• Omnicom Completed its IPG Acquisition Expanding its Global Advertising Network in Dec 2025
• MullenLowe Sri Lanka now Transitions to BBDO Sri Lanka as an Omnicom Affiliate
• Eight-Time Effie Agency of the Year and Five-Time Campaign South Asia Agency of the Year
• Two Consecutive Years Among APAC’s Top 20 & Global Top 100 Most Effective Agency Offices

MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka has transitioned to BBDO Sri Lanka following Omnicom’s global integration, marking the next chapter for an agency built on strong creative thinking, strategic depth and measurable business impact. Its people, partnerships, capabilities and market understanding will carry forward into BBDO, connecting an established Sri Lankan operation with one of the world’s most recognised creative networks and its ambition to Do Big Things.

The agency brings a significant track record into its new identity, having been named Sri Lanka’s Effie Agency of the Year eight times in the last decade and Campaign South Asia Agency of the Year five times. It has also retained positions among the Top 20 Most Effective Agency Offices in APAC and the Top 100 globally on the Effie Index for two consecutive years. Today, its 100-plus people work across 111 brands and 33 categories, partnering with 43 leading corporates.

Thayalan Bartlett, Executive Chairman, BBDO Sri Lanka, said, “This is a new chapter, not a new beginning. Everything we have built through MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka, particularly our people, client partnerships and commitment to effectiveness, comes forward with us. Effectiveness will always be part of our DNA. BBDO gives us an even bigger creative platform to turn that strength into ideas that matter and create lasting growth for our clients.”

The transition also strengthens the agency’s connection to Omnicom’s global ecosystem, opening new avenues for Sri Lankan talent, capabilities and ideas to engage with a broader international network.

Nancy Reyes, Global President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide, welcomed the agency, saying, “We are thrilled to welcome BBDO Sri Lanka to the BBDO community. This is an agency with a proud history, ambitious talent and a demonstrated ability to create work that moves businesses forward. BBDO has always believed in the power of big ideas that live beyond a campaign, and we look forward to giving this team an even greater platform to create work that delivers business impact.”

BBDO Sri Lanka will continue to bring together strategy, creative, public relations, media, activation, tech and digital capabilities, combining deep local market understanding with BBDO’s global creative community.

Growth demands big things. BBDO Sri Lanka enters this next chapter ready to build on what has been achieved, create what comes next and Do Big Things.

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Thayalan Bartlett, Executive Chairman of MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka, has been recognised in Campaign Asia-Pacific’s inaugural 50 Over Fifty 2026 list, becoming the only Sri Lankan named among a select group of senior marketing, media and communications professionals from across the region.

Campaign Asia-Pacific’s 50 Over Fifty highlights experienced industry figures whose continued impact, entrepreneurial drive, mentorship and governance are shaping the next era of the communications industry.

The 2026 list features 37 individuals across 11 Asia-Pacific markets, with Thayalan’s inclusion placing him alongside some of the region’s most respected figures, including Lulu Raghavan, President, APAC, Landor; Gabor Koska, Executive Vice President, Head of Data x Intelligence APAC, Edelman; Geoff Clarke, Managing Director – Business Transformation, Omnicom Media Australia; Nick Seckold, Regional Vice President, Microsoft Advertising; and Amanda Palenski, Managing Director, PHD Media.

Over more than three decades, Thayalan has played a defining role in Sri Lanka’s marketing communications industry, with leadership across creative, media, strategy, digital and integrated business transformation. As Executive Chairman of MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka, he has helped evolve the agency into a multi-vertical communications group built around creativity, commercial discipline, data, technology and human insight.

His leadership has also been significant through periods of national and industry volatility, including the pandemic, Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt crisis and wider economic disruption. Campaign Asia-Pacific’s profile highlights his role in keeping MullenLowe Sri Lanka growing through turbulence, while building institutions, teams and capabilities designed for long-term strength.

Thayalan has also remained committed to mentoring emerging leadership and building cultures grounded in accountability, ambition and entrepreneurial thinking. His recognition comes at a time when artificial intelligence, shifting consumer behaviour and platform disruption are redefining the communications landscape, reinforcing the value of experienced leadership with the ability to adapt, guide and build for the future.

Created to challenge the industry’s long-standing fixation on youth, the Campaign Asia-Pacific 50 Over Fifty initiative celebrates leaders who continue to shape the future of marketing, communications and creativity beyond the age of fifty, recognising individuals whose experience, resilience and continued innovation are redefining leadership in a rapidly evolving industry.

