Robert Buddan, Contributor

The Cricket World Cup (CWC) offers Jamaica the best opportunity yet for success of the campaigns to 'Buy Jamaican' and for 'Brand Jamaica'. Thisin turn reflects LOC Chairman Robert Bryan's view, that the CWC is not just about cricket, but more generally about Jamaica.

A survey report of December last showed that the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association's (JMA) 'Buy Jamaica, Build Jamaica' campaign had already been more successful than even the promoters had expected it to be. Eighty per cent of respondents had been exposed to the message but, more importantly, 79 per cent said they were now more inclined to buy Jamaican products over foreign imports.

Surprisingly, 55 per cent said that Jamaican products were superior to imported ones. The surprise is that we have always thought that Jamaicans preferred things foreign, and that this was a reason for our 'dependency syndrome'.

The lesson here is that markets always need a little help and very often nationalism is just the right tonic. The JMA celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this month. When it was founded in 1947 one of the first things it did was promote a 'Buy Jamaican' campaign. Immediately after the World War II, the Jamaican economy begun to display the characteristics that have bedevilled it since - a strong tendency towards imports relative to exports. A flood of American and Canadian products swamped the market. The governor of the day even declared a dollar crisis in 1947.

First campaign

In 1948, the JMA responded with its first 'Buy Jamaican' campaign, which had the full support of the new House of Represen-tatives, and the governor provided 200 from the budget for the campaign. The campaign sought to inculcate a spirit of loyalty to Jamaican goods, and encourage local production and industrialisation as part of our early thrust towards building a modern economy. Without a developed media to support it, the campaign tactic relied heavily on Jamaican beauty contestants to spread the word around the country.

The new House of Representatives endorsed the campaign. One member admitted that Jamaican manufacturers had been reticent about labelling their products, as Jamaican because people had been brought up to think that Jamaican goods were inferior to foreign goods. The bias against Jamaican industry obviously went far back in our history.

Early political leaders did not believe that foreign was always better. The experience of House members was that local kingfish was better than codfish from Newfoundland, and peanuts grown in Westmoreland or St. Thomas were superior to those brought in from Los Angeles. Jamaican starch could compete with flour from Canada, and lumber from Canada should not be thought of as better than Jamaican lumber just because it was from Canada. Certain Jamaica products like ginger, pimento and rum, they said, already had a worldwide reputation.

Efficiency, competitiveness

They felt that Jamaica only needed the industries and consumer loyalty for its product brands to do well. House members therefore showed early interest in legislation to protect native industries. Some members thought, for instance, that Jamaica could assemble motor cars. Some advocated banning luxury imports like cigars, liquors, and cigarettes brought in mainly for the rich. But they insisted that manufacturers would still have to aim for efficiency and competitiveness.

The manufacturing sector did take off under incentive legislation. Probably the subsequent growth of the sector led to complacency and the 'Buy Jamaican' campaign was not sustained. The current campaign, launched in 2004, is a response to imports, just as the earlier campaign was, and to the need for a new round of industrialisation. Doreen Frankson, head of the JMA, believes that the current campaign must therefore be sustained over the long run. There is a great opportunity to do so.

The new image

The 'Buy Jamaican' campaign now has the additional advantage of exposure through the Brand Jamaica campaign. JAMPRO is to re-image itself and rebrand Jamaica as a place for business under the campaign theme, 'Today's Jamaica Means Business'. JAMPRO wants to make the point that Jamaica is not just a cultural power but has great business success to report as well.

The Prime Minister gave some examples at the launch of the Business Brand for Jamaica earlier this month. Puma posted a 48 per cent jump in sales after linking its campaign with Jamaican Olympic athletes in 2004. By 2008, Jamaica will have two world-class airports. Jamaica is soon to be recognised as a global mega-transshipment hub. Jamaica ranks 21st by the United Nations as an investment destination. Jamaica is ranked 10th in the world for ease of starting a business. A U.S. agency rates Jamaica first in the Caribbean as a near-shore destination for information and communications technology. Jamaica is one of the best prepared countries for e-governance. JAMPRO itself was ranked the best investment promotion agency among small countries in 2005.

The JMA did not have this global brand to work with in the 1940s and 1950s. Jamaica was hardly known even to Americans next door then. As of this year, the JMA will also have government purchasing at least 10 per cent of its goods from local small and medium businesses, something the colonial and post-independence governments had not thought to do. This is also an important change in the sense that small and medium enterprises are usually left out of JMA and PSOJ promotions, organisations seen to represent big business.

A special opportunity

The 'Buy Jamaican' and 'Brand Jamaican' campaigns will now enjoy special opportunities offered by Cricket World Cup. The CWC will attract thousands of fans to Jamaica, present the country with over US$100 million in media exposure, and provide a global audience of one to two billion people. The Caribbean Business Opportunity Services, the Jamaica Attractions Investment Programme, and the Caribbean Business Club have been established to take advantage of the Cricket World Cup legacy for the long run.

For example, Jamaica wants to capitalise on India's film industry. As far back as 1948/49, Jamaica had passed its first motion picture act. However, the country did not have the agencies, business class, policies, or international exposure to sustain efforts to develop this.

'Brand Jamaica' and the Local Organising Committee of CWC also go beyond the 'Buy Jamaican' campaigns to bring a wider crosssection of activities to a broader stretch of Jamaican parishes and communities. The Westmoreland Organising Committee, for example, will centre its activities on the Frome Sports Complex to maximise the potential of the parish. The committee has its own Brand Westmoreland programme. Brand Trelawny will host a two-day expo to showcase the parish. The St. Ann Development Company Limited/Chamber of Commerce is making plans for 100,000 people expected to arrive in the island during the period.

Robert Stephens, director of the legacy programme, believes Jamaica will earn four times what it spends on the World Cup in new investments in coming years, and JAMPRO thought the country could earn up to eight times when the value of new and existing business is considered. The long-term challenge is to bring communities in to add depth to the economy. The moment is approaching and the legacy will tell.

Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, Mona Campus, UWI. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm