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SUB CATEGORY :
EDUCATION
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ENTRANT COMPANY :
OGILVY SRI LANKA, COLOMBO
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TITLE :
NOTEBOOKS THAT KEEP ON GIVING
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BRAND :
PROMATE
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ADVERTISER :
PRINTXCEL (PVT) LTD
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AGENCY :
OGILVY SRI LANKA, COLOMBO
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CHAIRMAN :
IRVIN WEERACKODY
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER :
SANCHARITHA JAYATHILAKE (FORMER)
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MANAGING DIRECTOR :
LALITH SUMANASIRI
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ART DIRECTOR :
NADEERA WARAWITA
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COPYWRITER :
SAKUNA RANASINGHE
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AGENCY PRODUCER :
INOKA DISSANAYAKE
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CLIENT SERVICE DIRECTOR :
SHIVAN JAYASURIYA
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ACCOUNT DIRECTOR :
SHERMEEL GUNARATNE
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FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :
KNOCK KNOCK FILM, COLOMBO
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DIRECTOR :
MALAKA NILWALA
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DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY :
CHANAKA WIJAMUNIGE
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ASSISTANT DIRECTOR :
KALANI WEERASOORIYA
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FILM PRODUCER :
NUWAN JAYASOORIYA
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PRODUCTION MANAGER :
MADURANGA ROSHAN
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PRODUCTION ASSISTANT :
M PATHINAYAKA
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MUSIC DIRECTOR :
MADHUN DISSANAYAKE
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LIGHT & EQUIPMENT :
MAGIC LANTERN (PVT) LTD
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CASTING :
ACHINI BANDARANAYAKE
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STYLIST :
PASINDU KESHAN
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WARDROBE :
ROSHAN INDRAJITH
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HAIR & MAKE-UP :
SAMARASIRI KANDANAGE
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CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :
In 2022, acute foreign exchange shortages led to skyrocketing inflation and widespread civil unrest. The government imposed stringent import restrictions to conserve foreign reserves, including on paper. This caused the price of stationary to triple overnight.
A typical schoolchild used and discarded between 10-20 notebooks every year. Most of these ended up becoming compost and pulp. In a country with over 4 million students in government schools alone, this amounted to 40-80 million notebooks – 8 million tons of paper, per annum, on average – precious paper, used once, then discarded.
But what other use could there be for used notebooks? Once they were used, they were done, right?
Wrong.
There was indeed a segment of students for whom used notebooks were as good as new: the visually challenged students.
To a blind student, writings left on a notebook by a previous owner were invisible. Besides, blind students were hit hardest by the scarcity: due to Braille writing, they required roughly three times as much paper as their sighted peers. Educational institutions tried their best, but this was beyond their capacity. All this, while literally tons of books were being reduced to pulp every year.
As Promate, a leading stationery provider, we launched a campaign to collect used notebooks. We created a video educating Sri Lankans about the “second life” of a used notebook and used social media to amplify it. We also showed them how to donate them.
We got tons of results – over 20 tons, really, within weeks. Not only did we end up collecting over twice the requirement of our blind students for an entire year, but we managed to leave a lasting lesson for all of Sri Lanka: “Notebooks keep giving”.
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CREATIVITY/IDEA/INSIGHT :
A typical schoolchild uses and discards between 10-20 notebooks every year. Given Sri Lanka has over 4,000,000 sighted students in government schools alone, that was around 2-8 tons of precious paper, used once.
In 2022, paper imports were heavily restricted due to a dollar shortage. The price of stationery tripled. While everyone suffered, the visually challenged students were worse off. Because they used the Braille system, they required as many as three times more stationary than sighted students. All this while 2-8 tons of used notebooks were being reduced to pulp. What Sri Lankans did not realise was that for blind students, used notebooks were as good as new.
Sri Lankans love to donate. Despite being a country of just 22 million people, Sri Lanka remains the world’s largest eye donor and consistently ranks among the top ten countries in blood donations. Generosity is a part of Sri Lankan DNA. It was a matter of triggering the spirit of sharing, with the right message.
Hence our campaign concept: “Notebooks that keep on giving”.
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STRATEGY :
The annual requirement for a visually challenged student is 48 notebooks. There were 873 permanently blind students studying in special schools. Thus, our campaign objective was to collect at least 41,904 used notebooks to fulfil the annual requirement, ensuring that every blind student enrolled in a Sri Lankan government school had access to the necessary paper.
Sri Lankans are heavy social media users. Over 8 million Sri Lankans had a Facebook account, and most of them were actively engaged. For social movements and causes such as this, social media was the ideal media channel. However, given the strict controls placed by the government on dollar outflow, the amount of dollars we could spend on social media was severely limited. Our only chance lay in creating exactly one piece of content that would go viral.
We decided to go ahead with a video because it was our best chance to tell an emotionally appealing story. We created an asset with a strong emotional pull that resonated with sighted Sri Lankan students and captivated the nation.
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EXECUTION :
We developed a film exclusively for social media, centred on the idea of “hand-me-downs.” Our film makes an emotional plea: pass it on once you’ve used your notebook. Like a hand-me-down, the film was also designed to be passed on. The call to action was direct: drop off your used notebooks of any brand at one of our outlets.
Our media budget was a mere 165 US dollars, but we counted on our fellow Sri Lankans to get hooked on the message and share it organically. Although virality is not guaranteed, we knew our audience intimately and we crafted our film to maximise its chances:
• Engaging Content: Our video was designed to be emotional, featuring a ‘lump in throat’ moment when the viewer realises the younger brother's love for his elder brother.
• Strong Hook: We captured attention within the first few seconds by opening with a complaint from the younger brother.
• Authenticity: We insisted on authenticity, casting a real blind child as the elder brother.
• Uniqueness: The film features a memorable twist when the viewer realises the younger brother gets “hand-me-down” clothes from his older brother, who gets “hand-me-down” notebooks from his younger brother.
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RESULT :
Our campaign results were beyond our expectations.
The campaign collected 101,326 used notebooks, more than double the 41,904 used notebooks that we aimed for – in short, over 20 tons of used (and reusable) notebooks. Our aim was to sustain the blind students for a whole year, but we got enough books for them to last over two years.
Our film recorded 7,124,041 impressions and 36,161 positive reactions on social media. It was shared 67,483 times on social media. The average engagement rate in Sri Lanka for video content posted on social media is 1% - 2%. Our film recorded an engagement rate of 4%, demonstrating just how captivating our film was. 12% of our viewership was generated from our film being shared, a testament to its virality.
For most brands in Sri Lanka, traffic from external sources (i.e. outside of their social media pages) is usually only 1% of the total. In the case of our film, 14% of the traffic was generated from external sources – mostly WhatsApp – which proves just how shareable our content was.
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