Ogilvy talent soars at Young Lions Sri Lanka

Above: Young Lions Sri Lanka 2026 edition winners from Ogilvy Media, Ogilvy PR and Phoenix Ogilvy (L-R) Hasith Dilakshana, Nirmala Premachandra, Azraa Saldin, Maveena Manickam, Sachintha Gunawardena and Afridi Hussain.

Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka won big-time at the Young Lions Sri Lanka Competition 2026 held in Colombo recently, with its talent securing wins in three of the four categories awarded. Sweeping top honours in the Media, PR and TV Categories, the agency’s winning teams will now prepare to represent Sri Lanka at the global Young Lions Competition in Cannes, France, this June, the company said in a media release.

In a strong showcasing of the breadth and strength of talent across the agency, the Media category was won by Sachintha Gunawardena and Hasith Dilakshana of Ogilvy Media, the PR category was topped by Azraa Saldin and Nirmala Premachandra of Ogilvy PR and the TV category was won by Afridi Hussain and Maveena Manickam of Phoenix Ogilvy.

This year, out of the six categories in the competition, only four saw wins, with Design and Cyber (Digital) not awarded, underlining the stringent judging standards of the programme.

The three winning Ogilvy teams will now compete at the Young Lions Competition in Cannes, widely regarded as one of the most demanding and respected global platforms for emerging industry talent. The competition will be held alongside the coveted Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2026.