Title | AURA INCENSE BARRICADE |
Brand | D'LAS INTERNATIONAL (PVT) LTD. |
Product / Service | AURA 'ALIYA' INCENSE STICK |
Category | F02. Environmental / Social Impact |
Entrant | TBWA\SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA |
Idea Creation | TBWA\SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA |
PR | TBWA\SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA |
PR 2 | MERCURY PUBLIC RELATIONS Colombo, SRI LANKA |
Production | 24 FRAMES Colombo, SRI LANKA |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Shyan Gershon | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Idea,Creative |
Nathasoruban Sivapatham | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Creative |
Subhash Pinnapola | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Creative |
Renuka Marshall | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Managing Director |
Shyan Gershon | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Idea,Creative |
Shyan Gershon | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Idea,Creative |
Buddika Rathnayake | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Creative, Designing |
Chaminda Molligoda | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Writing |
Sachithra Gunarathna | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Creative |
Gayan Perera | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Client Servicing |
Shermeel Gunaratne | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Client Servicing |
Gordon White | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Client Servicing |
Mohamed Ikram | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Production coordination |
Saminda Rupasinghe | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Studio Manager |
Mayura Sesath | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Graphic Designer |
Lishanthi De Silva | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Content writing |
Shalini Rupesinghe | TBWA\Sri Lanka | Strategy |
Daham Weerawansa | Mercury Public Relations | PR Consultant |
Sulochana Perera | Mercury Public Relations | PR Consultant |
Harsha Karunarathna | 24frames | Video production |
Shyan Gershon | 24 Frames | Direction |
Chamath Hasanka | 24 Frames | Photo Direction |
Charitha Attalage | 24 Frames | Audio |
Thilina Rajapaksha | 24 Frames | Editing |
Nipuna Vidarshana | 24 Frames | Graphics |
Rivinu Amanda | 24 Frames | Graphics |
The human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka is at its worst. This conflict claims the lives of approximately 70 humans and 300 elephants with around 3000 homes attacked each year. In addition each year 10 million US dollars worth of crops are damaged by elephants which is detrimental to the poor farmer’s livelihood and to the country’s agricultural economy overall. The existing measures taken to prevent humans and elephants coming into contact have been ineffective. This has led to people using guns, poison, electrocution, and other harmful methods such as a ‘hakka patas’, which are tiny, round explosives to scare away elephants that result in the tragic death of the animal. These methods have drastically diminished the elephant population in Sri Lanka, and today the species has become endangered. Our challenge therefore was to find a solution that would keep both humans and elephants separate and keep them safe.
Those affected by this conflict are villagers in rural areas. To find a solution, we examined the daily lifestyle of the villagers along with the characteristics of elephants and the times at which they break into villages. As a ritual the villagers pray everyday in the early morning and in the evening hoping for a peaceful existence. Coincidentally these were the times elephants break into villages. It’s also scientifically proven that elephants are mammals with a highly developed sense of smell. When the villagers pray they always light incense sticks as a custom. We thought these incense sticks could do more. They could offer a solution, and save lives. Thus the Aura Incense Barricade idea came to be, facilitated by the Aura ‘Aliya’ incense stick (‘Aliya’ means Elephant). This idea transformed the ordinary incense stick into a powerful elephant repellent by creating an invisible barricade between humans and elephants.
As the end users were rural villagers we created a product that would fit into their daily life – an incense stick to repel elephants, when villagers light it to pray everyday. We conducted research and developed this incense stick by combining five non-toxic, elephant repelling, natural ingredients - ginger, lemon grass, citronella, palma rosa and patchouli. We created a 12 inch incense stick, with a 15.7mm circumference, which would burn for an extended time of 5 ½ hours. In addition these sticks were developed to emit their fragrance parallel to the ground for a minimum radius of 20 meters. Elephants would sense the fragrance from afar and avoid the area.
During the past three years (2016 – 2018), Aura collaborated with the Wildlife Department of Sri Lanka to test the Aura ‘Aliya’ Incense Stick; the results have shown a 100% success rate with zero intrusions on villages. This positive outcome resulted in the Wildlife Department of Sri Lanka distributing it among the effected villages. The easy acceptance of the incense stick by the villagers was due to our product fitting into their daily routine without creating any behavioral change. This project has gained coverage on a national level with 17 newspapers, and over 30 mass media stations commending us on our effort. It has also spread its reach with 1.1million social media impressions. These efforts have continued to keep over 4000 elephants and 2 million humans separate and safe, all the while boosting the image of Aura as a brand that took the concept of wellbeing to the next level.