“My experience at Cannes was a real eye-opener to the level of talent in the global industry and the different perspectives which all come together in creativity. In addition to the competition itself, I had an amazing time in France, getting to see the culture in-depth and up-close. The people, the food, the roads, the balconies and everything you see and hear are so artistic in so many different ways. You have to go there to experience it, because it is like no other.”

Suchintha De Silva
Print Category
Triad
2013

“Unlike most of the others, getting the opportunity to go to Cannes gave me a greater degree of nervousness as it was also my first flight experience. Needless to say, the first few seconds of going at full throttle and then taking off was more nerve wracking than having to present our work to the jury in Sri Lanka!

Before leaving for Cannes I told myself two things. Number one, ‘I’m going to win.’ Number two, ‘If I don’t win, I will learn as much as I can.’ And since those of you reading this have never heard of me, what I ended up doing was the latter. I attended as many seminars, workshops, master classes and forums as was possible. From witnessing the latest technological developments in big screen cinema advertising by SAWA (Screen Advertising World Association) to seeing Jensen Button in the McLaren F1 car do a pitstop change, to even being part of a workshop where a company called MindScapes did a presentation on how they have developed a tool which can predict the likelihood of a certain piece of work winning a gold lion (which had an impressive 88% success rate), the experience was breathtaking and unforgettable.

Not being primarily a creative (as I am in servicing), I gained greater appreciation for creative work and did my best to bringback something that I could share with my colleagues.”

Shehan Samarasinghe
Cyber Category
Triad
2015

“My experience at Cannes was a real eye-opener to the level of talent in the global industry and the different perspectives which all come together in creativity. In addition to the competition itself, I had an amazing time in France, getting to see the culture in-depth and up-close. The people, the food, the roads, the balconies and everything you see and hear are so artistic in so many different ways. You have to go there to experience it, because it is like no other.”

Suchintha De Silva
GD – Triad

“Unlike most of the others, getting the opportunity to go to Cannes was met with a greater degree of nervousness as it was also my first flight experience. Needless to say, the first few seconds of going at full throttle and then taking off was more nerve wracking than having to present our work to the judges in Sri Lanka!

Before leaving for Cannes I told myself two things. Number one, ‘I’m going to win.’ Number two, ‘If I don’t win, I will learn as much as I can.’ And since those of you reading this have never heard of me, what I ended up doing was the latter. I attended as many seminars, workshops, master classes and forums as possible. From witnessing the latest technological developments in big screen cinema advertising by SAWA (Screen Advertising World Association) to seeing Jensen Button in the McLaren F1 car do a pitstop change, to even being part of a workshop where a company called MindScapes did a presentation on how they have developed a tool which can predict the likelihood of a certain piece of work winning a gold lion (which had an impressive 88% success rate), the experience was breathtaking and unforgettable.

Not being primarily a creative (as I am in servicing), I gained greater appreciation for creative work and did my best to bring something back that I could share with my colleagues.”

Shehan Samarasinghe
Account Group Head – Triad

Suchintha De Silva
GD – Triad

Shehan Samarasinghe
Account Group Head – Triad

We created a new range of recharge cards. Out of the profit of the card range, we decided to donate 25% to the charity. Apart from this we facilitated the customers to donate money from their own mobile account. To trigger the customer for this, we prompt a popup message to the customers, where the customer would be able to transfer money from his account by replying to the message.

We also wanted to minimize the impact on the business by this project. For this we needed to drive the company revenue higher. For that we decided to have a mechanism where, for each customer who collects the full range of cards, the company will donate Rs. 100 to the fund, on behalf of them. This will drive the sale of the high denomination cards, thus driving the average revenue per user higher.

In designing the card we wanted the agency to put an emotional, yet strong message on the face of the card, which was appealing to the target group. The card would also carry a QR code, which will lead the customer to a dedicated website which would again facilitate the customer to further donate money.

We decided to target women for this campaign, because this program was about supporting the education of girls. A woman/girl will always understand and empathize with another in a similar manner. Thereby our key message for this campaign was “Empower another you” which focuses on giving the opportunity for Sri Lankan women to come forward to empower another female.

In the feedback session, the jury mentioned that they were really impressed with our presentation. They said that it was so emotional that they were tearing. They mentioned the following factors which helped us to win for Sri Lanka its first ever Gold at the Cannes Lions.

• Firstly our proposal made business sense and it was sustainable and practical.
• Secondly they loved our concept, one woman empathizing with another woman.
• Thirdly, they really appreciated our confidence. For every question they asked we answered it with confidence.

We had a wonderful and a very memorable experience at the Cannes Lions festival. We sincerely thank SLIM and Metal Factor for conducting this competition and for giving us this opportunity to represent the country at an event of this repute.

We feel really proud and honored to have brought pride to our Country. We will help SLIM in every way possible to groom the future Young Marketers of this country. We need to bring back the Cannes Lions Gold next year as well!

Hiruni Mendis
Etisalat
Cannes Young Lions Marketers
2013.

