Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce, examines a Jamaican-made bag at the JMA/JEA Expo in May 2008. - File

Jamaican athletes are a marketing opportunity that Government is signalling it will no longer allow to go to waste.

Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce, is setting up a 'branding committee' to explore ways of leveraging the success of the athletic team in the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin World Championships into real business for Jamaican companies.

The athletes, he said, would benefit too.

Even before Berlin, the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) had approached the athletes to register their images and trademarks to safeguard against commercial exploitation of their success without their say or compensation.

"Some of the athletes accepted, and they have registered," JIPO legal counsel and deputy executive director Lilyclaire Bellamy said Tuesday at a press conference that dealt largely with piracy.

Olympian and world record holder Usain Bolt is among them.

"We're still waiting on some of the others," Bellamy said.

The Jamaican team won 13 medals in Berlin to place second in the medal standings behind the United States. Bolt beat himself twice to reset two world records in the 200 metre and 100 metre races.

"We will engage in discussions with the current sponsors of the athletes to see how we can collaborate to leverage the brands to ensure that we capitalise on the performance," said Samuda Tuesday at a press briefing at his New Kingston offices.

Film opportunities

The immediate focus, the minister said, will be on opportunities in film, merchandising and manufacturing, as well as the development of training facilities/infrastructure and programmes.

Events around which the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC) will seek to implement some of the these projects include the Shanghai World Fair from May to October in 2010, World Cup football in South Africa in 2010, the Commonwealth Games in India in 2010, the World Championships in Athletics in South Korea in 2011 and the London Olympics 2012.

The plans require collaboration between several public bodies, including MIIC, the ministries of sports and tourism and agencies that fall within each of their portfolios - such as Jamaica Trade and Invest, Insport, and Jamaica Tourist Board, respectively.

"In a time of limited budgets, this will benefit both the Jamaican brand as well as the individual sponsor's brand. This should be a worldwide strategy. Jamaican athletes should become the face of Jamaica," Samuda said.

"I will be having discussions with Minister Grange and Minister Bartlett to ensure the necessary collaboration as it relates to investment opportunities, as well as sporting, training and tourism opportunities."

Olivia 'Babsy' Grange is in charge of youth, sports and culture, while Ed Bartlett has the tourism portfolio.

Initiate discussions

Samuda said that the soon to be established National Branding Committee will initiate discussions with movie producers and distributors in the United States, Europe, parts of Asia, other major markets, as well as Jamaica, for the development of stories in the form of feature films and/or documentaries on Jamaican athletics.

Where possible, co-production arrangements are to be explored in places like the United Kingdom and potentially Canada.

"Jamaican athletes have been carrying the Jamaican flag at the highest level and have made Jamaica proud. However, while there have been developments over the years, we have not fully exploited this fact to the longer term benefit of Jamaica," Samuda said.

"Our athletes can help us to attract investments for facilities for training and development. This initiative must focus on tangibles, including the creation of centres of excellence, training facilities, student exchanges, business exchanges and scholastic exchanges."

MIIC is also considering technical exchanges for training including "discussions with major training camps, leading sports brands and our own high-performance coaches to develop elite coaching packages for other overseas-based athletes," Samuda said.

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com