MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka Becomes BBDO Sri Lanka, Joining One of the World’s Most Recognised Creative Networks
Nancy Reyes, Global President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide, and Thayalan Bartlett, Executive Chairman, BBDO Sri Lanka. Image credit: Newswire.
MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka has transitioned to BBDO Sri Lanka following Omnicom’s global integration, marking a significant new chapter for one of Sri Lanka’s most accomplished creative agencies and placing its established local capabilities within one of the world’s most recognised advertising networks.
The transition, reported by Newswire on 14 September 2026, follows Omnicom’s completion of its acquisition of IPG in December 2025. The transaction expanded Omnicom’s global advertising network and subsequently created the framework for MullenLowe Sri Lanka to transition into BBDO Sri Lanka as an Omnicom affiliate.
The change represents more than a new name. The agency’s people, client partnerships, creative capabilities, strategic depth and understanding of the Sri Lankan market are being carried forward into BBDO, preserving the foundations on which the operation was built while connecting its talent and ideas to a wider international platform.
A new chapter built on established strengths
MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka has developed a substantial record of creative effectiveness, strategic performance and commercial impact. According to Newswire, the agency has been named Sri Lanka’s Effie Agency of the Year eight times during the last decade and has received the title of Campaign South Asia Agency of the Year five times.
The agency has also retained positions among the Top 20 Most Effective Agency Offices in the Asia-Pacific region and the Top 100 agency offices globally on the Effie Index for two consecutive years. Such recognition is particularly significant because it reflects not only the visibility of campaigns, but also their ability to produce meaningful outcomes for the organisations and brands they serve.
Today, more than 100 people work across 111 brands and 33 categories, partnering with 43 leading corporates. The operation is supported by 10 independent specialisations, each managed by dedicated teams, enabling clients to access a broad range of expertise while maintaining the depth and focus required for complex communications challenges.
The agency’s 10 independent specialisations with dedicated teams. Image credit: Newswire.
This structure brings together capabilities across strategy, creative, public relations, media, activation, technology and digital services, allowing BBDO Sri Lanka to approach brand building through an integrated and commercially grounded model.
Effectiveness remains central to the agency’s identity
The continuity of leadership and culture is an important feature of the transition. Thayalan Bartlett, who continues as Executive Chairman of BBDO Sri Lanka, has described the change as an evolution of the agency rather than a departure from its previous achievements.
Thayalan Bartlett, Executive Chairman, BBDO Sri Lanka , ‘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 statement places effectiveness at the centre of the agency’s future direction. In contemporary advertising, creative distinction is increasingly expected to work alongside evidence-based strategy, customer understanding and measurable business performance. The Sri Lankan operation’s record suggests that creative ambition and commercial discipline have already been treated as complementary rather than competing priorities.
“AI generated based on source image”.
A wider platform for Sri Lankan talent
The move into BBDO strengthens the agency’s connection to Omnicom’s global ecosystem and provides new opportunities for Sri Lankan talent, capabilities and ideas to engage with a broader international network.
For creative professionals working in Sri Lanka, access to a recognised global network can create valuable avenues for knowledge exchange, international collaboration and participation in campaigns that operate across multiple markets. It can also encourage the sharing of local insight, allowing Sri Lankan cultural understanding, consumer behaviour and creative perspectives to contribute to wider regional and global conversations.
This development is therefore relevant not only to the advertising sector, but also to the broader story of Sri Lankan professional achievement. It demonstrates how locally developed expertise can be connected to international institutions without losing the market knowledge and relationships that made the operation successful in the first place.
BBDO welcomes its Sri Lankan affiliate
Nancy Reyes, Global President and CEO of BBDO Worldwide, welcomed BBDO Sri Lanka into the global BBDO community, highlighting the agency’s history, talent and ability to develop work that supports business progress.
Nancy Reyes, Global President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide , ‘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.’
Reyes’s comments reflect BBDO’s longstanding emphasis on ideas that extend beyond short-term promotional activity. The reference to work that “lives beyond a campaign” indicates an approach in which brands are expected to build enduring relevance, stronger relationships and sustainable growth.
For BBDO Sri Lanka, the welcome also confirms that the local agency’s achievements are being recognised as a meaningful contribution to the wider network rather than merely as an administrative consequence of corporate integration.
“AI generated based on source image”.
Creative excellence stepping onto a bigger stage
The transition comes at a time when brands are operating across increasingly complex environments, where communications must be culturally intelligent, technologically capable and commercially accountable. Agencies are required to understand not only how to attract attention, but also how to create trust, influence behaviour and deliver measurable value.
BBDO Sri Lanka enters this environment with a substantial local foundation: a large team, a diverse client portfolio, 10 independent specialisations and a proven record of effectiveness. Its connection to BBDO and Omnicom now offers an expanded platform from which those strengths can be developed further.
For Sri Lanka’s creative sector, the development is an encouraging demonstration of the international potential of local talent. For clients, it signals continuity combined with expanded access to global resources. For the country’s professional community, it highlights the value of investing in original thinking, disciplined strategy and ideas capable of competing beyond national borders.
As MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka becomes BBDO Sri Lanka, the agency carries its history forward while entering a new phase of global connectivity. Its next chapter will be measured by how effectively it converts this larger platform into meaningful ideas, lasting client growth and further recognition for Sri Lankan creative excellence.
Source: https://www.newswire.lk/business/mullenlowe-group-sri-lanka-becomes-bbdo-sri-lanka/
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