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Defending The Bajan Brand

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windmill-hot-sauceBarbados despite its size and paucity of resources has been able to build a brand identity which is respected by many in the region and internationally. Barbados did not develop a respected brand by accident. The good governance of Barbados in a post-independence period has manifested itself through a stable political and social climate. The achievement continues to defy the analysts and envy among many Caribbean neighbours.

If Barbados were a company operating in a competitive market and had built a brand identity to compare to what Barbados the country has developed, how do you think the executive of company Barbados would react if the brand was under threat? Commonsense alone would suggest the executives of company Barbados would carve out a strategy using all reasonable resources at their command to protect the brand.

With the recent change in government Barbados has sensibly decided to amend its open door immigration policy. It is amazing how this single act by a sovereign country to protect its borders and the integrity of its people has exposed the Barbadian brand to attack and ridicule by others. We have leaders in the region who have not demonstrated they can manage what is happening in their backyards lining up to heap scorn on Barbados, a country which has consistently demonstrated good governance overtime. Let us not forget the so-called regional academics  who prefer to trade the role of pragmatist with that of ideologue.

To take matters over the top we have Canadian philanthropist Peter Allard who owns Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary dragging Barbados into the Canadian courts. Before his latest action the same Canadian philanthropist placed Barbados finest before the Canadian court in the matter Nelson Barbados Vs Barbados. In was interesting to listen to a local radio station in recent days who to their credit reported on the recent law suit. The fact they neglected to inform Barbadians of the prior law suit being waged by the same Allard speaks volumes for the level of journalism in Barbados.

BU believes the time has come for Barbadians everywhere to rally around the blue yellow more than they have ever done before. The Bajan brand was developed on the backs of hardworking Barbadians over time, why should we not want to defend it with all we have got?

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14 responses to “Defending The Bajan Brand”

  1. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    I sometimes have difficulties spelling
    barbados which phonetically should be
    rebranded as bar-bay-doss

    http://555dubstreet.wordpress.com/category/errol-bellot/

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Should we be alarm nowadays at the comfort our politicians are willing to sacrifice all for money?

  3. Young Bajan Avatar
    Young Bajan

    David, enlighten us to exactly what you are speaking about? We know there is a lot of that going on, and society is becoming so caught up with dollar.

  4. Alex Fergusson Avatar
    Alex Fergusson

    As I recall, “The Barbados Brand,” as you called it – is captured in the same National Strategic Plan 2006-2025 that was conceptualised by the Barbados Labour Party.

    This is the very document that – as I also recall – the DLP refused to debate when it was laid in the House.

    Here is another correction. It was the BLP that left a draft for a ‘manage migration programme.’

    You talk about a ‘bajan brand’ but fail to realise that 52% of what we manufacture is bought by the OECS and CARICOM.

    It case you do not know, Barbados is now a “developed country.” It obtained “developed country status since 2007. I will explain later.

    In the mean time, cash-in on the work of the BLP. The “Team Barbados” approach PM Thompson now talks about, pure BLP policy.

  5. 100% baje Avatar
    100% baje

    how about BAR-BAY-DROSS

  6. David Avatar
    David

    The Bajan brand CANNOT be attributed to the BLP alone.

  7. Bajeabroad Avatar
    Bajeabroad

    Bajan Brand…..laziness…kowtowing to light skinned locals and foreigners…visionless leaders and opposition…acceptance of mediocrity…quick to mind other people’s business…..pushovers!!…..and I bajan

  8. zion1971 Avatar
    zion1971

    Please enlightening me on the Bajan Brand. I am in New york and there is nothing Bajan here. Even the famous mount gay rum or other premium rums is missing in action.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    Whe we talk about Bajan brand we are talking about the reputational capital the country has developed over the years because of its governance system and models which have served us well and others have copied or admired – our electoral system, educational system, our teachers, nurses and policemen which have been sought after, our solid infrastructure i.e. telecommunications, standard of restaurants etc…

  10. Ol Avatar
    Ol

    The Bajan brand that you speak of is no longer in production.

    The new and improved version, developed in collaboration with regional and international partner, will be launched in the near future.

    A sneak peek of the new brand can be found in the recently released “Green Paper”.
    Snapshots of the previous Bajan brand can be found at “Remembering”.

  11. Bajan Cherry Avatar
    Bajan Cherry

    The Bajan brand that you speak of is no longer in production.

    The new and improved version, developed in collaboration with regional and international partner, will be launched in the near future.

    A sneak peek of the new brand can be found in the recently released “Green Paper”.
    Snapshots of the previous Bajan brand can be found at “Remembering”.

