’s largest public relations awards competition, which recognises superior achievement in Branding and Reputation Management in North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), South Asia and the Asia-Pacific regions. The SABRE Awards is hosted by The Holmes Report, the authoritative voice of the global public relations industry.
Speaking of the win, Irvin Weerackody, Chairman, Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka, said: “Once considered a stepchild in the marketing world, Public Relations is now a potent tool in marketing and of course in championing public service initiatives. Ogilvy PR has been tremendously successful in the use of best practices in PR in crisis management and strategising public service campaigns over the last few years. The campaign for the Right to Information Act is such an example, and a landmark campaign. Apart from winning the Platinum award for the best in Asia Pacific, the ‘Uncover the Truth’ campaign draws attention to a new law in Sri Lanka that forced disclosure of information held by public authorities and has given hope to the relatives of victims of human rights violations, and many others.
It was hailed as a great example of a public service campaign by Paul Holmes, Founder of the Holmes Report and Chairman of the SABRE Awards, in light of a recent controversial PR campaign done in South Africa to incite racial tensions.”