PRIMA KOTTUMEE RABAN MASHUP

TitlePRIMA KOTTUMEE RABAN MASHUP
BrandPRIMA
Product / ServiceKOTTUMEE
CategoryI05. Cultural Insight
EntrantTBWA\SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA
Idea Creation TBWA\SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA
Media Placement TBWA\SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA
Media Placement 2 MOMENTUS Colombo, SRI LANKA
Production TBWA\SRI LANKA Colombo, SRI LANKA

Credits

Name Company Position
Nathasoruban Sivapatham TBWA\Sri Lanka Chief Creative Officer
Renuka Marshall TBWA\Sri Lanka Managing Director
Shyan Gershon TBWA\Sri Lanka Associate Creative Director
Lanil Peiris TBWA\Sri Lanka Creative Director
Sajith Gunaratne Prima Group Sri Lanka Deputy General Manager
Achala Ramanayeka Prima Group Sri Lanka Marketing Manager
Ahmed Hassan TBWA\Sri Lanka Client Servicing Director
Shyan Gershon TBWA\Sri Lanka Art Director
Buddika Rathnayake TBWA\Sri Lanka Snr. Art Director
Manujaya Weerakoon TBWA\Sri Lanka Creative Writer
Asiri Allage TBWA\Sri Lanka Creative Writer
Chaminda Molligoda TBWA\Sri Lanka Creative Writer
Pasan Liyanage Red Fox Sound Designer
Rajiv Amarasinghe TBWA\Sri Lanka Client Servicing Group Head
Maleek Mufeen TBWA\Sri Lanka Digital Specialist
Shalini Rupesinghe TBWA\Sri Lanka Head of Strategy
Ranjana Disasekera TBWA\Sri Lanka AV Executive

Background

‘Avurudu’, is the traditional New Year in Sri Lanka, celebrated on April 14th with week-long rituals and celebrations. During the New Year, traditional drums known as ‘raban’ have been played every year for centuries. These drum beats are accompanied by traditional ‘raban’ songs, sung to the beat of the ‘raban’, which are popular among the youth. The purpose of beating the ‘raban’ and singing of ‘raban’ songs are to announce the arrival of the New Year with hope that the joy felt will continue throughout the year. This traditional communal activity revolves around groups of people coming together to herald the New Year. However, in March 2020, Sri Lanka went into lockdown similar to many other countries in the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During lockdown the traditional ‘raban’ songs could not be played as public gatherings were banned which in turn threatened this cultural tradition spanning over centuries.

Describe the strategy

Prima KottuMee is the most loved instant noodle brand in Sri Lanka favored by the youth. The brand at its core stands for fun, fashion and music, which caters directly to the youth lifestyle. During the time of avurudhu (due to lockdown), social gatherings were banned islandwide resulting in the low morale of the youth. To rejuvenate and restore the tradition of ‘raban’ amongst the youth, Prima KottuMee needed to find an innovative platform. In Sri Lanka, Tik Tok has gained high popularity among the Sri Lankan youth as a social platform with an estimated audience of over 2.4 Million. This made Tik Tok the ideal platform for the brand’s strategy. By using Tik Tok as the platform the brand was able to reinstate the tradition, and bring back that yearly joy, and the hope felt during the New Year, even during the Covid pandemic.

Describe the execution

Prima KottuMee took traditional and well-known ‘raban’ songs, compiled and recorded them into a track to create Sri Lanka’s first ‘raban’ mashup, the ‘Prima KottmuMee Raban Mashup’, which was a merge of tradition and new age media. Next Prima KottuMee called upon its Brand Ambassador Yohani, an upcoming, popular, contemporary young Sri Lankan singer; she was given the track and lyrics to perform the song. A notable fact was that this entire production was coordinated remotely and virtually due to the pandemic. This video was then released on Tik Tok and other social media platforms. The ‘Prima KottuMee Raban Mashup’ became an instant hit among the local Tik Tok audience; due to the brand reinstating the aspect of joy and the feeling of hope felt every New Year to the youth through a brand-new experience whilst sustaining this yearly tradition.

List the results

The ‘Prima KottuMee Raban Mashup’ was a new innovative experience, which revived and reinvented a cultural tradition. It spread the aspect of joy and the feeling of hope felt every New Year among the youth in a new way during an islandwide lockdown. Its popularity took the local youth audience by storm which was evident in the 3.2 Million social media impressions and 1.8 Million Tik Tok engagements. The popularity of the ‘Prima KottuMee Raban Mashup’ was picked up by the national media, which resulted in an estimated national media reach of 1 million. To date, the ‘Prima KottuMee Raban Mashup’ stands as the most successful brand communication campaign created for Tik Tok in Sri Lanka.

Please tell us about the cultural insight that inspired the work

The coming together of the youth to play ‘raban’, and to sing and perform ‘raban’ songs during the New Year is an activity that has been rooted in Sri Lankan culture and tradition for centuries. As people sing and beat the drums, their one hope, as they herald the New Year happily is that the fun and joyfulness they feel will last and continue throughout the New Year. This activity has been a long-standing tradition in Sri Lanka whilst the hope of a joy-filled New Year has remained unchanged over centuries. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdown, and people told to stay home, the question remained, how could such a communal cultural tradition take place?

Links

Social Media URL   |   Social Media URL   |   Video URL