BACKGROUND: LIMITED SPACE, PILLING UP TRASH

Myanmar has a high number of youth (36% belongs to the 10-29 year-old group) but finding healthy and fun hangout spots and their tribes can be challenging. Yangon, its main city, has less public space compared to other Southeast Asian countries and usually ends up piled up with trash, as the daily amount of rubbish generation has doubled in the last 10 years, more than the current waste management system can take.

With only a few parks available in a city with more than 5.2 million people, and back alleys being used as littering and dumping grounds, finding a healthy hangout spot represents a challenge for most of Myanmar teenagers.

How could Max+, one of Myanmar teenagers’ most loved brands, help them?

Max+, part of the Coca-Cola family, as the sparkling brand leader in the RTD category in Myanmar* decided to support back Myanmar teenagers by providing them a convenient, healthy and fun hangout spot in the heart of city. A carefree and rubbish-free space with only one thing to care about: to have fun.

The Max+ Fun Hub (Max+ အလန္းစားလမ္းၾကား in Burmese) was born in May 2019. A restored, cleaned and decorated back alley in the heart of Yangon, 250m length and 5m width. A recreational space and a catalyst for teens’ self-expression and friendship bonding, and a great opportunity to help foster more street-level encounters for different communities of people in Yangon.

A fun space for the youth, led by the youth.

The brand partnered with Doh Eain, a social enterprise which preserves and improves urban landscapes through community-led projects in Myanmar. Together, they cleaned and restored a back alley from Pabedan Township, in downtown Yangon.

The project took over 6 months of work (December 2018 - May 2019), during when Max+ and Doh Eain engaged the communities to ensure the participatory approach of the project. Through community map making, open community meetings and surveys, businesses and households that back to the alley space, same as the local government, were fully involved in the project.

The youth in the local community was put at the forefront as participatory design stakeholders, as Max+ and Doh Eain selected local young artists to paint and decorate the alleyway.

The execution was the most fun and delicate part. We had to work between four stakeholders (media, government, NGO and client) to organize a full-day agenda (in rainy season) that captured the messages of Max+ and launched the alleyway.

We brought the alley to life with paintings done by more than 15 young up-and-coming local artists. Profiles of the young and teen local artists who participated painting the alley were showcased in all communications, following the Max+ brand values of creativity, fun, dynamism and friendship. The artists appreciated the chance the project gave them to showcase their art in public.

It was Coca-Cola's best attended event to-date, with 42 titles showing up to the press conference section where we had speaking slots for the Yangon City Government, Doh Eain NGO and our client.

42 media attended the launch ceremony and the campaign collected a total of 62 pieces of earned coverage were scored among print, online and broadcast media in Myanmar, with an overall PR value of more than $50,000.

Some of these pieces included interviews with the young artists, the local community, government representatives and Coca-Cola management. A total of 19 interviews were conducted during the event.

Coca-Cola strengthened the relationship with the local authorities and the community thanks to a very meaningful and tangible project which took over 6 months of discussions and workshops.

100% positive reactions on social media about the brand and project, along with its video.