Leo Burnett wins a Lion at 60th Cannes Lions Festival
The ‘Unity Paper’, an idea conceptualized for Ada newspapers by Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. was recognised at the prestigious 60th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity by winning metal in the Media Lions Category for the ‘Best Use of Print’. The Cannes Lions is the world’s most celebrated festival of Creativity which in 2013 attracted 35,765 entries of which only 1142 metals were awarded.
The festival also attracted an attendance of 12,000 marketing communications professionals from across the world and featured industry leaders such as Sir Martin Sorrell, Maurice Levy, David Droga.
A Lion is the most celebrated recognition an agency could earn for its work. This is the second consecutive year in which Leo Burnett Sri Lanka was awarded a Lion at the Cannes Lions. Leo Burnet is the only agency in Sri Lanka to have won a Lion and one of four offices from within the Burnett Asia Pacific region to have won a Lion in 2013. The agency was also named as a finalist in the Design Lions Category for Advertising Typography once again for their Unity Paper concept.
Commenting on Leo Burnett Sri Lanka’s success, Mark Tutsell, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett stated, “I am very proud of the Lion won by our team in Sri Lanka. It is a great story and they are proving themselves through their consistent performance.”
Managing Director, LBSI, Ranil de Silva stated, “Creativity is our currency. It is what differentiates us as a company globally and in Sri Lanka. We are able to build meaningful partnerships with our clients by creating ideas that truly engage people. The Unity Paper which we created for Ada of the Wijeya Newspapers is a great example of our belief.”
The ‘Unity Paper’ was produced to commemorate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and to remind Sri Lankans on the importance of national unity and integration in a country such as Sri Lanka with its multiracial population.
Speaking on the concept, Subhash Pinnapola, Executive Creative Director, LBSI stated, ‘‘We at Leo Burnett believe in the concept of acts not ads. The Unity paper was an Act and we had a brave client who bought the idea and executed it. Changing your product to communicate a message is being bold and revolutionary.”