SHIFT Group marks 18 years of making work that works

Eighteen is the age the world finally takes you seriously. You can vote, sign your own contracts and make your own decisions. For SHIFT Group, which turns 18 this year, the milestone feels less like a coming of age and more like the paperwork catching up.

From its earliest days, SHIFT refused to act its age. Founded in 2008 as Sri Lanka’s first independent digital agency, it was introducing brands to Facebook marketing, Google Ads, 3D mapping, augmented reality and gesture based interactive experiences while most of the industry was still deciding whether digital mattered.

At nine, two of its young creatives were representing Sri Lanka at the Cannes Lions Young Lions competition. At fifteen, it won the Blue Dragon for Best in Country (Sri Lanka) and a Gold Dragon at the Dragons of Asia, along with an Effie Gold.  In the same year it brought to Sri Lanka the elusive Asia Pacific Tambuli Awards for works that drive performance with purpose. At sixteen, it returned to the regional stage with Gold and Silver Dragons, and swept three Golds, three Silvers and three Bronzes at the Four A’s Advertising Festival. At seventeen, it took Gold at the SLIM Digis. At eighteen, it has celebrated with two Silvers, three Bronzes and a Finalist at the Effie Awards 2025, alongside eight wins including two Golds at the Dragons of Sri Lanka 2026. Two years running in a row it had managed to win recognition on the Campaign Brief’s The Work, with campaigns being judged to be among the very best advertising from Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and the agency being ranked as one of the “Hottest Agencies” in the country.

Behind every one of those milestones is the same belief: Making Work That Works. Not everything that looks good performs, and not everything that wins attention drives results. SHIFT has always believed the best ideas must do both, earning a place in people’s lives while delivering real value for the brands behind them.

SHIFT Group Chief Strategy Officer Ikram Mohideen said: “Advertising has a responsibility to two audiences at once. People deserve work that respects their time and speaks to something real in their lives. Brands deserve work that grows their business. When you get both right, creativity becomes a powerful business tool. That is what Making Work That Works means to us.”

This thinking has shaped some of the group’s most talked about campaigns. For Cargills, SHIFT’s partnership extends from Cargills Food City to the corporate brand. Campaigns such as Cargills Heroes and Saru Bima showed how a company’s purpose can become a story people genuinely connect with. For Seylan Bank, SHIFT marked Sri Lanka’s 75th National Day by encouraging Sri Lankans to sing the National Anthem in both Sinhala and Tamil. The campaign sparked national conversation on unity while strengthening the bank’s brand equity. For Ran Kahata, the agency moved away from conventional tea advertising towards emotional storytelling that connects with everyday Sri Lankans. JXG’s “We’re Sure You’re Not Aware of Us” turned corporate awareness into a conversation starter, while Softlogic Life’s “Dengeez” campaigns brought fresh energy to dengue awareness.

SHIFT Group Founder Sujeewa Samarasekera said: “We were never a typical kid. We started by doing things nobody in Sri Lanka had done before, and that restlessness never left us. Turning 18 is a proud moment, but honestly, we have been working like adults since day one.”

SHIFT Group Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer Sandun Lakmal said: “Maturity in this business is not about age. It is about accountability. Anyone can make an ad that gets noticed. The grown up job is making work that moves people and moves business at the same time. That has been our standard from the very beginning.”

SHIFT Digital Director and CEO Charitha Waidyaratne said: “SHIFT was born digital, so we grew up fast. We came of age alongside Sri Lanka’s digital audience, learning with every new platform and every change in how people consume media. At 18, that experience lets us turn big ideas into results brands can actually measure.”

SHIFT Group Managing Director Chrishani Kotalawela said: “Every milestone we have reached came from clients brave enough to back ideas that were different. They trusted us when we were young, and we have worked hard to prove them right ever since. Some of our client relationships have grown with us for more than a decade, and that is what we value most. When a client knows you understand their business as well as they do, they give you the freedom to be brave. Great work is built on great relationships, and ours have been the foundation of everything we have achieved.”

Today SHIFT Group operates through SHIFT Creative and SHIFT Digital, serving leading brands across banking, insurance, FMCG, retail and corporate sectors. It is now officially an adult, and it has no plans to start playing it safe.