American & Efird Lanka (A&E Lanka), a Portfolio Company of Elevate Textiles, became the only Apparel company to take home multiple awards at the 12th Effie Awards held recently at the Monarch Imperial.
The joint entry made by A&E, Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and Triad for “Life Chant” Dengue Awareness campaign won Merit awards in four categories including ‘Nonprofit/Pro-bono/Public Service’, ‘Disease Awareness / Education Advocacy’, ‘Media Innovation’ and ‘Influencers’.
The innovative campaign focused on educating slum dwellers in Colombo that their actions such as improper waste disposal and poor water storage were resulting in the creation of dengue mosquito breeding spots. In these poverty-stricken areas religion takes prominence with the highest density of religious shrines present. Educative chants on dengue mosquito breeding were written, recorded and recited by monks. These chants were aired during morning and evening pirith through loudspeakers in temples and shrines situated in the heart of the slums spreading the message to the entire community. Monks also visited the slums and educated people on dengue breeding, tied special ‘Life Thread’ (pirith nool) that was infused with citronella oil and with the pattern of the unique marking of the dengue mosquito as a reminder to clean breeding spots. The campaign resulted in over 300 homes being cleared of dengue breeding spots, 1.9 million people reached through shrines and radio, and 92% recall of dengue breeding spots.
Commenting on their involvement and the win, Sanjay Chandraratna – Director Sales & Marketing, A&E Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, stated, “We are proud to have made such an impact with our ‘Life Chant’ campaign by taking home as many as 4 Merit awards. We are thankful to our partners the Colombo Municipal Council and Triad for joining hands with us to make the campaign a very successful one. These award wins truly highlight what we can achieve when we collaborate and work together with one goal in mind.”
Dr. R.L.De.S.Wijayamuni – Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) commented, “The Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council is responsible for safeguarding the health of the citizens of Colombo and takes a lead role in public health related communication. Under its purview is the eradication of dengue. With the increasing population in the city and suburbs this is a significant challenge. We are thankful that A&E and Triad stepped forward to help us carry this important lifesaving message to the people who need to hear it the most.”
Sharing his thoughts on the campaign, Shehan Samarasinghe – Chief Strategy Officer, Triad, “This initiative focused on an often-overlooked segment of society and drove behaviour change among them. The combination of Life Chants (educative chants on dengue mosquito breeding) played during morning and evening prayers, the very time the dengue mosquito is most active together with the tying of the Life Thread (the pirith noola redesigned based on the dengue mosquito insignia) meant a constant reminder that dengue breeding is literally in their hands.”
American & Efird (A&E), a Portfolio Company of Elevate Textiles, is the largest U.S. manufacturer and the world’s foremost manufacturer and distributor of premium quality industrial and consumer sewing thread, embroidery thread and technical textiles. With a reputation of over 130 years, A&E’s global presence extends from Asia to Europe and the Americas. A&E Lanka has been in operation in Sri Lanka since 1991 supporting Sri Lankan Apparel Manufacturers to position Sri Lanka’s Apparel Industry as the ‘Preferred Ethical Apparel Sourcing Destination’ on the global sourcing map.
The Effie Awards was launched in 1968 by the New York American Marketing Association as an awards program to honour the most effective advertising efforts. Organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), the local Effie Awards is a highly anticipated event that is celebrated by advertising agencies and marketers as the most distinguished honour in the industry. The awards recognise all forms of effective marketing communications that contribute towards a brand’s success while also providing significant insights to effective marketing strategy.