MullenLowe Sri Lanka ended 2018 on a record high in creative reputation and financial performance, a media release from the company stated.
The Sri Lanka office, a recently acquired company by the New York based IPG group was named by Campaign South Asia as the Creative Agency of the Year in the ‘Rest of South Asia’ category.
“Awards mean nothing if you don’t have sound financial credentials to back your achievements and that’s exactly what we did in 2018,” said Chief Executive Officer of MullenLowe Sri Lanka, Thayalan Bartlett.
On the back of a record year in 2017, where revenue grew by 27%, the company continued to accelerate growth in 2018 - closing at 22% higher than its 2017 figures.
With the exception of a few portfolios, organic growth remained flat. Growth in 2018 was spurred by new business which accounted for a little over 12% of total revenue.
The company produced 112 commercials in 2018 at the rate of 2.15 commercials per week.
Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Sri Lanka, Dilshara Jayamanne said, “One of our core principles is to hire people who scare us, but with exciting start-ups becoming the employer of choice across categories for creative minded people, the advertising industry faces the challenge of recruiting the best creative minds.
“The response of course is to do work that captures the imagination of those minds. The number of resumes MullenLowe Sri Lanka receives from across the globe showcases how well we’re doing in our efforts to inspire and attract the best local and international talent to work with us making MullenLowe Sri Lanka one of the most sought after places for a career in advertising,” Jayamanne said.
Vice President and Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Sri Lanka Chandu Rajapreyar said, “We are a 70-strong creatively propelled unit that has made some of the most spoken of online and offline advertising in the country. We commenced 2018 with ‘Leda Leda’ for Softlogic Life.
“This campaign became a ‘good problem’ for the agency as many of our clients kept asking us to produce campaigns like ‘Leda Leda’ or to better it for them, and we revel in such challenges.
“I think what clients most like us for is our ability to start with well-honed strategy and end by making great advertising ideas that are contagious,” he said.