Building Brand Guyana

Whatever doubts might have existed in the minds of some about the viability of the Twenty20 (T20) cricket franchise model of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL), as far as gaining acceptance in the minds of the fans, have now been comprehensively dissipated. In terms of viability from a financial standpoint, that will be determined after all the dust (and fireworks) have settled, but in the meantime, the franchise owners and other corporate sponsors have held back nothing in their efforts to make the tournament a success.
Up to now, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has set the bar in T20 cricket, but with eight games under its belt at this time, the Limacol CPL has shown it can organise a competition just as professional and exciting, if not better, than the IPL. There are two reasons for this happy circumstance.
As was pointed out by the owner of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, T20, as conceptualised, is fundamentally the game as it was always played in Guyana and the Caribbean.
In that sense, T20 cricket was finally being “brought back home”. No one had to tell the West Indies fans to be passionately involved in what was going on on the field. And for sure, not to have a “ball” (pun intended) off the field.
But all of this would have been known by cricket aficionados across the world, when they dubbed and embraced our game as “calypso cricket”. The doubts prompted by financial and logistical challenges in past endeavours would have to be overcome if the joint endeavour of an all-Caribbean tournament was to be a success. After all, in over a half a century of trying, the governments of the region had been unable to initiate and pull off an event of this magnitude.
The Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA), which is one attempt in this direction, has remained a low-key affair, not really engaging the masses, or showcasing our culture to the wider world. Even in the world of business, there have been no collaborative efforts in the past to match the vision of Limacol CPL. The financial support secured by the league demonstrates that in the modern globalised and financially liberalised environment, capital for such a venture can be raised once the product is shown to be marketable. And Caribbean cricket is eminently marketable.
In this regard, Guyana can be very proud that a local corporation, NEW GPC INC, bit the bullet and put its money where its mouth was when they purchased the Guyana Amazon Warriors. They were also the very first purchaser of a franchise in the Limacol CPL.
Local sponsors quickly followed and all aspects of the marketing of the venture were nailed down. Volunteers were recruited and trained to ensure that once inside the stadium, the fans would be well taken care of with directions, flags, whistles and horns. The stands were sold out for every game – and demonstrated to the world that Guyana was “cricket crazy”. Fireworks, tassa and masquerade bands, dancing damsels, pulsating music and running commentary – and even a roaming “warrior” in full regalia – kept the stadium rocking and behind their team.
The only blot on the event was the traffic organisation. The Guyana traffic police will have to do a more effective job next year.
While there were a large number of bodies deployed at the event, it became obvious that whatever plan was in place (and we are assuming there was one), there was a need to modify it to match the conditions on the roads. Without any intent to insult the Police Traffic Department, we suggest that they ask the organisers of the Limacol CPL to bring in some experts in crowd logistics to assist them in a structured planning and deployment of manpower.
In the meantime, the NEW GPC and “business Guyana” can take a bow for building “Brand Guyana”.