Sri Lankan ad agencies get set to participate in Effie Awards

Advertising Agencies in Sri Lanka are enthusiastically gearing themselves to participate in the forthcoming Effie Awards 2016. 
The Effie Awards are recognized by marketing professionals the world over as the global symbol of effective marketing communication. The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) has the franchisee to hold the award ceremony in Sri Lanka and has been conducting the event for the past nine years.  
This year, the brief for participants was held at Kingsbury Hotel and the participation from mainstream advertising agencies and marketing professionals was significantly higher than in the previous years. The briefing this year took the form of a panel discussion which provided participants with the opportunity to direct their queries, even doubts relating to the event, to the panelists. Head of Jury, Imal Fonseka, the iconic marketer who is highly respected and has been judging not only local but also global Effie Award ceremonies was among the panelists. SLIM Vice President Suranjith Swaris was another panelist while Project Chairman, Shaminda Perera, Senior Brand Manager, Reckitt Benckiser Lanka Ltd, chaired the briefing session. The Project Chairman Shaminda Perera elaborated on the nature of the award, the award categories and explained the application procedure while the Head of Jury Imal Fonseka explained the evaluation criteria and the expectations of the judges.  
The Participants’ Workshop was held the following day at the SLIM Head Office and was facilitated by eminent marketer Ahamed Irfan, a former panel head who was also a member of the previous year’s Effie Award judging panel. The workshop focused on the art of writing and submitting successful entries. 
What is noteworthy this year is that there are over 30 categories with new categories including healthcare services, healthcare OTC products, professional services and travel & tourism.
SLIM President Elanagovan Karthik commented, “I would like to highlight that SLIM’s efforts in holding the prestigious Effies Award is to uplift the standards of marketing communication through this global advertising awards ceremony by allowing the Sri Lankan advertising industry to showcase their talent in the international arena.”
SLIM Vice President (Events), Suranjith Swaris said, “I’m delighted to note that enthusiasm of ad agencies to participate in the Effie Awards has been increasing year on year since its inception and SLIM can look forward to another successful event and a gala award ceremony with many agencies winning coveted awards.”
The inception of Effie Awards dates back to 1968 when American Marketing Association commenced the accolade which has now spread worldwide to over 40 national 6 regional award ceremonies.