“Andare” creates quite a stir in the city

CLAD in the traditional nilame garb Andare, the court jester arrives at the office of a posh Advertising Agency head. 

In keeping with the age old customs he carries a pot of curd and a ‘peni mula’ as a token gift. His ‘golaya’ carries a decorative pack in the shape of a mohottala’s headgear which Andare hands over to the Agency head after the usual courtesies. Inside it is a CD.

This rather unusual delivery of an invitation instantly became the talk of the town. It was the creation of TEQUILA, the activation and below-the-line outfit attached to TBWA\TAL, to deliver the invitation and the CD with entry details to Effie Awards 2010 organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) in association with Accredited Advertising Agencies Association (4As).

“We feel honored to have been selected to handle the promotional campaign for Effie Awards, a very prestigious event in Sri Lanka’s annual  advertising & marketing calendar”, says   TBWA\TAL & TEQUILA Managing Director Renuka Marshall.  “We are determined to create something exciting so that it will be remembered for a long time to come.”

The recent media conference to announce the Effie Awards 2010 featured a unique opening where the story of Andare and the ‘kiri’ episode was presented as a live “rukada” act.

While TBWA\TAL is in its 4th year of operations TEQUILA was established less than a year ago to offer clients holistic and integrated communication solutions beyond traditional advertising.  TEQUILA has already handled a number of brand launches, outdoor promotions, activation and other events which have given the clients wide exposure and positive results for their brands.  Among such major happenings was the name change of Eagle Insurance to Aviva NDB Insurance when two separate back to back events were organised at the Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre involving 3500 Aviva NDB office staff and Wealth Planners. During the Poson season, TEQUILA arranged a brand- marked train to take pilgrims free of charge from Anuradhapura to Mihintale and back for three days as part of the safety campaign conducted by Aviva NDB Insurance.

The introduction of the Laxapana metal-jacket battery was promoted among the fisher-folk when TEQUILA covered a good part of the country’s coastal belt meeting them on a one to one basis. Among other recent promotional campaigns handled were a host of events for Chevron Lubricants, Hemas Hospitals and Prima Kottumee.