Jamaica
News - Real Estate - General (July 31, 2004)
We be jammin'
Retailers and marketers tap into the
popularity of Jamaica's sizzling image
When Michael Budman and Don Green decided to
name their store Roots, it wasn't lost on the two friends that the name had a
distinctly Caribbean tinge.
Budman had been vacationing in Jamaica since the
1960s, frequently hanging out in the beach area of Negril, and had introduced
partner Green to the island. Roots-rock reggae — a blend of Jamaican ska
music, rhythm and blues and pop — was popularized by Jamaican icon Bob Marley.
"It all fit in. Our first product was a
negative heeled shoe, there was the idea that your feet are your foundation, but
also there was that Jamaican vibe to it," Budman said in an interview.
Started in 1973, Roots became an international
retailing success with stores in Canada, the United States and Europe, selling
everything from shoes, to luggage, to furniture.
But early on, Budman's Jamaican obsession
found its way into his retail line as Roots pumped out Bob Marley T-shirts in
the '70s, along with the now famous Roots beaver symbol in the green, black and
gold of the Jamaica flag.
Although he may have been among the first, Budman
now looks with some amusement at other companies who have caught on to branding
the small Caribbean island. The colours of the island's flag are practically a
uniform with urban fashionistas, and retailers have not been slow to catch on.
Suddenly, Jamaica is hot again in music,
fashion and lifestyle, resulting in an unprecedented mass marketing of the
island's culture.
This is especially true during the city's annual
Caribana festival, which began July 16 and ends Monday, the highlight being
today's grand parade. Although Trinidad, Guyana, Barbados and other islands will
be represented, it is Jamaica that seems to have captured the mainstream
marketers' attention.
From mainstream chain stores, to trendy shops
on Queen St. West, to tiny booths along the parade route, you can expect an
explosion of Jamaican-influenced products and food during the annual festival of
Caribbean culture.
"When you're placing a flag on a product,
you're really selling a culture or lifestyle that may be appealing to your
target audience," said Peter Francey, chair of branding experts Spencer
Francey Peters. "With Jamaica, retailers are tapping into the music and
lifestyle that is associated with that flag."
Jamaica has had its fair share of turmoil
since the 1970s, with reports of crime and violence dominating headlines and
deterring tourists. Once the jewel of the Caribbean, the place where Ian Fleming
wrote his first James Bond novel and where the Hollywood set once partied, the
island lost its sizzle. But slowly, Jamaica's image has enjoyed a revival, with
soccer stars like the Reggae Boyz and musicians like Sean Paul and Elephant Man.
Last year was a record for tourism, and a New York Times fashion and travel
feature last month showed models posing in Kingston's notoriously violence-prone
Tivoli Gardens to showcase the neighbourhood's street parties.
"I think to some extent this is all about
drugs, sex and rock and roll and the things that could appeal to youth,"
Francey said.
To capture some of that cachet, major
manufacturers like Roots and Puma have launched an impressive array of
Jamaica-branded products.
A recent browse through a Foot Locker store on
Queen St. showed flag-adorned Puma Jamaica sneakers for $109, and a $200 Puma
Jamaica jacket with the flag on the front and a hummingbird, Jamaica's national
bird, on the back.
"Jamaica has been one piece of a very
significant marketing puzzle for Puma," said Ritch Benford, vice-president
and general merchandise manager for Puma Canada. "It's a tiny island, but
it's representative of a Caribbean lifestyle of music and sun and
relaxation."
Benford says the company puts around 10 per cent
of its marketing budget into the Jamaica line, a not inconsiderable amount for a
multinational that reported almost $1.3 billion euros ($2.08 billion Canadian)
in revenue for 2003.
"Jamaica has gone through some ups and
downs, but I see a real sense of pride now in the country," said Neil
Dalhouse, president of Majorem Enterprises Inc., a Toronto concert promoter that
is organizing a Toronto Summer Splash concert tomorrow at the Air Canada Centre.
"There is a whole new generation of kids out there who are going to the
concerts with more disposable income, and they are interested in their heritage
and willing to spend."
Jeff Rustia, who runs Toronto brand consultancy
Front, says the popularity of music has a huge effect on whether a brand will
have a "cool" factor. Just as American rap stars have made an impact
globally, music from developing nations now is entering the mainstream.
