Sri Lanka Tea Board to launch US$ 50 million global promotional campaign in Russia in September
Authorities in Sri Lanka’s tea sector are to reportedly launch the US$ 50 million global promotional campaign in Moscow, Russia this September.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board through this venture hopes to boost awareness of Ceylon Tea among 12 important markets.
It is the first time in the 150 years of Ceylon Tea that the Government is conducting a massive global promotion campaign of this magnitude, the local media has reported.
Accordingly, after the launch of the promotion, it is to be followed by the advertising and publicity campaign scheduled in the Ukrainian tea market in October and the promotional campaign drive will then move to the two vital Far Eastern countries; Japan and China.
The other target markets within the campaign include the US, Australia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Chile and Germany.
“A total budget of Rs. 5.5 billion (US$ 50 million) has been allocated for this unprecedented propaganda campaign,” Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake has told a media briefing in Colombo.
Noting that Russia is one of the most important destinations for Ceylon Tea, Minister Dissanayake has told Daily FT that Russia had been allocated Rs. 600 million, while Ukraine had been allocated Rs. 200 million under the campaign until 2021.
Dissanayake has further observed that the rollout plan would be decided by the Marketing Committee.
The Minister has noted that they had refocused their promotion campaign from expensive traditional methods to more effective social media platforms to reach out to a larger audience.
“When we started the campaign it was focused more on conventional mediums, but in the process there have been different thoughts coming through on the use of social media platforms to get across to the young generation of tea drinkers. Now more funds have been refocused on social media platform promotions,” Dissanayake has added.
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka has given priority to the country’s tea industry in order to regain the topmost slot enjoyed by Ceylon Tea in the global market. The proposed promotional campaign would definitely help boost Sri Lankan tea in the global market. A report recently published on CNN, on the high value placed on Ceylon Tea in the UK once again placed tea produced in Sri Lanka at the helm of the global tea industry. Sri Lanka’s tea industry has many business/investment opportunities since it is in need of upliftment. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tea industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/22072019/Z_7 |