Brand New Year!
We Sri Lankans are so lucky to have the opportunity of celebrating two new years in a given year. As the whole world celebrates the dawn of the New Year on the 31st midnight (1st of Jan) we Sri Lankans too welcome the New Year with new plans and hopes. For the corporate fraternity, this is an important day as they begin the annual plan for the year which usually is referred to as the calendar year. The offices are usually branded with annual internal marketing themes on the 1st January to mark the new journey. However, Q1 ends on the
31st March and usually in the Sri Lankan corporate calendar, March is considered as the month with highest sales for most consumer brands and readymade garment outlets etc. as majority of Sri Lankans get ready to celebrate the traditional Sinhalese and Tamil New Year. For this reason, most of the companies annual plans are drawn from 1st April to 31st March. Sinhalese and Tamil New Year celebration is the biggest festive season for Sri Lankans and it lasts for a week. Not many organizations function properly during this season as most employees go on holiday to see their parents, relations and friends during this season.
From a corporate point of view, the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year vacation is an opportunity to begin the new year with new energy, new hopes and new solutions. After executing plans for the first quarter, the corporate sector gets an excellent opportunity to make corrections and rebrand the year to succeed for the remaining 9th months. Therefore, it’s important to re-visit all plans, actions and results before the dawn of the New Year in April to make sure there is a refreshed start to achieve targets and to drive teams to achieve the objectives set for the year.
There are many campaigns which are targeting the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year season as it brings the highest volume and value of sales in most of the categories. F&B, building material, ready-made garments are the main categories which record the highest sales of the year during this season. This is an important event for brand marketers as it allows them to bring best wishes for the same year twice. It also is the season with highest temperature in Sri Lanka and needless to mention what opportunities it brings to certain brands such as carbonated soft drinks and ice cream etc. It also is the season of Spring which has the best output of mother-nature that includes trees full of flowers and fruits. By all means, the April season is the best season for Sri Lankan brand marketers to bring about any new changes that are required to be introduced to organizational plans.
The New Year in April is also important as it unites Sinhalese and Tamils to re-celebrate the customs that they have been following together for centuries. The auspicious times are all about performing one uniform act at a given time as one nation that is a true sign of unity. Therefore, as a tiny but an elegant nation in the Indian Ocean, we have been able to be together for centuries celebrating the journey of the Sun from one zodiac sign to anther making it an important day of the annual calendar. We should also not forget the Sri Lankans live around the world celebrating the New Year. Let this New Year bring a brandnew beginning to all the brands which have been under tremendous pressure over the last couple of years to serve the nation and make Sri Lankans Happy!