This was followed by the launch of Asia’s first mechanical air purifying billboard in May of the same year.
Said BBDO Lanka MD Santosh Menon, “It’s that time of the year again for us, as a creative organisation and a group of dedicated individuals to renew our commitment to the environment by taking stock of our carbon footprint, taking measures to further reduce our impact on the environment and offset that which we cannot with the purchase of carbon credits.”
Added CEO Carbon Consulting Company Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne, “BBDO Lanka is one of the first companies in the country to not only take this meaningful initiative but also continuously dedicate itself to environmental conservation.
They have been revolutionary not only in terms of rethinking accepted general business practices and continuously minimising their carbon footprint while offsetting the rest but also in their creation of an air purifying billboard as a prototype to be used by others.
It is gratifying to see leading global networks and corporates taking a leadership role in such a vital aspect such as environmental sustainability in Sri Lanka.
My appreciation goes out to Santosh and the team for their longstanding and unfaltering commitment.”
Continued Menon, "Since we are a carbon neutral advertising agency we are delighted with the opportunity given to us by Rotary.
With forest cover in Sri Lanka having drastically shrunk to 29% (as at 2012) from 53% over the last two decades – according to the Forest Department – they launched an initiative to plant one million trees in the year 2014/15.
The challenge to us was ‘how do we communicate this in such a manner as to get people’s support in this endeavour?’: we came up with the ‘One Million Tree Stories’ idea.”
Associate Creative Director at BBDO Lanka Roshan Fernando and Creative Group Head – Copy Wyomi Abeywickrema explained the ‘One Million Tree Stories’ idea:
"Each and every one of us has experienced at least one momentous encounter to do with a tree, whether it is the tree under which you played as a child with your best friend, the tree that you climbed high up to be able to have a spectacular view and dream that you could fly, or the tree under which you hung out if only for fleeting moments with the person you were in love with.
These and all others are our very own tree stories and make for special memories in our minds."
The ‘One Million Tree Stories’ campaign, conceived by BBDO Lanka for Rotary District 3220, is sponsored by Hatton National Bank.
Initiated as a public-private partnership, it also counts the Ibbagamuwa Divisional Secretariat, Department of Irrigation, Department of Agrarian Development, Forest Department, Department of Education, Road Development Authority and Sri Lanka Army as partners.
Most recently the project was partnered by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) and endorsed by Miss World 2014 Rolene Strauss.
Said SLTPB Chairman Rohantha Athukorala, “The beauty of the idea lies not only in BBDO Lanka’s insight that each and every one of us has a tree story but also that the ‘One Million Tree Stories’ campaign gives each and every one of us the opportunity to contribute to environmental conservation and reducing the carbon footprint by sponsoring one or more trees.
Sponsorship of a single tree costs just Rs 100, which includes the cost of the plant as well as general maintenance for two years, and buyers can track the progress of their trees as they grow in the Kurunegala District as they have been geotagged.”
“This is more than just planting a tree, it is about addressing a key issue of the tourism industry and the country achieving a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on environmental sustainability,” he added.
Strauss, with whom the campaign immediately resonated, shared her own tree story at the international launch event of the ‘One Million Tree Stories’ campaign.
She reminisced of a big tree that grew close to her home in South Africa and every day she would go read a book under the shade of its massive branches, either sitting at the base or higher up on the trunk.
It was a companion of sorts to her and she was very attached to it.
BBDO Lanka is the Sri Lankan affiliate of the global BBDO network and soon after only its first year of operations was awarded Campaign Asia-Pacific magazine’s ‘Rest of South Asia Creative Agency of the Year 2012’ – Silver.
More recently it took home the ‘Agency of the Year’ award at its Effie Awards Sri Lanka debut.
BBDO's mantra is "The Work. The Work. The Work." Every day, BBDO people in 289 offices in 81 countries work day by day, job by job and client by client to create and deliver the world's most compelling commercial content.
For nine years in a row, BBDO has been named the most creative agency network in the world in The Gunn Report, and for six years in a row, BBDO was also ranked the most awarded agency network across all marketing communications in The Directory Big Won.
In addition, BBDO has been named Network of the Year at Cannes five times and was also named the world's most Effective Agency Network twice in the Effie Effectiveness Index.
BBDO has been chosen Agency of the Year multiple times by each of the leading industry trade publications.
BBDO is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.
The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) is a leading provider of integrated sustainability solutions such as carbon and water footprinting, carbon asset management, biodiversity assessment and life cycle analysis.
CCC also provides mitigation options, facilitates the purchase of ethical carbon offsets and consults on corporate sustainability management strategies such as carbon, water, waste and energy management to ensure that corporates are able to take accurate stock of the impact of their operations on the environment.
Captions
1.) BBDO Lanka MD Santosh Menon being handed the carbon neutral certification by CEO of the Carbon Consulting Company Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne.
2.) Ms World Rolene Strauss at the ‘One Million Tree Stories’ global launch event.
