Sri Lanka’s first specialist shelf-out O2O agency ‘Newton Lanka’ debuts

Monday, 5 March 2018 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Newton Lanka, Sri Lanka’s first specialist “Shelf Out Shopper Marketing Agency” has been launched in Colombo with an aim to help brands develop Offline-2-Online Campaigns.

Newton Lanka is an extension of its Malaysian counterpart, Newton TAC and offers Shelf-Out thinking –and Shopper Marketing with a belief in doing things the unconventional way.

Speaking on the venture, Strategic Investor of Newton Lanka and CEO of Newton TAC Malaysia Mahesh Neelakantan said: “The decision to launch Newton in Sri Lanka stemmed from the belief that the local market was ready for a disruptive and entrepreneurial approach to creativity, helping brands thrive and stand out in today’s highly contested environment. While brands have been doing Shopper Marketing in some form or the other for a while, it is currently being under-leveraged. There is an opportunity for NEWTON to partner brands and retailers and we believe the timing is right for us to be uniquely positioned to offer this specialized service in Sri Lanka.”

While traditional ATL (above the line) media will still play a role in building awareness and triggering subtle perception changes, Shopper Marketing has a more direct, effective and immediate impact on the consumer’s purchase decision.

Shopper Marketing is all about understanding how customers behave as ‘shoppers’, understanding their ‘Purchase Decision Hierarchy and developing communication and ideas to engage them when they are in ‘Shopper’ Mode. It is time to relook at Shopper Marketing as more than just ‘Below -the-line’ communication or sales promotion activity’ and instead explore the opportunities of Marketing to the Shopper in an ‘Always On’ mode to help brands win at the Shelf.

The Newton Lanka team is currently made up of 14 young and enterprising ‘idea-preneurs’ and is led by Director - Reshad Mohideen and Creative Director - Rushain Rodrigo.

Newton Lanka’s current list of core clients include Fonterra and Hemas with whom they are carrying out effective campaigns since inception.

“We want to be an agency known for ideas and making them happen is our entrepreneurial spirit and ‘start-up’ approach, hence the term “idea-preneurs,” says Neelakantan.