Grenada is among three countries, partnering to enhance their future Carnival experience, via a US$30,000 project to strategise branding, commericialisation and marketing.
Export Saint Lucia in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Events Company of Saint Lucia, the Discover Dominica Authority, the Spicemas Corporation (SMC) of Grenada and the Cultural Development Foundation of Saint Lucia, virtually launched the Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) Carnival Project on Monday for the branding and commercialization of Carnival in Saint Lucia, Dominica and Grenada.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SMC, Kelvin Jacob said in a local newscast that the project is also to create a stronger and more consistent branding and marketing including online marketing; identify IP related concerns and developing an IP strategy for carnival and the related products.
He said project, which should be completed by March 2021, will see to the development of a strategic plan on how to go about the branding, commericialising and marketing of the carnivals. He noted there should be more monitoring of online events with a focus on intellectual property rights.
Jacobs said most of the project funds will be used for research, noting that the company Accela Marketing based in St Lucia will spearhead the research and will contact local stakeholders (artistes, sponsors, mas band leaders) for information. Therefore, he asked of them to be cooperative in supplying the information so that Grenada can get maximum benefit from the project.
A 2019 news release from CDB said “The project includes an industry assessment and gap analysis, development of the intellectual property aspect of a policy framework and the development of a strategic and action plan inclusive of brand development toward the sustainability of the industry.”
The Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) was established in 2017 with an initial USD2.6 million in capitalisation from the CDB. It is intended to be a multi-donor fund, which will support the development of the creative industries (CI) sector in the Caribbean. CIIF’s goal is to enable the region’s cultural and creative industries to be globally competitive.
