Ogilvy PR Sri Lanka wins top Asia Pacific award for RTI campaign

Ogilvy Public Relations Sri Lanka succeeded in finishing ahead of 1,200 of the best award entries from across the Asia Pacific region at the SABRE APAC Awards held in Hong Kong recently. 
The agency’s ‘Uncover the Truth’ campaign for Sri Lanka’s Right to Information (RTI) Act won two Certificates of Excellence, a Gold award in the ‘Charities and Not-For-Profit’ category and the Best-in-Show’ campaign at SABRE APAC Awards 2017.

Ogilvy Public Relations Sri Lanka is the first and only PR agency in the country to win the Platinum Best-in-Show Award, earning it the crown of the best PR campaign in the Asia Pacific awards show, which saw entries from Australia, Japan, India, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and many others in the region.

The SABRE Awards Show is the world’s largest and most sought-after public relations awards competition, which recognises superior achievement in branding and reputation management in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), South Asia and the Asia-Pacific regions. The SABRE Awards is hosted by The Holmes Report, the authoritative voice of the global public relations industry, dedicated to proving and improving the value of public relations by providing insights, knowledge and recognition to public relations professionals.

This campaign for Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) focused on educating the Sri Lankan public on the RTI Act, which came into effect on February 4, 2017, after nearly two decades awaiting parliamentary sign-off. The PR campaign titled Uncover the Truth was executed in partnership with the Neth FM radio station and its online channels, to promote the act’s usage among the public.
“The Uncover the Truth campaign beat out four other Platinum-nominated campaigns for Best in Show. Last week was a proud moment for all of us in Ogilvy Asia Pacific. Thank you, team Sri Lanka for making us so proud,” said Ogilvy Public Relation President and CEO Asia Pacific Scott Kronick.
Speaking on the win, Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka Chairman Irvin Weerackody said, “Once considered a stepchild in the marketing world, public relations is now a potent tool in marketing and of course in championing public service initiatives. Ogilvy PR has been tremendously successful in the use of best practices in PR in crisis management and strategising public service campaigns over the last few years.

The campaign for the RTI Act is such an example and a landmark campaign. Apart from winning the Platinum award for the best in Asia Pacific, the Uncover the Truth campaign draws attention to a new law in Sri Lanka that forced disclosure of information held by public authorities and has given hope to the relatives of victims of human rights violations and many others. It was hailed as a great example of a public service campaign by Holmes Report Founder and SABRE Awards Chairman Paul Holmes, in light of a recent controversial PR campaign done in South Africa to incite racial tensions.”

“It is excellent to see the creativity of Ogilvy Public Relations, combined with TISL’s cutting-edge work on RTI recognised through this regional award,” said Transparency International Sri Lanka Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere.

“We are still only scratching the surface of RTI’s potential impact. This award serves as a reminder of the essential need for innovative communication on citizen rights.” 

Ogilvy Public Relations Sri Lanka further has the distinction of being the only Sri Lankan PR agency to win a Global SABRE Award, which will be presented in Miami, USA, on October 25, 2017. Every year, the SABRE competitions across the globe recognise the 40 most respected and effective PR campaigns from around the world and Sri Lanka’s Uncover the Truth campaign is selected as one of the top 40 best PR campaigns in the world for the year 2017.

This year’s accolades received by the agency reign as the biggest global and regional recognitions received by a Sri Lankan PR campaign.

The SABRE Awards attract over 5,000 entries from more than 60 countries. The winners of the global awards are the elite of the elite, representing the best in categories ranging from social media to social responsibility, from public affairs to employee communications. These 40 campaigns represent the best of the top one percent, a selection of work that PR professionals around the world can be proud of.  

Ogilvy Public Relations Sri Lanka previously won the country’s first In2 SABRE Award at the SABRE APAC Awards 2016, for ‘The Vote Scam’ campaign done for Verite Research. Established in 1999 in Sri Lanka, Ogilvy Public Relations is the largest and most awarded PR firm in the country. It is part of the Ogilvy group in Sri Lanka and the local office of the global PR network, Ogilvy Public Relations, with over 80 offices across the world.