Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI), announced that its sister company Starcom Mediavest Group, will open its doors in Sri Lanka in January 2006. Starcom will become Sri Lanka’s first international media independent company with its promise of ‘fuelling brand power.’ Although Starcom Sri Lanka will be independent, it will still be supported by the quality and reputation of LBSI. Shiroma I Cooray, who serves on the board of LBSI, will be the Chairman of this venture whilst the board of directors will include D. Sriram, CEO, Starcom Mediavest Asia Pacific, Ravi Kiran, CEO, Starcom South Asia and Ranil de Silva, Managing Director, LBSI.
Talking about Starcom’s entry in to Sri Lanka, Ravi Ki ran said, “It is our belief that the Sri Lankan media market is evolving fast. As consumer choices grow, and marketers are faced with greater opportunities and challenges in the dynamic market place, we are happy to bring in our international expertise and best practices from around the world. This first-in strategy would also be an important step in maintaining the long-term competitive advantage that SMG already holds globally.” Shiroma! Cooray said, “Leo Burnett’s success in Sri Lanka has motivated the Publicis Groupe to expand its operations in Sri Lanka and Starcom was well suited to meet the challenges of this evolving market.”
The company will use its international proprietary processes and tools, which have enhanced its credibility in the global marketplace, to determine people’s passions in Sri Lanka. From how people spend their time and money to how they define themselves. This process termed Passion Group Marketing is SMG’s strategy to answering many important questions necessary for a better understanding of targeted customer groups prior to communicating with them. SMG ranks among the world’s largest brand communications groups with a global staff of more than 4,800 contact architects. SMG’s network of 110 offices in 76 countries fuels brand-building results for many of the world’s leading marketers.
