Conclusion

So my ramblings have come to an end. And what have we learnt?

Jamaica has suffered so much from negative publicity and yet have managed to attract so many visitors yearly. Is it the work of the Jamaica Tourist Board and the PR practitioners or is that the country's beauty, rich heritage and culture has forced people to overlook the issues at hand?

The legacy of icons such as Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley have been influential in attracting visitors and the rich heritage and history of Jamaica is enough to persuade tourists to visit. The JTB has done their fair share of putting the island on the global Tourism Market but the country is yet to reap the full benefits of this - Jamaica still suffers economically.

The fact still remains that there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed or the country stands to lose out on millions of Tourist who refuse to visit the island, though the JTB has
neglected to mention them.

They have also capitalized on using influential members of Jamaica's society such as Shaggy, Usain Bolt and of course Bob Marley. This tactic has been successful especially in the Tourism Campaigns. I will end with a quote from Simon Anholt (2003, p.119)
'The words and deeds of a well-known person are many times more potent than those of ordinary members of the public'. So in the words of Bob Marley 'One Love, One Heart, Lets get together and feel Alright!'.... This does have an impact!

And like the slogan says: Visit Jamaica 'Once you Go you Know' and maybe you will be able to do some PR of your own.

By the way, this slogan is currently displayed on a Billboard at the Forest Hill Train Station (London) and on the Big Screen at the London Bridge Station. Just so you know ; )



References

Anholt, Simon Brand New Justice: How Branding Places and Products can Help the Developing World Revised Ed. Elsevier Great Britain 2003

Campaigns, Cam-Pains

The Jamaica Tourist Board have been working alongside PR firm Ruder Finn to promote the island's Tourism. I must say that Ruder Film has indeed earned every dollar the JTB has paid them.

Ruder Finn are the brains behind the Genius of Jamaica Campaign which aims at raising awareness of Jamaica as a diverse travel destination. Their objectives were to enhance media, trade and consumer understanding of the multi-faceted nature of this destination designed around specific interests including sports, cuisine, hospitality, music and fine arts. At the end of the Genius of Jamaica Campaign, they achieved extensive media coverage, including being featured on television programs such as America's Next Top Model and AmazingRace. They have also received media coverage on Leisure and Travel and Live with Regis and Kelly Show.

Throughout the campaign they have convinced Travel experts to visit the island and have taken them on tours through various parts of Jamaica to experience all the aspects of the island.

Another Campaign was the Destination Jamaica Campaign in Manhatten NewYork: this video says it all; You can have Breakfast in cold cold New York and by Lunch time you can be enjoying the white sand beaches and sunshine in Jamaica.


These campaigns have definitely exposed Jamaica in a positive light.

References

Ruder Finn PR Jamaica Tourist Board http://www.ruderfinn.com/life-style/travel-economic-development/case-studies/jamaica-tourist-board.html [Accessed on Jan. 11, 2009]

Youtube Website Jamaica Tourist Board promotes Jamaica in New York http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ey8FFpMz4LM posted by whatzuptv on Mar. 24, 2008 [Accessed Jan. 11, 2009]

Book Review - Brand New Justice by Simon Anholt

This controversial and intriguing book highlights the gains and losses of branding a nation. Brand New Justice: How branding places and products can help he Developing World (revised edition) demonstrates ways in which poorer countries can gain from their own resources and not depend on first-world countries. The author, Simon Anholt is a credible source and is one of the leading experts in Branding.

With necessary headings and case studies, Simon Anholt has packed the book with very concise and easy to read topics. He also discussed some stereotypes associated with brands in the sixth chapter detailing where people want their brands to come from.

Brand New Justice offers solutions and recommendations for developing countries and also advise to First World countries. The language is simple and and the topics are relevant to today's global marketplace. He also analyses the critical climate that branding operates in.

I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about branding a country and also products.

The power of New Media..Hello World!!

Nowadays the easiest way to sell something is to go online. Tourism is probably one of the hardest things to sell, mainly because stakeholders have little control over the country’s image. In this generation there are limitless possibilities when it comes to what you can do with a Computer and the Internet. It is not surprising that the JTB has taken advantage of this opportunity. On the 31st of May 2003, the JTB launched their virtual website. The dynamic web application is the visit jamaica web page. The site at present is the largest tourist website in the Caribbean. It is expected to grow by 50 to 100 megabytes per month, offering visitors the opportunity to experience Jamaica virtually, with awesome high-tech manoeuvres, including an interactive map of Jamaica.

