The BBDO Worldwide network recently joined with local agency Swara, to form BBDO Swara. This was a landmark event for the advertising industry of Sri Lanka.
The BBDO Swara partnership is the culmination of a 10-year relation ship where the agency has cooperated on accounts such as ICI and Visa.
The agency’s first priority is to build a dedicated team focused on the recently won Fonterra account. Fonterra owns a number of key brands including Anlene, Anmum and Anchor.
Chris Thomas, Chairman and CEO of BBOO Asia Pacific said “Across Asia we have built a lot of momentum in 2006. We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership in Sri Lanka with the launch of BBDO Swara. BBDO has always sought to attract and retain the very best creative and strategic talent in every market that we have entered. That is precisely what we are doing in Sri Lanka”.
The operation will be headed by Keith Wijesuriya as CEO, BBDO Swara while the other key roles will be filled by Upali Herath as Executive Creative Director and Kunal Roy as Strategic Planning & Creative Director. “This is a defining moment in the development of our business. We have unwavering commitment to the quality of our creative ideas across all communication channels. Our aim is to create work that is rich in local insight, strategically strong and highly contemporary. Our creative benchmark will be the international scene, be it AdFest, Clio or even Cannes, with our very own “Chillies” being a hot testing ground,” Wijesuriya said.
The new agency, in addition to local training has plans to develop talent through BBDO’s regionally and globally organised workshops and conferences. The members of the agency will not only get to work on big, international brands but will also be exposed to the bank of BBDO’ s knowledge, expertise and resources.
Initially, BBDO Swara will handle all brands of Fonterra. In addition, the agency will continue to handle the Visa International brand, building on a successful three-year relationship. ®
