First Ever Gold for Sri Lanka at Cannes Lions

The two young marketers – Lakshitha Wi j e s i n g h e and Hiruni Mendis of Etisalt Lanka ( Pvt) Ltd picked by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) for the Cannes Advertising Festival 2013 scored a ‘first’ by winning the Gold at the Cannes Young Lions Marke t e r Competition.

“The winning of such a prestigious award has brought glory and recognition to Sri Lanka,” said SLIM President Mr. Gamika De Silva. He added that this is clear proof how SLIM is committed towards harnessing young marketing talent and taking them beyond the country’s boundaries giving them an opportunity to display their skills.

“Twenty three countries participated in the competition and to win the Gold is indeed a great achievement”, Project Chairman, Mr. Shohan Chandiram said. “It’s certainly a moment of pride for all of us, congratulations to Lakshitha and Hiruni for their excellent performance.”

The Participating team was selected through a local competition and the applicants were briefed by Mr. Elangovan Karthik - AGM Marketing , Citizens Development Business Finance Ltd./ Assistant Secretary, SLIM and Mr. Russell Miranda - Executive Creative Director, Grant McCann Erickson. Following the briefing session the teams were asked to tackle a business case study, which they presented to the judges. The panel of judges comprised Mr. Michael Holsinger – CEO ( Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka), Ms. Sheron Jayasundera - Chief Operating Officer ( Bates Strategic Alliance), Ms. Rochelle de Silva - Director Brands ( Hemas Manufacturing ( Pvt) Ltd) and Mr. M. Makshoodh – Marketing Manager – Home Care & Pureit (Unilever Sri Lanka).

This was the second time that SLIM made a selection for the Festival. SLIM also stepped into provide a 50% sponsorship for the two young marketers to attend the Festival.

“The experience at Cannes was amazing and beyond words, we were fortunate enough to represent mother Lanka and bring glory to her amongst all other nations. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and I would encourage many more Sri Lankans to participate for the Young Lion Marketer Competition. We won Gold in the category and it was an occasion of sheer fulfilment and pride. I am thankful to SLIM for initiating this process and paving the path for us to go to Cannes” said Lakshitha Wijesinghe and Hiruni Mendis.

Mr. Sanath Senanayake ( CEO/ ED, SLIM) said, “We are extremely happy to see our nominees excelling at the Cannes Advertising Festival. This speaks about the standards of our selection criteria and also about the skills possessed by Sri Lankan youth.”

The Young Lions Competitions held at Cannes offer a space for national teams of young creative marketers from around the world to compete against each other and showcase their creative talent. Country representatives compete against the most talented creative young professionals from across the world.

SLIM activities are directed at enhancing its memberships’ professional competence, together with the aim of enhancing recognition and wider acceptance of the marketing profession as a key management function.

This program will certainly be a platform of recognition and reward for outstanding young talent enabling them to benchmark themselves with the best in the world.

SLIM invites talented creative young professionals to apply and represent Sri Lanka at Cannes Young Lions Marketer Competition 2014