Effie 2011 - the pre-eminent marketing and communication effectiveness award
From left to right,
Mr. Kishu Gomas - Head of Judging Panel, Mr. Gamika de Silva - Vice President SLIM, Mr. Thushara Perera - President SLIM, Mr. Tilan Wijeyesekara - Vice President SLIM, Mr. Ruwan Liyanagamage - Project Chairman Effie Awards Sri Lanka 2011
For the fourth consecutive year, marketing and communication effectiveness is being tested to the hilt with the launch of the Effie Awards Sri Lanka 2011. Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) which is at the helm of this initiative is proud to launch the only international advertising awards being conducted in Sri Lanka presently, with the support of 4A's of Sri Lanka. The recently concluded official briefing of the Marketing and Advertising fraternity was attended by the heads of Sri Lanka's leading advertising agencies and some of Sri Lanka's leading marketing professionals.
Ideas that work - that's what the Effie Awards identify and reward as the most significant achievements in marketing communications. The Effie consistently focus on the results or the effectiveness of a campaign to meet the originally stated objectives of the campaign, However the criteria to win an Effie is not merely limited to results but rather focuses on the analysis of the environment, the stating of aligned objectives, development of a strategy as well as the idea or creative and finally the implementation which all lead to results in the market place. Therefore creativity of a campaign or the execution of a campaign is not the crux of this industry fixture but rather evaluation of the entire communication process, which ultimately leads to delivering superior results in themarket place.
It was a significant achievement when the Sri Lanka institute of Marketing managed to secure the rights to hold the Effie in Sri Lanka for the first time in 2008.Today the Effie is known by marketers and agencies globally as the pre-eminent award in the industry and the enduring strength of the Effie is its ability to enlighten marketers worldwide with strategies that have proven to be effective in their respective markets. Since its inception in 1968 by the American Marketing Association (AMA,) winning an Effie has become a global symbol of achievement. Today, Effie celebrates effectiveness worldwide with the Global Effie, APAC Effie, Euro Effie, MENA Effie and over 35 national Effie programmes.
The President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing Mr. ThusharaPererastated "The Effie Awards is one of the biggest and most challenging advertising awards in the country. It is focused on rewarding Ideas that work - the great ideas that achieve real results and the strategy that goes into creating them. Therefore the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing feels honoured to be associated with it. In fact, the Effie have brought the big league of advertising awards to Sri Lankan soil in association with the 4A's and we are certain that these awards would no doubt assist in the cause to improve the standards of marketing communication in Sri Lanka."
Effie 2010 will recognize any form of marketing communication or consumer engagement, as long as the results are proven, including Print, TV, Radio, Internet, Guerrilla, Digital, Package Design, Events, Street Teams, mainstream or alternative, paid or unpaid and more. The keys to winning an Effie includes the ability to understand the business context, development of aligned objectives, an insightful strategy, outstanding creativity and the market results to prove it.
Mr. RuwanLiyanagamage, Project Chairman stated that this year's creative idea for the Effie's is on 'Jana Kavi', which have consistently been an effective form of communication for poets. The effectiveness of these poems have brought both fame and results to the poets and therefore local 'Jana Kavi' was deemed an ideal creative platform for this year's Effie campaign. He also stated that he is confident that this year's awards will attract a much larger number of participants than previous years.
Mr. Kishu Gomes, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director of Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC stated that "The Effie panel included personalities with diverse knowledge and experience, with the highest professional standards and a good representation of expertise. He further stressed that evaluation of work would be done the right way with due attention, time and respect to every piece of work presented. In his closing remarks, he reiterated that if the country is to achieve economic renaissance and independence, our marketer's need to sharpen their skills and competencies to successfully market our products and services, competing effectively with the rest of the world. In this connectionit is hoped that such a competitive event will develop such people and help further build businesses thus prop thecountry's economic growth."
This year too there would be 28 categories open for awarding. Campaigns which ran between July 1st 2010 to June 30th 2011are eligible to apply. The judging process established for the awards show has been of global standards due to learning's from Effie's worldwide. The Judging panel is comprised of an elite group of individuals representing the Marketing, Advertising, Research, Media and Academic spheres.
The Official Telecom partner for the event is Etisalat, the Corporate Sponsor is KIK and the Main Sponsor is Singer.
Digital Print partners include Sign Tech, Friends & Partners. Creative partner for the event is TBWA\TAL and PR partner is OMD Sri Lanka. The photography partner is Nine Hearts, production partner is TVT, print partner is Ceylinco Computer Forms and web services partner is XITEB.
The Head of the Judging Panel is Mr. Kishu Gomes who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director of Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC. Mr LasanthaAbeywickrama is the Advisor Effie Sri Lanka. The Judging panel includes eminent personalities such as Mr. LaksiriWickremage, Mr.ShaheenCader, Mr.FauzalHameed, Prof SunandaDegamboda, Ms Renuka Marshall, Ms Chalaka Gajabahu, Ms LailaGunesekeraMartenstyn, Mr.Bimal Silva, Mr.Mangala Perera, Mr.Pravin David and Ms.Sheron Jayasundera.