Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI), the local office of the global advertising network Leo Burnett Worldwide, recently won three silver awards at the prestigious ADFEST 2015 annual advertising festival, which took place in Pattaya, Thailand. Leo Burnett was the most awarded agency from Sri Lanka at ADFEST 2015 and secured one silver Direct Lotus award for which there were 213 entries, and two silver Press Lotus awards for which there were 286 entries. The awards were won for the ‘Mosquito Repellent Newspaper’ – an innovative campaign which the agency created to combat dengue in Sri Lanka. Additionally, the Leo Burnett Asia Pacific network, received the all-time honour of being named the Network of the Year. Leo Burnett has enjoyed continuous success at ADFEST, since it made history at the festival by winning Sri Lanka’s first-ever metal in 2009. 

Commenting on Leo Burnett’s success at ADFEST, Ranil De Silva, Managing Director, Leo Burnett (LBSI), stated, “We are extremely honoured to be recognized at ADFEST once again. Leo Burnett Sri Lanka performed exceptionally well at the festival by securing three silver lotuses. I am very proud of our team that helped make this success a reality. Having made history at ADFEST in 2009, we are honoured to have once again been recognized at Adfest brining glory to the country by winning the most number of metals for Sri Lanka at this premier Asian advertising festival.  The ‘Mosquito Repellent Newspaper’ is a simple and powerful idea that has won in excess of 20 awards from around the world. This innovative idea has once again earned the endorsement of the Asian juries at Adfest.”

This year’s theme at the festival was ‘Be Bad’ at ADFEST 2015 and it challenged agency professionals to be bolder and fight for bold ideas that break the rules.  Founded in 1998, ADFEST focuses on celebrating and raising the standards of creativity in the region, and it is widely recognized as one of the most competitive and prestigious festivals in the Asia Pacific region. 

The ‘Mosquito Repellent Newspaper’ addressed one of the country’s most serious health concerns in a creative and innovative way. Dengue, the deadly mosquito-borne disease had reached epidemic proportions in Sri Lanka. With over 30,000 people infected in the country in early 2013, the disease had claimed too many lives, including the lives of many young children. People read the newspaper in the early morning and evening – the very time the dengue mosquito is known to strike. This led to the idea that if the ink used to print the newspaper was infused with citronella oil - a natural mosquito repellent, each letter of every word printed in the newspaper would help eradicate the threat of dengue.  On the last day of National Dengue Prevention Week, which was also World Health Day, the world’s first mosquito repellent newspaper was published in an effort to communicate and demonstrate how to prevent dengue. Newspapers are traditionally a source of information, but for the first time a newspaper carried both information and an active method of dengue prevention.  

The ‘Mosquito Repellent Newspaper’ has won a string of highly acclaimed accolades helping to reinforce Leo Burnett’s position as the leading creative agency in the country,. The campaign was selected as a finalist at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and secured two bronzes at the CLIO Awards, including the country’s first metal in the category of PR/Corporate Image. The campaign also won one silver at AD STAR 2014 as well as two golds, including Sri Lanka’s first-ever gold metal in the Public Relations category.  The campaign won five metals at the Spikes Asia Festival including a gold in PR for Corporate Responsibility and four silvers in various other categories. The ‘Mosquito Repellent Newspaper’ also secured a bronze at the Red Apple and a silver at the London International Awards. 

As Leo Burnett celebrates its 15th year of operations in Sri Lanka and looks ahead to the future, the agency will continue to focus on its HumanKind approach to help build powerful brands and meaningful partnerships with its clients, while delivering gratifying results and gaining peer recognition in the industry.