MAWBIMA-MOSQUITO REPELLANT PAPER

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Case Film

Presentation Board

TitleMAWBIMA-MOSQUITO REPELLANT PAPER
BrandCEYLON NEWSPAPERS
Product / ServiceMAWBIMA
CategoryB01. Education & Awareness
EntrantLEO BURNETT SOLUTIONS Colombo, SRI LANKA
Entrant Company LEO BURNETT SOLUTIONS Colombo, SRI LANKA
Advertising Agency LEO BURNETT SOLUTIONS Colombo, SRI LANKA
Media Agency STARCOM WORLDWIDE Colombo, SRI LANKA
Production Company X TEN STUDIO Colombo, SRI LANKA
Production Company 2 INFINITY PICTURES Kohuwela, SRI LANKA

Credits

Name Company Position
Trevor Kennedy Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Chief Creative Officer
Sithum Walter Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Creative Group Head
Shayani Obeyesekera Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Senior Art Director
Eraj Wirasinha Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Creative Director
Michael Holsinger Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer
Athula Kathriarachchi Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Creative Director
Malaka Samith Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Copy Writer
Shivanthi Jayasinghe Arc Worldwide Sri Lanka Director
Tasneem Siddiqqe Arc Worldwide Sri Lanka Public Relations Executive
Sean Pompeus Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Senior Brand Manager
Nilusha Wanasinghe Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka Senior Media Manager
Chandani Abeyrathne Starcom Worldwide Sri Lanka Media Manager
Jayantha Liyanage Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Digitial Artist
Mehnaz Ilhamdeen Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Director Operations
Dennis Mather Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Senior Executive Digital Art Production
Prasad Chaturanga Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Illustrator
Nadeera Warawita Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Visualiser
Hassan Samdin Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Visualiser
Dileep Kulathunga Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Associate Creative Director
Farzad Mohideen Leo Burnett Solutions Inc Creative Group Head
Caryll Van Dort Arc Worldwide Sri Lanka Director Public Relations
Roshenka Jayamaha Arc Worldwide Sri Lanka Group Head PR -Content & Strategy

The Campaign

In 2013, Dengue, the deadly mosquito-borne fever reached epidemic proportions in Sri Lanka. ‘Mawbima,’ an up and coming mass-market newspaper, wanted to make a difference. Our idea was to mix citronella essence, a natural repellent, with ink, and create the world’s first mosquito repellant newspaper. Mawbima’s campaign began with print ads and social media as well as posters with bus stop posters printed with our mosquito-repellant ink. Prevention patches were given to kids and informative articles on the illness ran in the paper. The campaign then concluded with the printing of the world’s first mosquito-repellant newspaper. Mawbima saw sales increase sales by 30% and readership rose by 300,000 people – more than the paper ever expected. The innovative paper featured in over 90 international media outlets and earned thousands of likes, shares and comments on social media.

The Brief

To educate middle and lower-class Sri Lankans on the seriousness of the Dengue epidemic, and to make them realise that the first step to avoid being infected is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, especially in the morning and evening.

Creative Execution

We started the campaign by creating letters in the style of the Mawbima masthead. Each character stopped a dengue mosquito from passing through. These letters were then used in press ads as well as posters at bus shelters, where they were printed with our innovative mosquito-repellent ink, so people wouldn’t be bitten. The paper also ran articles on preventing Dengue and gave school kids mosquito-prevention patches featuring the letters we created.

Despite a bigger print run, the paper sold out by 10am and increased sales by 30%, educating and protecting an additional 300,000 people – more than Mawbima ever expected. But its influence didn’t stop there. Mawbima’s innovative paper was commended by over 90 international media outlets, including the BBC, the Wall Street Journal and the Huffington Post. On social media, it earned thousands of likes and shares as well as high profile comments, including one from Bill Gates. The paper was even cited as an example of how the print industry could revive itself and publications around the world have shown a massive interest in copying the idea.

By mixing citronella essence, a highly effective natural repellent with ink, we could turn Mawbima into the world's first mosquito-repellent newspaper - a paper where every letter of every word helped people stop dengue. We could also use the ink for posters at bus shelters to stop people from being bitten. We believed innovative executions as well as informative articles in the papers would get people and the media talking and build a better understanding of the disease.