The Campaign

By extracting the pigment contained in these temple flower offerings, we created Petal Paint. A range of safe, long-lasting paints and used them for the creation and restoration of temple art. The paint was extracted in five colours - blue, yellow, red, white and orange - which represent the 5 colors of the halo that emanated from the Buddha when he attained enlightenment. Through Petal Paint, flowers offered at temples have now gained a new purpose beyond a single offering, making them live forever on temple walls in an eternal incarnation that will never fade away.

The Brief

• Overall budget – USD 6,500 • Breakdown of costs production cost for communication – USD 6,500 / Media USD 2,500 • Paid Media budget– USD 5,000

Creative Execution

Vast quantities of discarded flowers were collected from temples across the island and carefully separated to 5 colours - blue, yellow, red, white and orange. By extracting each colour from the pigments, the innovative Petal Paint was developed. The paint was then donated to temples to preserve and restore temple art. Petal Paint was also made available at the showrooms of the manufacturer – JAT Paints, for devotees to paint their personal shrine rooms at home. Petal Paint was manufactured in the colours of Lotus Red, Pigeonwing Blue, Trumpet Yellow, Marigold Orange and Temple Flower White. These colours were in 5 different volumes; Orange (1890 ml), White (946 ml), Red (473 ml), Yellow (236 ml) and Blue (118 ml). Each packaging was intricately labelled with a design derived from temple art itself while the same flowers were used in each of the instore posters at the showrooms of the manufacturer.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Using the latest technology in paint manufacturing, JAT was able to produce 50 litres of paint from every 2114 kilograms of dried flower petals. Leading local News media channels featured the launch of Petal Paint long with international media. In addition to finding a meaningful way to use the discards, the initiative also helped to reduce the daily waste from temple sites across the country, keeping it out of landfills and easing the burden on garbage collectors. All in all, the entire process fused art and creativity with sustainability – whilst most importantly, preserving the reverence of the flowers.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

In Buddhism flowers signify the impermanence of life. Their highest purpose is to become an altar offering. But due to the high volume of daily worshipers, flowers offered at temples get discarded quickly. This results in millions of fresh flowers getting wasted daily. By extracting the pigment contained in these offerings, we created Petal Paint, in the 5 colors of Buddha’s halo. With Petal Paint used to preserve and restore temple art that inspires devotion, devotees personally experienced the reason for the Brand. Petal Paint was also made available at JAT showrooms for devotees to paint their home shrine rooms.

We sought to create relevancy of the brand JAT Paints in the lives of Sri Lankans by creating a social impact. We decided to reach the Buddhists, the majority religion of Sri Lankans. We needed to reach devotees of all age groups across the country who visit temples - especially those who visit the temple on full moon Poya days (occurring monthly) and offer up volumes and volumes of flowers as worship which is regular practice.