Adrian Palmer, author of Destination Branding and the Web states that ‘An interactive website provides a good opportunity for the multiple suppliers involved in a tourism destination to uniquely fashion together the specific components of a destination offer, which are sought by individual visitors.’ The visitjamaica website does exactly this and you can plan your own unique holiday with just a click of the mouse.

PR agency Ruder Finn has also been doing a great job in terms of using new media to promote Jamaica. With online Press Releases, they are able to disseminate information to relevant media houses within seconds. Plus having the latest tourism news placed on PRNewswire is an added incentive. Another added advantage is that promotional messages can be changed quickly and easily than if you were to use traditional media forms – which are slowly becoming extinct (for lack of a better word).

Youtube has definitely been good to the JTB. Press conferences, numerous ads (in case you haven’t seen them), and promotional activities are all posted on the site which guarantees thousands of hits on a daily basis. This is definitely good exposure for the country. The only problem is that, it is relatively difficult to control what is put on the internet so, if someone has a bad experience in Jamaica, this information can be distributed just as easy and quickly as the JTB can say ‘go to visitjamaica.com’.

For those who listen to the radio online, you will find a virtual interactive display of the visit Jamaica website on Choicefm.com ‘the UK’s number one station for hip-hop and RnB.

Barbados take note …you can learn from this.

References

Techjamaica.com JTB sells Jamaica seductively, virtually May 31, 2003, http://www.techjamaica.com/content/view/211/50/ [Accessed Jan. 10, 2009]

Choicefm. com, Listen Online http://www.choice-fm.co.uk/ [Accessed Jan. 10, 2009]

Palmer, Adrian, Destination branding and the Web in the book, Destination Branding: Creating the unique destination proposition edited by Nigel Morgan, Annett Pritchard and Roger Pride (2002), Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford

What about the 'Oldies'?

The Ministry of Tourism and the Jamaica Tourist Board have been wielding around figures of 3 million tourists per year but they fail to mention just how many of these tourists are senior citizens. The JTB campaigns are somewhat geared towards a younger target; the happy couple, honeymooners and the adventurers. Cruise ships are usually the last resort for the ‘oldies’ and quite frankly, that’s boring and the JTB rarely ever put enough effort and time into attracting more pensioners, retirees, or just someone’s grandparents. What’s up with that! I cannot picture my grandma scuba diving…though that would make for great TV! But the ‘just put them on a cruise ship and that will make them happy’ attitude has definitely lost the JTB some tourists.

Not only that, regardless of what the tourism Board says, the crippling crime rate has definitely had an impact on the amount of tourists visiting the island. It so happens that majority of the senior citizens fears visiting Jamaica because of the high levels of crime and violence. Therefore, in my view, Jamaica still stands to do much better in the tourism industry if they effectively tackle the escalating crime problem. Even though violent crimes against tourists are minimal, there is still great concern over the high crime rate especially among the elderly. This is not surprising considering that the elderly spend most times watching the news and with that gripping report from the BBC, they are bound to be scared of visiting Jamaica. The fact is, no matter how much the JTB glamorize the country, the senior citizens spend little time listening or watching Travel adverts and they aren’t too keen on fads. They like simple friendly language and the JTB should tailor their promotional activities to meet the needs of senior tourists.

According to Fiona Gilmore (Branding for Success), ‘messages need to be simple and consistent, since we are all bombarded with hundreds of messages everyday. They also need to be reinforced by experience.’

I am yet to see any promotional activity from the JTB which involves older people. Why not create a message that appeals to everyone? Is it that you don’t want them in Jamaica JTB?


References

Gilmore, Fiona Branding for Success in the book, Destination Branding: Creating the unique destination proposition edited by Nigel Morgan, Annett Pritchard and Roger Pride (2002), Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford UK

Capitalizing or Exploiting?

