In the past, Thursday Life has featured peanut vendors, particularly those on Trafalgar Road, pleasant young men who ever so courteously soothe those oftentimes frayed nerves – the result of sitting in traffic that never seems to move.

Something was different about peanut vendor Collin Blake, however, when we spotted him on Tuesday. His smile was brighter and he was attracting a lot more attention. This because of the ‘ad pack’ on his back — Blake had suddenly become a walking billboard. The result of Corporate Events & Branding; a company operated by Geoffery Wilson, Sanjay Edwards and Taniela Fisher. Naturally, we went in search of the team behind this innovation.

Thursday Life (TL): Why did you start this initiative?

Geoffery Wilson (GW): Working in the advertising industry for almost 10 years, I have always had an eye for creative innovation. I myself am a regular customer of these peanut vendors and decided that I could incorporate the ad packs to boost their visibility – allowing them a more professional look and feel.

The initial idea of “The Ad Pack” emerged as it was oftentimes challenging to locate vendors at crowded events. I found that it was actually easier to locate a cigarette or peanut vendor from a distance instead of anticipating the probability of him passing by. I then sought to incorporate this vision to a high corporate traffic area like the Trafalgar Road strip that is populated by vendors – like the hard-working peanut sellers.

This type of platform allows for professional visibility and increased revenues for the vendor themselves and creates a space for Corporate Jamaica to advertise simultaneously. This transformed the archaic way of advertising from printed flyers and distribution, to a simple, innovative and cost-effective way of advertising creatively.

To date we have furnished six ad packs to the group of peanut vendors.

TL: What has the feedback been like?

GW: The feedback has been tremendous; the response to the ad pack is that it is innovative and convenient to almost any space. People have always been impressed at its lightweight, effective and creative way to promote almost anything.

TL: How long have you been in business?

GW: Almost three years. We started out in 2013 and became registered in 2014.

TL: Do you have any other food ventures on the table?

GW: Definitely, we have a food and snacks service which includes burgers, hotdogs, confectionery and cigarettes amongst other food items that we provide at events, offering easy convenient food service to patrons and customers conveniently. The ad pack is used to easily identify these food vendors at mostly crowded events.

Thursday Lifeencourages the support of this innovation

CORPORATE EVENTS AND BRANDING

113 Border Avenue, Havendale. Kingston 19, Jamaica

(876) 464-8422, (876) 326-6876, (876) 790-3731 corporateeventsandbranding@gmail.com