October 2008
Publicis Groupe a French multinational advertising and communications company, one of the leading advertising agencies in Europe entered the Sri Lankan market by joining one of the leading advertising agencies in the island; Leo Burnett Solutions Inc.
The Chief Executive Officer of Publicis South Asia, Nakul Chopra who was in the country to inaugurate the new partnership told the Financial Times that even though the company’s arrival in the Sri Lankan market is late, the company has arrived in the region with the mindset of becoming the leading advertising agency in the region.
“Sri Lanka has good quality and talented people involved in the industry and we see that the industry itself could move towards a global network of advertising,” said Mr. Chopra.
Speaking on his vision for the Publicis Solutions operation in Sri Lanka, he said that he “observed with interest, the Sri Lankan advertising industry’s progress over the years.” He added, “I am impressed with the quality of work produced by Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., in Sri Lanka which has received significant recognition at prestigious International awards festivals. I am quite excited about this first step to enter this market and to take Publicis, and the Sri Lankan industry to greater heights.”
Speaking on the Sri Lankan Advertising industry, Mr. Chopra said that the Sri Lankan industry suffers from downsized skills, however this is natural since Sri Lanka is undergoing a cycle of development. PIn the case of India, the advertising industry itself is a 100 years old whereas Sri Lanka has only 40 to 50 year of professional advertising.
The Managing Director of the LBSL, Ranil De Silva said that the new tie-up with Publicis will give the company and the Sri Lankan industry more opportunities.
A leader in the field of advertising, Mr. Chopra’s tryst with advertising started with a summer job at the age of 18, and he has worked at a number of agencies including JWT. He also went through a stint trying to run his own agency and another specializing in financial and corporate communications in London and New York.
He founded the financial and corporate communications arm of Grey in India and later went on to become Executive Vice President in the mainstream advertising agency managing 3 offices He has had wide and varied experiences with leading communications programs for a variety of brands in India.
The Publicis enterprise in Sri Lanka will be led by a familiar figure in the local marketing communications industry, Ms. Amrita Pieris. In a career spanning over 15 years, Ms. Peiris has worked with a number of well reputed advertising agency brands in the country through stints at JWT, Lowe LDB, and most recently with Leo Burnett Sri Lanka.
Most significantly, Nestle Private Limited has awarded the entire Maggi brand to this new partnership. Publicis will handle the Maggi brand in Sri Lanka supported by Leo Burnett Solutions Inc.
Commenting on this partnership with the country’s leading creative agency, Mr. Chopra added that, “in the Publicis Groupe, it is our philosophy to work in conjunction with other Groupe agencies, to share resources and to add scale.” He added, “It’s the ideal way to ensure that our clients have the very best team, and the very best resources working for their brands.”
The Managing Director of Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., Mr. Ranil de Silva stated that “we are following global practices and strengthening the Groupe resources to deliver the best for our industry in Sri Lanka and to ensure that we more than fulfill our commitments to our clients.”
He pointed out that “globally there has been a significant shift in the ways agencies work, from being networks we have grown to become Groupe partnerships. Leo Burnett in Sri Lanka has already established close partnerships with many brands in the Publicis Group, such as Arc Worldwide and Starcom.”
Ms. Pieris was very excited about the new venture and stated that, “We believe that the Groupe synergy can bring bigger and more meaningful rewards to all the stakeholders. It is a new era and an exciting way of pursuing our business in the 21st century.”
Publicis Groupe is the world’s fourth largest communications group. In addition, it is ranked as the world second largest media counsel and buying group, and is a global leader in digital and healthcare communications.
The Groupe offers local and international clients a complete range of communications services, from advertising, to media consultancy and buying, interactive and digital marketing, specialised Agencies and Marketing Services offering healthcare communications, corporate and financial communications, sustainability communications, shopper marketing, public relations, CRM and direct marketing, event and sports marketing, and multicultural communications.
Accordingly the two companies will work together to develop the marketing communications industry in Sri Lanka. It is one of the four major advertising holding companies globally which is led by the legendary Maurice Levy.
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