Dancehall/Reggae superstar Shaggy ‘Mr. Boombastic’ is the official spokesperson for the Jamaica Tourism Board. He has sold millions of records worldwide (over 20 million to be exact) and has copped himself a Grammy award. Shaggy is known for doing very positive ‘clean’ music and I believe this is what inspired the JTB to snatch him up and make him into a scape-goat for all their tourism campaigns. Ok, so shaggy is renowned worldwide but so is Mavado ‘Gangsta for Life’; both artistes have sold records worldwide and if you ask me Mavado, though a new sensation, has been dominating the airwaves and steadily making his mark in the industry. There is just one little problem, the message from both these artistes differ extremely, but the reality is that Mavado highlights the social issues of the country in almost every song he does. This doesn’t look too good now for the JTB – does it? Why tell people that people get killed everyday in our streets in the presence of police/mothers/children?

Then there are the Rastafarians who always have a positive message in their music and their everyday lives. The funny thing is that Dancehall music and Rastafarians are aspects of the Jamaican culture that has been snubbed by the Elite Jamaicans. These elites are the same people that make up the JTB and the Ministry of Tourism. For decades, these features have been loved, admired and recognized by people worldwide. For instance the Rastafarian colors – red, green and gold: I can bet you that if you walk within a mile you are bound to see a few people adorned from head to toe in these colors. These are the aspects of the culture that the JTB seeks to promote...even though they have criticised it. Are they just a little bit too late?

Simon Anholt had this to say in his blog ‘Jamaica might have something to learn from Switzerland’

‘Jamaica has scarcely ever benefited economically from its national identity: the American and Spanish-owned resorts make most of the money from its tourism, the foreign sports shoe and clothing companies that decide when Rasta is cool make the money from its colours and images, the foreign record companies make the money from its music - and the extraordinary thing is that Jamaica keeps producing the culture without ever enjoying more than a small portion of its benefits.’

The country may not benefit from this economically but the JTB are surely enjoying themselves. This is what makes it seem as if the JTB is actually doing a GREAT job.

Then there is the amazing Usain ‘Lightening’ Bolt. Smashing three world Records in one Olympics is definitely a tremendous achievement. I mean 9.69 seconds in negative wind, is this guy superhuman or is it the ‘good ole’ Jamaican food? Well it surely had journalists visiting the country to find out ( read this article).
His success in the Beijing Olympics 2008 has got the JTB in a frenzy. I can just imagine it now, Usain on every Billboard, the face of every JTB Campaign, and you just might see him up in the sky next to AirJ! Who knows where the creativity begins and the stupidity ends? Well Shaggy is definitely playing his part in jumping on the Olympics Band wagon. The video below is just a taste of what I think is yet to come.





According to Simon Anholt, (…again, I love this guy) Dramatically enhanced reputations gained from sports prowess seldom lasts for years until the next competition, unless the country works very hard to capitalize on the improved reputation and build it into something more solid (Anholt, 2003 p.117). So the JTB has definitely got their work cut out for them - at least until 2012.

References

Anholt, Simon Brand New Justice: How Branding Places and Products can Help the Developing World Revised Ed. Elsevier Great Britain 2003

Anholt, Simon Placeblog Jamaica might have Something to learn from Switzerland posted Nov. 9, 2007 http://simonanholt.blogspot.com/2007/11/jamaica-might-have-something-to-learn.html [Accessed Jan. 7, 2009]

Big Yard Music Group Limited Shaggy
http://www.bigyardmusic.com/index.php?option=com_bigyard&artist=1&show=biography&Itemid=20 [Accessed Jan. 07, 2009]

Signonsandiego.com Jammin Jamaicans : Small island's spectacular sprint success brings a few quick questions by Mark Zeigler http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/olympics/20080823-9999-1s23olyjam.html Aug. 23, 2008 [Accessed Jan. 07, 2009]

You tube Shaggy Live in Germany Jamaican Olympic Tribute http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YQRSjJC1Ivc posted by Jay Will Sept.19, 2008 [Accessed Jan. 7, 2009]

Selling the 'Sizzle'

OK... so you have read my ramblings and history lessons, but the JTB managed to attract visitors by appeasing or stimulating their minds with beautiful images and slogans. They have also offered excellent Hospitality-this of course will distract visitors from the grueling social instability and economic problems that the country faces on daily basis.

According to Wilcox et al in the book Public Relations Strategies and Tactics, Travel PR involves 3 steps:

- Stimulating the public’s desire to visit a place
- Arranging for the travelers to reach it
- Making certain the visitors are comfortable, well treated and entertained when they get there
- Most recently they added– protecting the travelers’ safety

Well when it comes to stimulation the JTB has got this one hands down. All those beautiful photos in magazines, all those tempting ads and campaigns definitely have an impact, wouldn’t you say? However, I really began to wonder if all these messages, songs and slogans really stimulate over 3 million people all over the world to visit Jamaica.

