Athula Mahawalage,
Conceptualist/CEO, A.M. Kreations
By Ruvini Jayasinghe
Writer, script writer, journalist, photographer, designer, cartoonist, artist, musician, art director, music director, creative director, conceptualist, marketing guru, CEO……Who is he?
The man behind these titles Athula Mahawalage, simply describes himself as a “happy man,” leaning back in his chair, with a broad smile, at his plush multi-storied office in Colombo 08, when we met him for a chat.
It was an arduous and courageous journey that Mahawalage, Conceptualist and CEO of AM Kreations, made, to reach this otherwise utopian status that makes him a true entrepreneur and a unique personality.
Life offers opportunities to one and all; some grab them; others dodge them or shy away. It is the sheer entrepreneurship, determination and grit of the man, the unwavering belief in himself that has made him what he is today…a jack of many trades, but master of them all, as well.
His inspiration is art and knowledge; his heroes, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein. With an uncanny resemblance to the latter, the diminutive Mahawalage is a game changer who is a living inspiration to young entrepreneurs on how to make it the long, hard way to the status of a “happy man.”
Mahawalage lives by some hard and solid rules in the game: never undercut, always give excellence in service and work hard. And never be afraid of chasing your dreams and making a living out of your hobbies or passions.
For indeed, it was Mahawalage’s hobbies, passions and his creative talents that led him to be the owner of a group of companies, namely; AM Kreations Pte Ltd., (marketing consultants) FilmAgeMedia (film and video production company) Toby’s Estate Colombo (coffee house and restaurant) Lanka Premium (bottled drinking water company) and Eli & Dri (interior solutions company).
But it is not the mere fact that he owns these group of companies that makes the man the colorful, forceful, inspiring marketing consultant, conceptualist, strategist and advertising personality that he is.
Rather, it is a sheer talent and flair for creativity, the knack of pouncing on opportunities and turning it into a lucrative business and the undaunted conviction of a brave, headstrong young man to dump an academic career in bio science and go after his dreams, was the secret of his success.
“My father was an accountant and mother an artist. My parents and close relatives wanted me to continue my studies in Bio Science, but it was just my decision against all opposition to take the challenge to prove myself and my talents through my creativity that made me what I’am today,” Mahawalage says.
His first opportunity to test his skills in designing came when he was assigned the task of designing the logo for the film Sikuruliya. At that time, his cartoons were published in tabloids for both adults and children. With the adrenalin of success shooting up his veins, the young Mahawalage was ready to take on more challenges.
He embarked on a career path that was rocky and treacherous, immersing himself in anything and everything that came under the umbrella of creativity or photographic skills, doubling and trebling up as a photographer, designer, writer and indeed a jack of all trades.
Mahawalage is expressive, indeed gregarious about his life and achievements. Talking to him is like reading his biography. His razor sharp / photographic memory recounts incidents, opportunities and twists and turns in his career and its triumphs and of course failures, with minute details and an overload of humor. Possessing the happy distinction of being able to laugh at himself or at situations he was placed in, it is clear that he took all that in his stride as he coursed through a journey in advertising, media and marketing to reach the pinnacle.
His game changing moves, tactics and campaigns of remarkable innovation and daring spirit are stuff that make marketing marvels for young entrepreneurs.
LOGO CREATION
While his early years were spent, trying his hand at drawing cartoons, designing mastheads for newspapers and logos for films, Mahawalage hit several jackpots. He is the man behind the controversial newspaper ‘Ravaya’s logo. Editor, Victor Ivan commissioned him and he once again ditched tradition by designing Sri Lanka’s first free hand masthead for a newspaper. He also designed the mastheads for publications like ‘Lakbima’, ‘Deshaya’ and ‘Desathiya’. And much to the chagrin of advertisers, maybe, once again thinking out of the box, created sweeping mastheads which edged out the traditional ear spaces on either side of the top of the front page! A majority of national newspapers have followed that trend since and publish their papers in this style at present.
His journalism led him into the field of cinema where he interviewed the then star duo, Rukmani Devi and Eddie Jayamanne. With his entry into the cinema world, Mahawalage won some valuable contracts in over 25 films where he undertook all the publicity material like advertising, logos, print media, etc.
Developing parallelly with his creative talents and establishing himself in cinema, was his foray into photography where Mahawalage worked with two top names in design then, Ralex Ranasinghe and Nalin Wijesekara. He was also the official photographer from Sri Lanka for 13 international magazines including Asia Business, Textile Asia and Flight International, Asia International, Tax Free Trader, Asian Business and Seafood International.
