Creative Group Head Nadeera Warawita (left) and Senior Sinhala Copywriter Sakuna Ranasinghe (right) with the five awards presented to Geometry Global, an SBU of Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka, at Dragons of Asia Awards 2024

Geometry Global, a strategic business unit (SBU) of Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka, won five awards, including the coveted Blue Dragon for the Best Campaign in Country, at the Dragons of Asia 2024 Awards held recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

These awards recognised the agency’s impactful Books that Keep on Giving campaign for ProMate (Printxcel), a leading stationer in Sri Lanka.

The Dragons of Asia Awards annually celebrate excellence in marketing communications across the Asia-Pacific region. It recognises the most innovative and impactful campaigns that have successfully engaged audiences and driven business results in each entry category as well as the Best Campaigns by Country and Best Campaign in Asia.

In addition to the Blue Dragon Award for the Best Campaign in Sri Lanka, Geometry Global’s Books that Keep on Giving campaign won the Gold in the Best Cause, Charity Marketing or Public Sector Campaign category at Dragons of Asia Awards 2024.  

Meanwhile, in the Dragons of Sri Lanka Awards, also presented during this event, the campaign won the Gold in the Best Small Budget Campaign category, a Silver in the Best Brand Building and/or Awareness Campaign category and a Black Dragon in the Best Social Media or Word of Mouth Campaign category. 

The Books that Keep on Giving campaign for ProMate Sri Lanka tackles the critical issue of supporting visually impaired students in the wake of prices of books and paper surging by 300 percent in the country. 

With over Rs.25 billion worth of paper discarded annually, the campaign offered a simple solution to the problem – donate used notebooks so they can be upcycled for Braille writing. By repurposing the donated notebooks in this manner, visually impaired students are provided the same learning opportunities of a brand-new book, converting them to ‘Books that Keep on Giving’. 

The campaign’s core communication content was a moving video that served as a nationwide call to action to donate used notebooks. The video, which invited companies, schools, charities and other entities to donate used notebooks, was a viral success. 

Collection points were established across ProMate’s extensive branch network in the country. Further, Volunteer Sri Lanka, a local NGO, lent its support in expanding the reach of drop-off points by offering its own volunteer bases across the country. This effort has since collected enough books to meet the needs of all visually impaired students across every government school in the country. Collections are still ongoing, months after the campaign’s launch.

Discussing the campaign, Geometry Global Creative Group Head Nadeera Warawita said, “The Books that Keep on Giving campaign was born from a simple but powerful idea – that something seen as used or discarded can hold immense value for someone else. For a visually impaired student, a used notebook offers the same blank canvas for learning as a brand-new one. This resonated deeply with people around the country, with the campaign quickly gaining momentum and companies, schools and charities joining us to upcycle materials and promote inclusive education. We’re thrilled to see the impact of this simple act of repurposing and grateful to ProMate for collaborating with us to bring this vision to life.”

Speaking on behalf of ProMate Sri Lanka, Printxcel Group Group CEO Shanil Senarath said, “We are deeply committed to facilitating education through sustainable resources. The Books that Keep on Giving campaign embodies this mission perfectly. By partnering with civic organisations and businesses, we have the incredible opportunity to uplift visually impaired students and disadvantaged communities. The overwhelming response we received has been truly inspiring, demonstrating a collective commitment to making a difference. We are excited about the potential to expand this initiative, reaching even more students across the region and around the world.”