Thirty-five social enterprises, nurtured by the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI), have received their official ‘Buy Social’ trademark, which will assist prospective consumers to identify their products, services and social missions. The objective is to increase consumer demand and enhance the management of these enterprises. The Buy Social trade mark and advertising campaign were launched at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in Kingston on Thursday, November 30, 2017.
Saffrey Brown, general manager of JN Foundation said that the unique mark will signal to consumers that the business bearing it is a social enterprise.
“When you buy from a social enterprise, you are choosing to spend your money with a business that is giving something back. They reinvest their profits to address the most pressing social issues in their community, such as unemployment,” Brown explained.
She added that the four-month campaign to commence in this month will include advertising on television, radio and newspapers as well as, on buses and digital bill boards.
“We are working with grassroots people, so that they can earn sustainable income. We need all the help we can get, and so I am in full support of the Buy Social campaign,” said Scheed Cole, manager of 360 Recycle Manufacturing, one of the social enterprises that will benefit from the initiative.
 
Expansion plan
 
Located on Rousseau Road in the western zone of Kingston, 360 Recycle Manufacturing, uses plastic bottles, Styrofoam, and paper to create construction materials such as blocks, flower pots and sculptures. “Once the Buy Social promotion starts, we will get in line with it, and as more people come to know the brand, we expect it to create more business for us,” Cole said.
Charles Arumiselvam of Alpha Wear JA, a unique fashion venture created by the Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, expects the Buy Social campaign to help the venture. “Alpha Institute is known as a having social mission but what the institute is not well known for is the business side of its operation. therefore, the Buy Social campaign will put us on the map of Jamaica,” he said.
“This is a great campaign. It is an important moment for Alpha Institute to be identified as place where people can come and buy interesting products, and we are grateful to JN Foundation and SEBI to help promote us into the market place,” Arumiselvam added.
The Buy Social trademark, to be used by the social enterprise practitioners initially in Jamaica, will be subsequently promoted across the wider Caribbean region.
The Buy Social trademark and social advertising campaign comprise the second phase of the SEBI project.
-K.H.

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