'The right messages alone can’t make people suddenly decide to take a special interest in a distant country with which they have no particular connection: simply flooding the media with more true facts about a country is certainly ineffectual, possibly counter –productive and in any case probably impossible '(S. Anholt ,2003, p.106).

I totally agree with Anholt’s argument. What about all those PROUD (for emphasis) Jamaicans waving the flags high for all to see….even when it’s uncalled for?

Well the people of the country has also been doing some PR as well I mean we can’t give JTB all the credit now. Word of Mouth publicity is known to be one of the best and most effective, after all self-praise IS recommendation….well only in advertising, PR is a bit more sophisticated, and charming. But self praise does count for something in the case of tourism in Jamaica. Many Jamaicans migrate and they form alliances, they marry people from different cultural backgrounds, and influence people’s attitudes, and do encourage them to visit. Hearing great tales from the ‘horse’s mouth’ may even have a bigger impact than those carefully ‘orchestrated’ strap lines.
Oh! and when it comes to arranging for traveler’s to visit, what better airline to take than the ‘Most Beautiful ‘Bird’ in the sky’ - Air Jamaica. Jamaica’s premier Airline. Boy oh boy! Tourists are able to plan and design their own holiday package via the visit Jamaica website which is laced with only the best, and I might I add, ‘value for your money’ hotels and packages. Jasmine Dotiwala recalls her Jamaica experience on the Voice Online Website and just a quote from her:

‘…we raced bob sleds; and then, my favourite: We zipped through the rainforest on ariel overhead wires! I was buzzing! Next, we went swimming with dolphins and then, we did something I didn’t even think was possible: We took horses into the ocean for a swim, with us on their backs! The next trip was to Montego Bay where we were spoilt by Wayne Sterling and Michael Williams from the Jamaica Tourist Board as we stayed at the grandest hotel ever: the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton’

Need I say more?

Last, but not least protecting the tourist’s safety. Ok that should be quite easy, maybe JTB will get you a Body guard if you wish… who knows. The JTB’s idea of protecting the safety of tourists is to give them a long list of do’s and don’ts which I don’t believe is very effective. Who is really going to remember a five page list of DO’S and Don’ts while on vacation? This is something I believe the JTB needs to put more effort in.

References

1. Anholt, Simon Brand New Justice: How Branding Places and Products can Help the Developing World Revised Ed. Elsevier Great Britain 2003

2. The Voice Online: Dotiwala, Jasmine Keeping it Gully http://www.voiceonline.co.uk/content.php?show=14103 [Accessed Jan. 6, 2009]

3. Wilcox, Dennis, Glen Cameron Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics 8th Edition. Pearson Education Inc. USA 2006.

From 'Wickedest City' To 'PR-dise'

Port Royal is one of the most beautiful spots located on Jamaica’s south coast. It’s somewhat surprising that some years ago it was known as the 'wickedest and richest city' in the world. Just a brief History lesson, don’t worry it wont be a long one. Founded in 1650 by the Spanish and captured by the British in 1655, Port Royal was bound to be war torn. However, Port Royal gained its reputation as the ‘wickedest city’ in the world because of the pillage and plundering that continuously occurred by well known pirates such as Henry Morgan and 3 fingered Calico Jack Rackham. Consequently, the city was struck by an earthquake and tidal wave in 1692 which killed more than 2000 people and left buildings buried under the sea; Legend has it that the bell in the church tower which fell into the sea, can still sometimes be heard tolling from beneath the waves. Some say its bad karma, but in PR, this is an opportunity to sell the country. See I told you it wouldnt be long. : )

A drive through Port Royal today will reveal very beautiful architecture with the many buildings and museums to explore, and you can also enjoy a tasty snack in the very popular fishing village and then perhaps visit one of the many nearby cays for a swim or snorkel. Lime Cay has become a fascination for both locals and visitors alike. And even though pirates have been inexistent for centuries, the place allows us to become pirates for a day. With their Pirate Cruises, they can certainly give you the feel of what Port Royal was like before the majority of it sank. Port Royal has also been a featured location in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
Well it makes a good story doesn’t it? : ) If I were told that valuable treasures have been retrieved from the sunken city which was once known to be a haven for legendary Pirates - of course I’d visit, and why not take the kids along for the adventure!

