JUST over a decade ago, Kevin Frith, CEO and founder of Ideas Execution — a branding and trade marketing company — who had been residing overseas, decided that it was time to return to Jamaica but didn’t want to return to work for anyone.

“I was of the view of trying to figure out what can I come back and do, but didn’t want to do a business that depends on individuals to come and buy,” Frith recalled as he reflected on his journey into business in Jamaica.

“In my view, [the consumer retail business] is too competitive and not sustainable, especially if you don’t have a product that is essential like food or transportation.”

So dismissing the chance to enter the consumer market, Frith said he settled on targeting businesses and set about brainstorming which area he could go into.

“My mission was to find a product that I can match with a corporate company to give me a stronger customer base. So I basically came up with a counter top concept and that brought me into the bar market, and as I progressed and deliver in quality and on time, other companies would see the work I am doing out there and search me out to get similar work done for them,” Frith told the Jamaica Observer.

That original counter top concept resulted in the genesis of a small company called Bar Central, which Frith said he started in 2013. With it, he embarked on rebranding bars from mundane watering holes, bringing them to life with refreshed interiors and exteriors.

“So we will go into a bar space. We’d build out the counter and the shelves that people put the liquor on. We will give the inside a different look and feel, whether by virtue of doing minor construction, or partitions, or change something. We will literally breathe new life into the bars.”

This life was often topped off by the colours of the sponsoring liquor company, in this case J Wray and Nephew, which is known more for its rum.

The concept proved successful, even attracting investors in the form of SSL Venture Capital Limited, now Micro-Financing Solutions.

“In 2017, I sold some shares in it to a company and we had a fallout in 2020,” Frith said of the sale of 75 per cent of the business to SSL Ventures, and what led him to starting Ideas Execution. Bar Central’s assets were sold and the operation shuttered in December 2020 as part of SSL Ventures pulling back from investing in ventures and start-ups. Frith bought back most of the assets.

“I then decided to branch out on my own again and literally continued the same business concept, but under a new name.”

Ideas Execution starts

That new company was started in December 2020, but didn’t start operations until September 2021, in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

“Ideas Execution is [a] branding execution company,” he continued. “We basically bring company’s brand to life. We are the people who make representation by virtue of whether it be building branding, ID sign, or in some cases, we manufacture furniture.”

“Basically, we do buildouts. So if you’re about to start a business and you want to create a space that represents the business you’re in or the brand that you’re pushing, then Ideas Execution is the place for that. So, as the name suggests, we bring people’s ideas to life. We execute your ideas.”

But when the company started operating in September 2021, it scaled back on what Bar Central did. In addition to rebranding bars, Bar Central also distributed liquor to the entities. With the pandemic impacting production and availability of products, Frith said he decided to scrap that part of the business when he created Ideas Execution.

“We shifted our attention mainly to the branding and marketing services,” he told the Business Observer.

“We started doing the bars just the same as we did before. We also did some wholesales. We did some work for GraceKennedy. We do some work for Lasco and Wray and Nephew,” he said, reeling off his biggest clients to date. Other clients include Lucozade and the Seprod Group.

But its clientèle doesn’t stop there.

Since late last year, Ideas Execution signed a deal with Gruppo Campari, the parent company of J Wray and Nephew, to rebrand bars across the region.

“We are now operating in Trinidad and Tobago, executing bar and wholesale branding for Campari, ” Firth told Business Observer earlier this year.

“Since November 2022 we have successfully executed 25 outlets. We are negotiating with some other large players in that market for other executions that we expect to come on stream by the third quarter of 2023,” he continued.

Frith also shared that the company has set its sights on other Caribbean markets, such as Belize, Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, Suriname, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, and St Maarten.

Ideas Execution, Campari, and Wray and Nephew have partnered to execute over 500 branding projects and distributed products valued at over $1 billion in Jamaica since 2013.

With regards to Ideas Execution’s relationship with Grupo Campari, Wilson also pointed out the potential to increase revenues given the spirit distributors’ reach in the Caribbean. iCreate estimates the contract between Ideas Execution and Grupo Campari has generated over $1 billion since 2013.

Looking to consumer market

Despite targeting large corporates initially for business, Frith has since warmed to the idea of directly targeting entrepreneurs who need the service he delivers.

“Now we are looking to open up the business to the general market. So anyone wanting to start up a business that requires our services, like a restaurant, if they require us to do the buildout, whether the chairs, tables, and the set-up, in terms of serving area, the look and feel of the exterior,” he outlined as he seeks additional growth for Ideas Execution.

“As it is now, our operation is mainly business to business. We don’t even have an office space that someone can come to. We are not open to the general public. So we are planning now to market to the general public for anybody that requires our service.”

Frith said the company is also coming to market with at least one product.

“We are actually putting ourselves in order now. One of the things we are looking at is a retail product and we have identified the domino table. We are setting up our operations now in Florida to accommodate sales via Amazon of those domino tables,” he said. Those tables are expected to be distributed to consumers in the US and Canada, most of whom have taken on playing more household games during the pandemic, with the trend continuing after.

“We find that there is a high demand for recreational-type products since COVID. A lot of people are trying to entertain themselves at home, even more than before. We have been getting a lot of requests for domino tables, which are now manufacturing for the bars.”

He said the company is also “looking to form some partnership elsewhere for the same purpose of being able to send domino tables to whichever market,” but he did not disclose which markets.

He said he is also “searching for other retail products,” but didn’t get into the details either, but he added, “We are looking now to market to entrepreneurs, especially those expanding their businesses or needing a new location and are looking for someone to set it up, brand it, or build it out. Also for new entrepreneurs who are just setting up shop and looking the services of a buildout. We will put up signage, do internal partitions, and so on. You just rent the building. We will sit with you to understand the look and feel that you are trying to achieve. We will produce a mock-up of what it can look like, and once you agree, we will take care of everything else.”

He said despite pushing for growth beyond being a business-to-business player, Ideas Execution will not stray from what has given it success so far.

“We are sticking to our core business, which is branding. The retail product that we are looking for is a spin-off from the branding side of the business, because we actually make domino tables for brands that we work with. But because of high demands for the tables, we decided that we are going to put it in retail. We have come up with couple Jamaican designs and couple other designs that relate to Caribbean people in general that we are pushing on the retail market. But, no, we are sticking to our core business of branding, basically bringing brands alive.”