Lakshitha Wijesinghe
Etisalat
Cannes Young Lions Marketers
2013.

2010 Young Lions SL TV Winners – Udara & Dishan

“Connections, made easy” was the Theme for the Cannes Lions 2010. Though true to its theme, the festival was not just a hub for networking and celebration, but most importantly it served as a cradle for Inspiration. The Master classes, Seminars, Exhibitions, the Young Lions Film Competition, Awards Ceremonies, Galas and the opportunity to meet in person industry icons from around the world are definitely moments we will treasure for the rest of our lives.

All in all, life hasn’t been the same since Cannes.

This dream came true thanks to the efforts of the IAA Sri Lanka Chapter and Metal Factor. We wish to take this opportunity to thank both entities for all their efforts.

Udara Withana
Account Executive
JWT
TV Category
2010.

Dishan Coilparampil
Senior Account Executive
JWT
TV Category
2010.

Bonjour Cannes!

For people like Shayani and I, Cannes is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Just walking over to the Palais des Festivals was like a journey through the first few pages of the Vogue magazine; Prada, Valentino, Jimmy Choo, Burberry, Gucci, along with some extremely good looking people. People in the south of France are really laid back and friendly, with shopkeepers always greeting you with a cheery “bonjour!”

The first day of the Print Competition was nerve-wracking, and I remember being instantly intimidated the second we saw all the other teams. There were 42 in all. The most memorable ones were the overly confident Brazilians, the cynical South Africans, the girls from Hungary who looked like supermodels, the guys from Singapore (one of whom went to college with Shayani), the guys from the UK who were inexplicably always in khaki, the Russian copywriter who eventually fell out with her art director, the guys from Belarus who were sporting enough to wish us luck before the competition, and the guys from the UAE, neither of whom were actually Arab. A rep from Adobe gave us some basic training in CS5 and we were then briefed on a print ad for a charity. We were required to work on CS5, and use images from Getty.

The next day was endless. We were stuck in that little booth at the Palais for nearly 12 hours, our minds seesawing from panic to apathy, and then back to panic. The mood in the competition area lightened towards the end as the teams hung around the printing room, waiting for our final pieces. Even though Shayani and I were pleased with our efforts, we didn’t win. Peru swiped the gold with a disarmingly simple ad, though I was more impressed by Colombia’s print innovation, which won them the silver. What surprised me in the end was our own competitive nature. We’d previously never allowed ourselves to think that we could actually win at Cannes, but when we didn’t, we were both unexpectedly disappointed.

To cheer ourselves up, that night we went to our first Cannes party organized by the Dutch Young Creatives. On our way in, one of the guys gave us glowing wristbands and asked us, “Did you guys win?” “No,” we replied morosely. He laughed, and said, “Ah, don’t worry girls. There’s always next year.”

Shayani Obeysekera
Junior Art Director
Leo Burnett Solutions Inc.
Print Category
2010.

Samantha Weerawardena
Junior Copywriter
Leo Burnett Solutions Inc.
Print Category
2010.

2009 Young Lions Sri Lanka TV Winners – Firzan & Lali

Well if you have been in the ad industry long enough you know that every ad person’s dream is to claim stake to a Golden Lion from Cannes, Well if not that the next best thing is to visit the festival that dishes out these pieces of metal, which upon receiving turns mere mortals into legends.

Well imagine the emotions and sentiments of a young ad professional from Sri Lanka getting an opportunity to experience this mecca of advertising. We were truly lucky to witness this for ourselves.

When Lali and I joined the local competition it was purely for the “kick” of it. Nobody was expecting us to win as we did not belong to the traditional “creative” department in the agency, every other team had people from the creative department competing. We had fun and before we could enjoy the glories of scripting, art directing, casting, directing and editing our very own commercial we had won a trip to Cannes!!! And as if going to Cannes wasn’t a good enough reward, we got a chance to represent the country in a global competition.

It was a truly rewarding experience seeing ad legends walking the corridors, awe struck while legends peed in urinals next to you in public toilets!! Listening to them and hearing firsthand how they changed the way the world thinks feels and acts. We were truly excited every day of the event.

The competition was tough and the challenge kept us up every night, working late trying to do the best we could to make another winning commercial. (Well luck was not on our side at the global competition, Mexico made a brilliant commercial that was a truly deserving winner).

It was France it was Cannes and it was a ball!! I am sure we were envied by the older folk in the Sri Lankan ad scene, they sure didn’t have the opportunities we had, they never got the exposure we got, We should be truly grateful to the people who conceptualized and executed these activities in Sri Lanka. The vision they have for the industry would truly bear fruit with the future generation of ad professionals in Sri Lanka.

Thank you Ranil and Metal Factor for organizing such an event. Thank you for giving us this once in a lifetime opportunity, Thank you for helping us realize our true potential. That trip to Cannes truly did change our careers and lives forever.

Firzan Mulafer
Brand Manager
Leo Burnett Solutions Inc.
TV Category
2009.

Lalindra Amarasekera
Event & Activation Executive
Leo Burnett Solutions Inc.
TV Category
2009.