TBWA\Sri Lanka Lights up Spikes Asia 2019 with unprecedented 5-award win

From left: TBWA\Sri Lanka Chief Creative Officer Nathasoruban Sivapatham and TBWA\Sri Lanka Creative Group Head Shyan Gershon receiving the Gold Award from Spikes PR Jury President Christine Park

• Bags 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze awards to become Most Awarded Agency in Sri Lanka

TBWA\Sri Lanka did the country proud at the recently-concluded Spikes Asia 2019 by winning five awards to become the most awarded agency. This marks the biggest ever win for Sri Lanka by a single agency at the renowned ad festival. 

The Agency was in the limelight for their ‘Aura Aliya’ project, which was carried out in partnership with Aura Incense Sticks of D’las International. ‘Aura Aliya’ was a uniquely designed incense stick that emitted elephant repellent aromas, conceptualised as a potential solution to the ongoing human-elephant conflict. 

The ‘Aura Aliya’ entries at Spikes Asia 2019 were shortlisted for six awards out of which it won five. This included a Gold award for PR: Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight, two Silver awards for Direct: Other FMCG and Outdoor: Small Scale Special Solutions, and two Bronze awards for Design: Environmental / Social Impact and Direct: Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight. 

Speaking of their win at the reputed global ad award show, TBWA\Sri Lanka Managing Director Renuka Marshall said, “Our approach to disruption is based on the belief that simple ideas can turn out big and effective solutions. The idea for ‘Aura Aliya’ is based on strong cultural insights, driven by the need to solve a big issue and convert a simple idea into brilliant work. D’las International and TBWA\Sri Lanka are humbled by this grand recognition. This project was brought into fruition through 3 years of continuous hard work and we are thankful to the Wildlife Department and all the partners involved in this project.”

The idea for Aura Aliya incense sticks was based on the scientifically proven fact that elephants are immensely sensitive to smell, as observed by their behaviour of avoiding certain pungent plants. Based on TBWA\Sri Lanka’s concept, D’las International used their years of expertise to design a special incense stick combining five non-toxic natural ingredients despised by elephants. 

The product was uniquely designed with a number of special features to meet the practical challenges and effectively serve the purpose. As such, it differs from the conventional incense stick in a number of ways including the size of the product, the strength of aromas, the burning time and the range of reach. The product was successfully tested with the Wildlife Department’s support for three years. 

The recognition ‘Aura Aliya’ received internationally on the Spikes Asia 2019 stage has prompted a tremendous response for the product internationally and D’las International has already been invited to Nairobi, Kenya to present the product. 

TBWA\Sri Lanka wishes to thank their project PR partner Mercury Public Relations for their support throughout the campaign and 24 Frames for their support with documenting the project. 

TBWA\Asia Pacific marked their best performance ever at Spikes Asia, winning 38 awards, with eight markets contributing to the overall tally; TBWA\Melbourne, TBWA\SMP Philippines, TBWA\India, TBWA\Hong Kong, TBWA\HAKUHODO Japan and TBWA\Singapore. 

TBWA\Sri Lanka’s impressive contribution to the collective success within the Asia Pacific region stands at 12% of the total tally, owning five metals out of 38.