"When the whole East Indian and Bollywood
chic hit fashion, Tourism India was not really involved in that push, though it
had a huge effect on making all things Indian very cool," said Rustia.
Branding consultants see the use of Jamaican
symbols by the likes of Puma and Roots as a publicity windfall for the island.
It wasn't too long ago that Puma — once the
top brand in the world for track and field — had atrophied, eclipsed by bigger
players such as Nike with their focus on celebrity marketing.
But Puma took a page from competitor Adidas,
which in the '80s showcased its sneakers on rappers like Run DMC to create an
urban following. Puma started off by wooing the European DJ crowd to generate a
buzz, then by teaming up with cutting edge European designers like Jill Sander
and Neil Barrett to make sneakers and clothing.
That kind of designer cross-branding convinced
marketers to take the leap into a Jamaica collection, Benford said. The summer
line, which is finding favour in high-end streetwear, has 40 different
Jamaica-inspired pieces, from wrist bands to track suits, with select pieces
carried in retailers like Holt Renfrew.
Canadian retailer Roots, meanwhile, is gearing up
for a major Jamaican component in its fall collection, with T-shirts and sweats
in Rastafarian colours and a special Bob Marley line. The company's winter line
featured $300 leather-and-wool jackets with the Jamaican flag on the front, and
$55 rugby T-shirts emblazoned with the Jamaican flag.
"We would have loved to do the Jamaica
Olympic team, but I guess you can't be everywhere," said Budman, who
vacationed in Jamaica three times over the last year and frequently hangs out on
the island with members of the progressive reggae band Third World.
At Toronto's Ultra Supper Club this week to
launch his new Roots Olympic collection, Budman posed with his son Matt and a
former Miss Jamaica model in Roots Jamaica T-shirts.
"It's very difficult to brand a country,
because it means so many different things to so many different people,"
says Francey, whose company is on a short list to re-brand Toronto as a tourist
destination.
Some countries have been very successful.
European brand consultancy Wolff Olins helped rebrand Britain in the '90s as
"Cool Britannia," a theme that resonated with visitors.
It helps the Jamaican brand when stars like
Catherine Zeta Jones and Gwyneth Paltrow wear Puma or Roots products and are
photographed in fashion magazines.
Still, Francey cautions that branding a country
means you have to fit the product to the country. In the case of Puma and Roots,
two laid-back, athletic lifestyle brands, the fit seems to be ideal.
But the Jamaica brand may not work for
marketing evening wear.
"People immediately conjure up an image of
what that place is about, and it should connect to the brand or it could
backfire," said Francey.
While the Jamaica Tourist Board may not agree,
youth culture adores the subversive, and Jamaica's reputation as a tough-talking
gangsta culture strong on ganja (marijuana) probably doesn't hurt when marketing
the island to youth.
"I think there may be some of that, but we
try to concentrate on the positives," Sydney Lowrie, spokesperson for the
Jamaican ministry of industry and tourism, said from Kingston, Jamaica. "We
are a small country but we've had a big impact culturally."
The Jamaican government recently formed an
intellectual property office and trademarked the name of the island this year to
deter counterfeiters who have been using the Jamaican name, Lowrie said.
The office has been charged with ensuring the
country's name is used respectfully, and also to ensure that companies in other
nations don't get away appropriating famous Jamaican brands, such as Blue
Mountain coffee.
"I think the use of the Jamaican flag on
clothing on an international level shows the globalization of culture, a much
more multicultural approach to the way we relate today," Lowrie said.
That sense of multiculturalism, the idea today's
world is a much smaller place, has played into the Roots philosophy that people
want a sense of identity — and mass marketers are there to give it to them.
Since its first Marley T-shirt in the '70s,
Roots has gone on to bigger things, and is now the official Olympic outfitter to
the American, Canadian and Barbados Olympic teams. But Budman says his first
foray into branding a country — other than Canada — was his most satisfying.
"It's a beautiful island, a mystical place
— when you say `Jamaica,' it puts a smile on people's faces," he says.
"Jamaica is the first country we did, and
it remains my favourite."
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