- Sri Lanka’s biggest creator event hosted by Tikable
On 9 December 2021, Tikable, the premier Gen-Z marketing agency in Sri Lanka, hosted the island’s largest ever creator event at the Trace Expert City Auditorium. With Domino’s Pizza (Jubilant Foodworks Lanka Ltd.) as the title sponsor, along with SLT-Mobitel (Pvt.) Ltd. as the main sponsor, the event saw Sri Lanka’s top platform influencers under one roof for an evening full of creativity, inspiration, and fun. Brunch was the official digital media partner for the event.
The event kicked off with TV presenter and content creator Saasha Karunarathne taking the audience through a walk down memory lane, as she got candid about how she first saw TikTok, and how that impression changed to a much more positive one as time went by. She spoke about her learning curve and how she discovered her creativity through the platform, as she was constantly pushed to be as creative as possible. Speaking to Brunch, the Media Partner for the event, Karunarathne shared: “I feel that TikTok really pushes you to be as creative as possible, because it is a scroll fest and people will move on to the next thing if you don’t grab their attention in seconds.” She also added that TikTok has all the filters and tools, and offers a lot of help to any content creator, on the app itself, to become as creative as possible, without the need to use external apps.
Digital creator Eric Heinrichs took the stage next, speaking of how he first started out on TikTok, inspired by how his wife would occasionally call out to her mother while Heinrichs was Facetiming her. Heinrichs also spoke about the monetisation potential that one has as an influencer and shared his own insights about social media as an influencer. Heinrichs also led the largest official gathering of influencers in Sri Lanka for an impromptu TikTok video, for the chocolate Barbie trend.
Tikable Founder and Blendmedia (Pvt.) Ltd. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nipun Liyanapathirana also shared his thoughts with Brunch, stating: “Tikable originated initially as the first company in Sri Lanka that offered TikTok marketing services. However, we are now transforming into a Gen-Z marketing agency. So, the vision for this event, Get Tiked, was to bring content creators who are predominantly on platforms that create short form content, like TikTok, under one roof.”
The panel discussion at the event featured creators Denathi Pussegoda, Chethana Ketagoda, Amandha Amarasekara, Ramod Malaka, and was moderated by Fahad Farook, where each of them discussed the many and diversified benefits of TikTok, the potential the platform offers to content creators, and what their personal experiences have been like since they got on TikTok.
Content creator and model Amandha Amarasekara shared: “I think this event is great because we get to meet other content creators. Usually our audience sees us and we don’t see them, but this event brings a lot of people together, who have also helped us get to where we are today.”
Attorney-at-Law, Hindi lecturer, and creator Chethana Ketagoda shared her thoughts with us, stating that to her, TikTok has been nothing short of a “life-saver”, in that, it has allowed her to explore so many different parts of herself, especially because of the fact that she has more than one career pursuit. Domino’s Pizza Branding Manager Shanuri Gamhewa extended her best wishes to all the influencers and Tikable for the incredible work they have been doing.
When TikTok first made its appearance in Sri Lanka, the platform was met with much head-nodding, raised eyebrows, and apprehension. Cut to about five years later, the platform is not just gaining momentum, but also levelling the playing field for content creators from all walks of life, backgrounds, as well as brands. With trends that are taking the world by storm day in day out, and a whole host of catchy new features that come in frequently, TikTok is all set to be the platform that really brings out the creative best in anyone who chooses to be a part of it.