For the full list, visit campaign50over50.com/#winners

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MullenLowe Sri Lanka, has announced the integration of Synapse VII’s advanced data analytics capabilities into its digital services ecosystem. The partnership signals an important shift in the local advertising landscape, bringing together high-impact creative storytelling with rigorous data diagnostics.

As Sri Lankan brands navigate an increasingly complex digital economy, the collaboration aims to address a growing challenge within the industry, which is the disconnect between daily digital content activity and long-term brand equity. Synapse VII focuses on the discipline of digital effectiveness, an approach that looks beyond short-term engagement metrics commonly associated with social media marketing to identify media patterns that genuinely influence business performance in both the short and long term.

“The industry has spent years chasing immediate engagement, often at the expense of sustainable growth,” said Thayalan Bartlett, Executive Chairman of MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka. “By integrating Synapse VII’s analytical engine, we move beyond traditional reporting and give our clients the ability to understand where their brand is heading, not simply where it has been.”

Kevin Kulatilake, Managing Director of Synapse VII, brings extensive international experience to the partnership. His career includes leading the digital division for Unilever at Mindshare, part of GroupM in Sri Lanka, and serving as the former Head of LoweDigital at MullenLowe Sri Lanka before relocating to the United Kingdom.

During his time in the UK he operated within a highly competitive marketing environment, holding senior performance leadership roles across global brands. As Performance Director for organisations such as Haleon at Publicis, Eurostar at Wavemaker, and the Volkswagen Group at Omnicom, he was responsible for managing multi-million-pound digital performance budgets. Within these environments, where data-driven accountability is a business necessity, advanced predictive analytics form the foundation of marketing decision-making.

“Synapse VII was built on the principle that data should steer the brand rather than simply describe it,” Kulatilake said. “Having implemented these frameworks in the UK, where the scale of data and the weight of media investment demand absolute precision, I am excited to bring that same level of analytical discipline back to Sri Lanka. Our focus is to continuously analyse the digital health of a brand, so growth becomes a sustained trajectory, and there is no better partner to deliver this with than my former team at MullenLowe.”

The partnership is expected to introduce a new benchmark for digital accountability within the local industry. It’s being offered as an add-on to LoweDigital’s existing offering, enabling MullenLowe’s portfolio of clients to gain exclusive access to deeper analytical insight and evidence-based strategies designed to deliver measurable and sustainable digital effectiveness.

MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka (MLG) is Sri Lanka’s largest integrated brand communications company with eight independent strategic business verticals, spanning Mainstream, Digital, Activations, MarTech, Media and Public Relations. MLG’s Sri Lanka office consists of 110 staff, serves 43 of the nation’s top corporates, manages 111 brands across 33 categories, including 80% of the top 10 and 50% of the top 20 most advertised categories in the country making it a company with prolific cross category knowledge. Ranked among the world’s top 100 agencies and APAC’s top 20, MLG is Sri Lanka’s Effie Agency of The Year and a consistent local awards leader for over a decade. It operated as a full member affiliate of MullenLowe Worldwide which was recently acquired by Omnicom. As the world’s largest marketing services group, Omnicom combines unmatched global knowledge and experience with local insight to deliver end-to-end brand solutions.

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• A decade of dominance; wins eight out of 10 Agency of the Year titles
• Third consecutive Agency of the Year title at the Effie Awards

• 21 Accolades; 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 3 Bronze and 14 Finalists Awards

MullenLowe Group, Sri Lanka’s largest Brand Communications Company, once again reinforces its authority in creative effectiveness by retaining its position as Effie Agency of the Year for 2025, marking its third consecutive win at the Effie Awards ceremony held yesterday. Hosted at The Monarch Imperial on 3 March 2026, MullenLowe delivered a commanding performance, securing 21 accolades across multiple categories, including one Gold for Celcius, three Silver awards for Watawala Tea, Atlas Axillia and Asian Paints, and three Bronze awards for Fonterra’s Anlene, Unilever and Maliban, alongside 14 finalist recognitions, in a powerful showcase of creativity grounded in commercial impact, credibility and strategic discipline.

Reflecting on the achievement, Thayalan Bartlett, Executive Chairman of the Group, said,

“To be named Agency of the Year for the eighth time in ten years is both humbling and deeply affirming, and while the accolade carries our name, it truly belongs to our extraordinary team. In an industry that moves at relentless speed, winning consistently demands courage, curiosity, resilience and an unwavering commitment to creative excellence. Sustained success over a decade is never accidental; it is built on shared ambition, disciplined thinking and a culture that refuses to stand still.

