Use Jamaicans to showcase Brand Jamaica, young professionals urge

Players in media and entertainment are urging international brands to use more Jamaican talent when showcasing Brand Jamaica in their movies, commercials, and other forms of media content.

This was the call from young professionals who were panellists at a discussion organised by JN Bank during the recently staged Voxburner’s Youth Marketing Strategy, ONLINE USA festival. The aim of the forum was to define the Jamaican brand culture, identify the value of Jamaican brands in the global arena, and recommend ways in which international brands can tap into the Jamaican youth space and culture.

The session was chaired by Shanna Kaye Wright Vaughn, JN Bank youth banking officer and youth leader. Underscoring the importance of Jamaican and Caribbean brands in the international space, she said that Jamaica’s rich and diverse culture, Jamaican brands have contributed immensely to the world and overseas markets, and are still actively doing so.

Debbie Bissoon, local media personality and producer, noted that the Jamaican culture, which is widely known and recognisable globally, is “an intangible energy which can’t be touched, but it will move people, things and products, as well as get people talking”.

“If international brands are going to use the Jamaican brand to market their products, it only makes sense that they come back to Jamaica and invest in the people and culture. Don’t just train an actor to speak Jamaican. We will know. We will know it’s not the true thing; we’ll know it’s not authentic, no matter how hard they try. We’ve seen it come up in movies where you’ll have a character playing a Jamaican, and we know it is not true,” she pointed out. “You don’t want to poach the culture; you actually want to be a part of it.”

Pointing to her own JN brand, for example, Wright Vaughn shared how the company in October 2020 created history with the launch of JN Bank UK, the first Caribbean-owned bank in the United Kingdom.

The digital bank, which has a single location in Brixton, targets the Caribbean community and those underserved by the formal financial system in the UK. It has already been rated “excellent” by the global Danish consumer website Trustpilot.com.

Bissoon added that Jamaicans can be loyalists and, therefore, if international brands treat the country and the culture correctly, they will reciprocate with support for those brands. She noted that Clarks has risen to the call, as they aligned themselves with the younger artistes such as Koffee, Protoje and members of his In.Digg.Nation camp.

Jamaican actor, host and emcee Mikhail Johns had similar views. “As best and as often as you can, use Jamaican talent. Do your research. Equally important is allowing the Jamaican talent to actually be authentic. Using Jamaican talent to have them look and sound woefully different from Jamaican defeats the purpose. Allow for the people’s true sounds, looks, selves, and nuances,” Johns suggested.

He added that developed nations are allowed to display their truths, even when they are atypical, and, in the same way, Jamaican content ought to be treated with the same respect.

Johns, who recently appeared in Chill The Series, which was written and directed by Jamaican writer Michael Holgate and aired on YouTube earlier this year, says Brand Jamaica has impacted the world immensely through its representation of Jamaica as the nation for good vibe, entertainment, and relaxation.

Jomarie Malcolm Gordon, brand strategist at Malcolm Mavericks Creative Consultancy, said using people from countries other than Jamaica to depict the Jamaican brand is not the main problem, as one can appreciate that content creators are sometimes limited by the resources available to them.

“However, it is the failure to capture the heartbeat of the country which can run into problems. Often times, one is left to wonder if there was any consultation with the local landscape, as the depictions can veer in the direction of stereotypes, or a cringe-worthy annihilation of our dialect. Who better to represent Brand Jamaica than Jamaicans?” she asked.