The Ministry of Tourism is responsible for the overall development of the tourism industry and is constantly seeking ways of developing the town to make it into a gateway for cruises and shipping. The Ministry basically maintains the standards of tourism and ensures development of human resources and training. Overall the Ministry of Tourism seeks to facilitate marketing and promotion of Jamaica’s Tourism sector in a way that Jamaica will remain a premier tourist destination. They delegate this role to the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB).

The Jamaica Tourist Board added four animated movies to its Visit Jamaica website (2003) that tell the history of the sunken city of Port Royal. Each of the fancy features is tailored to seduce visitors. The site is geared at marketing and promoting Jamaica in its entirety and not only ‘sand, sea, and sun’, according to the former Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook.

Well we'll just have to see just how this is done...wont we?


References

Techjamaica.com JTB sells Jamaica seductively, virtually May 31, 2003, http://www.techjamaica.com/content/view/211/50/ [Accessed Jan. 4, 2009]

Visit Jamaica Website http://www.visitjamaica.com/attractions/port-royal.aspx?terms=port*+royal* [Accessed Jan. 4, 2009]

Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Royal [Accessed Jan. 4, 2009]

When in Rome do what the Jamaicans Do!

I can’t recall the number of times when, upon mentioning that I am a Jamaican, the response is something like this: ‘No problem mon’ or ‘Bob Marley!’ I find it hilarious that the general perception of Jamaica is that everyone gets high on weed, listening to Bob Marley (or any other reggae music for that matter… ‘bashment’ if you may) while hanging on the corner with the Rastafarians. Not only that, but I find that the culture has somewhat infiltrated other cultures so much so that when in the presence of Jamaicans they adapt a pseudo Jamaican accent – mind you its not a good one. It’s all about Stereotypes, yes I said it. This is a tactic I believe PR practitioners capitalize on. However, According to Simon Anholt (2003), the image may be entirely accurate and fully justified but it is more likely to be untrue and unfair based on a whole mess of misunderstandings, prejudices, cultural differences and half-forgotten events from history. There goes the stereotypes…almost, always not true.

How has the JTB managed the country’s reputation? I believe they need to ensure that they get the right and true message across to the world. I mean surely it can’t be easy and that leads me to my next point which is that ‘any publicity, be it good or bad, is Good publicity’. To some foreigners, Jamaicans are ‘gunmen’ or 'shottas' but yet, they still try to portray that character whenever in the presence of Jamaicans or ‘yardies’ as they call it….dont bash me now its just an observation. Jamaicans have a reputation of being ‘big and bad’ and violent and loud and the list goes on. You would think that this would have prevented any form of cultural integration, but on the contrary it has not.

PR scholar Lisa Lyon points out in the book Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics (Wilcox et al) that Reputation is ‘owned by the publics.’ Reputation isn’t formed by packaging and slogans. So my guess is that it’s just the little things we do, the songs we produce, the clothes we wear, the things we glamorize that gives Jamaicans this reputation. Arguably, practitioners have to work hard at managing the country’s reputation, after all this will have a tremendous effect on its biggest foreign currency generator.

Through persuasive and compelling communication, the JTB is able to convey messages that will maintain or repair Jamaica’s reputation. For instance, as mentioned before, Jamaica is seen as the crime capital of the world…hmm why not change that reputation? What better way to do it but with a cultural icon - Bob Marley and one of his biggest hits to date ‘One Love’ there you go: a song, an icon, and a message that says ‘Hey we are all united and we love each other! we don’t kill each other everyday.’ Yes, and this sells on every tourism ad, on every souvenir and in every travel magazine. Well done JTB! You see it does help to have a slogan.

References

Anholt, Simon Brand New Justice: How Branding Places and Products can Help the Developing World Revised Ed. Elsevier Great Britain 2003

Wilcox, Dennis L., Glen Cameron Public Relations Strategies and Tactics 8th edition. Pearson Education Inc. USA 2006

YouTube Bob Marley- One Love http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou5pzKuKP8w posted by PochoPochoLoco on Sept. 02, 2008 [Accessed Jan. 3, 2009]