This recognition is equally a tribute to our clients who place immense trust in us with their brands, and to our valued partners who collaborate with us to craft compelling communication that solves real business challenges. The most meaningful awards are those rooted in effectiveness, where creativity is not merely decorative but the engine of transformation and growth.

We also acknowledge our industry community, whose work continues to challenge us and raise the bar each year. Seeing the calibre of work recognised on Tuesday night was a reminder that we cannot rest on our laurels, and that we must push ourselves even harder in the year ahead to remain competitive. My congratulations go out to all of them.”

Commenting on the win, Harendra Uyanage, Chief Creative Officer of MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka, said,

“Creativity only matters when it moves something, whether that is market share, perception or behaviour. At MullenLowe, we push ourselves to create ideas that do more than capture attention; they are built to perform. Winning Agency of the Year repeatedly proves that effectiveness is not a limitation on creativity, it is what sharpens it. The strongest work emerges when insight, craft and business ambition align, and that is the standard we hold ourselves to every day.

Consistency at this level is never accidental. It comes from disciplined thinking, fearless creativity and an uncompromising commitment to delivering impact where it counts.”

This recognition follows a landmark year for the agency, having also been named Agency of the Year by Campaign Asia, further strengthening its standing on both regional and global platforms.

MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka (MLG) is Sri Lanka’s largest integrated brand communications company and operates eight independent strategic business verticals, spanning Mainstream, Digital, Activations, MarTech, Media and Public Relations. MLG’s Sri Lanka office consists of 95 + staff, serves 43 of the nation’s top corporates, manages 111 brands across 33 categories, including 80% of the top 10 and 50% of the top 20 most advertised categories in the country making it a company with prolific cross category knowledge. Ranked among the world’s top 100 agencies and APAC’s top 20, MLG is Sri Lanka’s Effie Agency of The Year and a consistent local awards leader for over a decade. It operates as a full member affiliate of MullenLowe Worldwide recently merged with Omnicom combining unmatched global knowledge and experience with local insight to deliver end-to-end brand solutions.

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Dr. Sohan Dharmarajah, Chief Technology Officer and Director of AI/MarTech Services at MullenLowe Sri Lanka, took centre stage as a featured speaker at BrandGuff 2025, a premier branding and marketing conference held recently at The Plaza, Lalitpur.

BrandGuff, recognised for bringing together global thought leaders, serves as a platform to explore the trends, technologies, and strategies shaping the future of branding and marketing. This year’s event gathered leading international and Nepali experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing brands in fast-changing markets.

In his keynote, Dr. Dharmarajah highlighted that speed, experimentation, and risk-taking are essential to brand excellence and innovation. He shared how MullenLowe Sri Lanka leverages technology to deliver breakthrough brand experiences, setting new benchmarks for the industry.

“In today’s fast-paced market, brands must boldly experiment and embrace emerging technologies such as AI and open-source tools, Dr. Dharmarajah said. “Success lies not only in meeting expectations but in exceeding them by creating seamless experiences across multiple touchpoints. Whether it’s AI-generated commercials or gamified apps that engage communities, the key is a willingness to dive in, experiment, and innovate.”

He also showcased examples of AI-driven sustainability initiativesfrom zero-waste fashion design to simulation-based optimisation models demonstrating the transformative potential of technology in marketing.

Dr. Dharmarajah’s role as a regional spokesperson at BrandGuff 2025 underscores Sri Lanka’s growing influence in digital marketing innovation, spotlighting the country’s creative and technological capabilities on an international stage. At MullenLowe Sri Lanka, he leads LoweTech, the Group’s dedicated technology vertical, which drives innovation and change for clients with the foresight to embrace the future of branding.

MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka (MLG) is a full member affiliate of MullenLowe Global, a leading integrated marketing solutions company. Operating through eight specialised strategic business verticals spanning mainstream solutions, digital services, activations, martech, media and public relations, MLG combines local insight with global expertise to deliver end-to-end brand solutions. MLG Sri Lanka is part of a network spanning 69 offices in 55 countries with over 4,500 professionals. MLG’s Sri Lanka team of 110+ serves 43 of the nation’s top corporates, managing 111 brands across 33 categories, including 80% of the top 10 and 50% of the top 20 most advertised categories in the country, making it a group with the most prolific cross-category knowledge.

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