Financial Times - Leo’s tsunami Hope project helps win 3rd consecutive Effie

The tsunami project of Leo Burnett Solutions Inc (LBSI), the Sri Lankan office of Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), helped the ad agency to be honoured for the third consecutive year at the recent Asian Brand Marketing Effectiveness Awards (ABME) held in Hong Kong.

LBSI’s third Effie in a row was a commendation awarded in the “Best Ideas” category for its tsunami relief campaign entitled Leo Hope. The Effies is the only awards programme of its kind in Asia that recognises campaigns of creative excellence which directly caused a measurable improvement to the results of a planned effort. Presented by Media Magazine – Asia's number one media, advertising and marketing publication, covering news, analysis, features and industry opinion from across the region – the Effies are the region’s gold standard for effectiveness in advertising, Leo said in a statement after a presentation last week to the media. It said the Effies is the benchmark for Asian creativity and effectiveness in advertising. Judged by an elite and prestigious panel of marketing professionals comprising leading consumer goods and services professionals and regional marketing communications celebrities, the programme presents a fixed number of awards to the best of Asia’s communications each year.

Effie applicants ranged from Asian locations as diverse as Japan, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

LBSI Managing Director, Ranil de Silva said this award for Leo Hope is only eclipsed by “our third consecutive Effie win. We are not only Sri Lanka’s only agency to have won an Effie award ever we are the only agency in the region to win three Effies in a row.”

Leo began its winning streak in 2003 with a commendation in the ‘Most Effective Use of Public Relations’ for client Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), which led in 2004 to continued success with a landmark bronze in the ‘Most Effective Use of Advertising’ category for client Sri Lanka Telecom’s IDD product, followed by this year’s award.

Leo Hope was LBSI’s grass roots initiative created to help fellow Sri Lankans affected by the immensely catastrophic tsunami of December 2004.

This venture was truly an endeavour of the heart which ultimately resulted in the rebuilding of the lives of 73 families residing in the hamlet of Hiddoruwa in Kosgoda.

As a humanitarian project which spanned the world which ultimately collected a total of US$ 500,000, this short termed yet overwhelmingly effective idea resulted in overwhelming support from over 160 donors around the world in less than a year, the agency said.