Mahawalage next ventured into fashion photography and was the official photographer for the Miss Sri Lanka pageants then. He then dabbled with calendar photography and created another stir with his streak of daring and adventure, making calendar covers the talk of the town with the images of attractive models and film stars! Mahawalage completely changed the concept of calendars, which traditionally depicted images of deities, babies, animals, beetle leaves, oil lamps, animals, flowers, etc.
ANOTHER FIRST WITH PHOTOGRAPHY
Mahawalage scored another first in photography by introducing models to wedding photo shoots. His first model was a Malay girl whom he photographed as a bride in a Kandyan saree! Back then models were not used in bridal photoshoots and real brides were used in wedding photography.
Mahawalage’s entry and successful work in logos, branding, rebranding and overall campaigns was a natural progression of his creativity and hunger for innovation.
The Janashkthi founder and Chairman, Mr. Chandra Schaffter together with Board Director Tryphon Mirando invited Mahawalage to design a logo for their insurance company Janashakthi. The logo he designed was a simple oil lamp, symbolic of the light, given life, through karma (the lamp’s wick) and ayusha (fate/life). The oil lamp he says, was the only photographic logo at the time it was created. The logo, depicting concepts of Buddhist philosophy was designed to have mass appeal to the nation, was a strategic shift in design depicted through a simple symbol of an oil lamp.
Interestingly, he says: “In any concept 80% of weightage is for the content and 20% for the visual. Color and typography also have to blend with the message the content conveys.” “Do not write one word without a reason,” he adds.
While Mahawalage worked himself into the field of marketing and advertising, he identifies two campaigns as clear game changers and his favorites for that reason.
The Nestomalt campaign’s tough challenge was to completely change the identity of the malt drink from a health drink for the elderly, to an energy drink for youth. The campaign was initially launched in the early 1990s, with two high profile marketing personalities who were at Nestle Lanka at that time Mr. Trevor Reckerman and Mr. Habib Idiris, from Malaysia.
Mahawalage working together with these two gentlemen and using their marketing expertise, created a new personality for Nestomalt using a popular tele drama actress at that time, giving new life to the relaunched product. Several themed TV ads were created. One of them was the Tele-Drama themed series which featured “to be continued” at every advertisement. The “Balaya, Javaya, Shakthiya” payoff line was a phenomenal success for the brand and Mahawalage was the man responsible for this concept too.
Nestomalt went through a complete rejuvenation with this rebranding exercise and positioned itself as the first cup of “tea” for the day. The campaign also humanized the malted drink by using people instead of dairy cows or a cup of milk.
More recently, Mahawalage spread his magic on the rebranding of the People’s Bank. Mr. Hemasiri Fernando, who is himself and artist and a writer spearheaded the rebranding and concept change of People’s Bank. The bank was in the process of digitalizing its processes and Mahawalage’s task was to infuse new life and energy to an established brand.
With the blessings and input of Mr. Fernando, once again, he came up with a game changing solution using colors and a mix of them to change the Bank’s corporate identity, and make the 60-year-old bank appealing to the younger generation.
The People’s Bank rebranded logo and new colors decorating their nationwide ATMs, lemon
green, depicting paperless banking for a cleaner environment, and a golden yellow and deep red, depicting a strong identity.
“The changes were done with the core values of the bank in tact but with enhanced identity,” Mahawalage said.
“The thought process was achieved through a marketing analysis and was not just a design concept. The biggest challenge was changing the visual identity of the bank with the largest account base in the country, “he added.
“I personally consider “Nestomalt” and “People’s Bank” advertising makeovers to be my creative magnum opus in my advertising and marketing careers.”
While making waves in advertising and marketing with his game changing campaigns, Mahawalage has also tried his hand at publishing and his Sinhala tabloid ‘Ridma’ was a collection of interesting and great stories form other publications.
He wrote lyrics and music for many radio jingles in his work in the advertising field. “Music is my hobby,” he said revealing yet another of his creative talents.
Such is the diversity of the man whose intense creativity does not let him slow down, let alone give up. ….
ANY MORE CHALLENGES?
I’ve always wanted to direct a film. In fact, I’ve already produced an award winning, internationally acclaimed film called “Premaya Nam”, which was screened in 2017. I yearn to direct a film and shoot it myself.
“Also, I am a constant learner,” he responds immediately. “I have an abundance of experience and knowledge to share with the younger generation. I am still a lecturer at several local universities. Knowledge sharing is my philosophy in life. I have to keep improving my knowledge to keep up with the growing trends.” “However, technology is nothing without creativity,” he declares.
While Mahawalage’s business acumen is now legendary, his advise to young entrepreneurs reflects his style of business. Mahawalage says, “Don’t evaluate projects based on money, but charge properly for worthwhile projects undertaken.”
“I also want to write books,” he says.
Is it your biography we asked?
“In fact, that is one of the few things that I have not got around to doing,” he says with that disarming smile.