  12. Terence M. Blackett Avatar
    Terence M. Blackett

    How can politicians talk about “BRAND” without developing “BRAND CONSCIOUSNESS” first?

    Brand consciousness is an astute awareness that you have a unique product that is distinct and separate from others – coupled with the realization that you can develop a strong visual image and can market perception in the way that McDonalds, Pepsi, Coke and others have mastered.

    And even with brand consciousness in place, it is much more than simply an physic awareness of a strong brand presence or simply a preference for branded merchandise…

    Companies who maximize their brands know all too well that there must be comparable differences in the level of brand consciousness…

    So “TEAM BARBADOS PLC” needs a serious makeover which will involve scenes of surgery, image remodeling and most importantly, a psychological consultancy to deal with the harsh reality of conditioning a new mindset…

  13. Kim Young Avatar
    Kim Young

    You know David, I share the views of some of your commentators. First, I think I understand what you mean by “reputational management”. I suspect that you are alluding to the good reputation Barbados has on the international scene as a Country with Standard and Poors, WHO, PAHO, major UN bodies etc. We have good governance GENERALLY, a country with good infrastructure, a decent longevity rate, medical and other social, environmental and cultural infrastructures that support the people of the country and its guests. On some points I have to disagree. I do not agree that Barbados is properly branded. I never did. Indeed, when I lived in New York I have never seen a Bajan product at all. If you are refering to Barbados as a tourist destination, it is “branded” to some extent in England in particular (where I now live) as a tourist destination particularly since we were once a colony BUT, and this is a big but, the budget or the mismangement or whatever is responsible makes Barbados as a brand , in terms of its marketing, rather inferior. I have never seen a poster in the major train stations ( my station is perfect – Gloucester Road Tube) but I see Jamaica, Majorca, Egypt, St Lucia, Greece, Spain. Barbados products – I shop at Waitrose, just around the corner here in Kensington. I have seen every possible brand of product and never a Bajan except Mount Gay Rum at £17 a bottle and a badly presented box of sugar @ £2 per box. Had Plantation Sugar packaged it like they do in SuperCentre, Holetown, and sell it for Barbados $17, they could sell it in London for £5 at least. That silver boxes sugar is used in the Queen’s box at Ascot yet they put a crappy box in a supermarket. The Brits would gobble up the pewter tin of sugar to just show it off if nothing else. That is good branding.

    I see every product by Grace, Trinidadian products galore and nothing from Barbados. Kensington is a wealthy area in London, I cannot speak for other areas but if the products are marketed in London, why always in West Indian communities. That is not branding, that is selling a known product to your own people who know the brand already. I see no Banks beer alongside international beers from as far away as Nigeria in Waitrose? Why no pepper suace and I have to be Jamaican pepper sauce? Jamaican seasoning, Jamaican Ginger Beer.

    I could go on. What are the fat salaries at the BTA for? We need proper marketing of Barbados to potential tourists (including myself , so to speak) who can go to Dubai and Egypt for less than we have to pay to come to Barbados.

    Reputation-wise, I think Barbados may be suffering from the Peter Pan syndrome at this point. I agree that the island has had good stable government (no coups d’etat) and is a good place to live. However within recent times we have seen a drop in our stature in the eyes of our Caribbean neighbours. This, especially regarding the question of immigration and other issues. We have to manage immigration without being seen as arrogant xenophobes.

    I could go on and I will but I have got to buy groceries. Three quarters of them will be made in the UK, 1/4 in France. I can buy Walkerswood Jerk seasoning and Grace products at Sainsbury’s but cannot find a a Bajan product. By the way, can someone explain why the very same product in London is cheaper to buy here than it is to buy in Barbados (I mean imports), that is insane. We relieve tariffs on CARICOM goods, we do I pay more in Barbados and less in London.

    Even shilling oil for when I get a stuffy nose (and I know it is not Bajan but is sold in Barbados and is part of the overall Bajan culture) I buy in Leicester Square in China Town which is a bra in itself. If I felt poorly, I would have to go all the way to Dalston to get something when I can buy paracetamol in Boots. Where are the Bajan products? Where is the marketing of this country as a top tourist destination? Where is Barbados…I am often asked.

    What we have branded best is reputation distortion of each other and a decidedly nasty way of carrying the desire to destroy each other over to the Bakan communities in other Countries. Never have I heard such nasty gossip by two Bajan women as I had in Hammersmith in a pharmacy. Some things never change.

  14. Kim Young Avatar
    Kim Young

    If in the verbacular of Barbadians, they pronounce Barbados as BAR-BAY-DUS, then its phoentic pronounciation should be thus. BAR-BAY-DOSS is the phonetic pronounciation of the rich, former British colonists. I thought it was Independence time. Anyhow….

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