Jamaica Moves handover no done deal

Despite claims by Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan that Market Me Consulting will hand over rights to the Jamaica Moves brand in August, a statement issued by the marketing and public-relations firm suggested that that declaration is not a done deal.

News emerged last week that despite investing tens of millions of dollars into the Jamaica Moves behaviour-change initiative over the past three years, it was actually Market Me that had intellectual property rights over the campaign name and logo.

Bryan said that he had written to Market Me in 2019 requesting the transfer.

No explanation was offered for why that transfer had not already been made.

The permanent secretary has suggested that Market Me’s possession of the rights to Jamaica Moves may have been out of step with an agreement signed with the firm.

But Market Me indicated on Sunday that its Jamaica Moves contract with the health ministry had expired and that it was eager for new talks.

“We anticipate that our negotiations regarding a renewal of the contract will treat with all matters outstanding, including, but not limited to, ownership of and rights to intellectual property,” the statement said.

Calls to the principals of Market Me, Lyndsey McDonnough and Kristina Kerr, rang without answer on Sunday.

Market Me insisted on Sunday that it had conceptualised Jamaica Moves “as an initiative to counter obesity and other lifestyle illnesses in Jamaica”. It also said that private-sector donors had pumped $75 million into the Jamaica Moves campaign, which, it said, dwarfed the $54,832,520 injected by the ministry. Private-sector donations were made directly to suppliers, not to Market Me, the statement said.

But Market Me did not address concerns of a conflict of interest that arose in a Sunday Gleaner report indicating that McDonnough did not disclose to the National Health Fund (NHF) board, which later sponsored the Jamaica Moves programme, that she had an interest in Market Me. McDonnough tendered her resignation as an NHF director with immediate effect on February 15, 2017, one week before the board approved $15 million for Jamaica Moves.

Cabinet had approved the appointment of McDonnough and eight others to the NHF board on April 1, 2016.