In an effort to better communicate, educate, and generate trust in a wider portion of the population, the Bank of England has turned to the Bank of Jamaica for unique new ideas that have been highly successful within the island nation. One of the methods used by the Bank of Jamaica includes a series of videos featuring reggae stars singing about inflation and national growth.

The financial crisis in England, new policy tools, and an increasing distrust of the financial system prompted people in that country to push for greater transparency and plain language. In response, it’s forced banks in England and around the world to examine their strategies and how they communicate with the public. Studies found that the language used by the Bank of England was even more difficult to understand than the works of Charles Dickens.

Jamaican reggae recording artists and dancers have been featured on the Bank of Jamaica’s social media site, on TV, and on billboards. The unconventional approach features appealing beats and catchphrases that includes “if it’s too high the people have a cry and if it’s too low the country nah grow.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4S1-W66fF0

Credit for the unorthodox campaign is directed to Tony Morrison, the public relations director at the Bank of Jamaica. The videos are fun and entertaining, while purveying solid information that every Jamaican should know about inflation rates and how it affects their life. The reggae-based campaign also highlights the efforts the Bank of Jamaica is making to keep inflation rates low.

In the mid-1990s, Jamaica experienced extremely high debt levels that resulted in dozens of banks failing. The Bank of Jamaica has worked diligently since then to lower inflation rates and in 2018, the World Economic Forum discovered that perception by the public was that Jamaica had one of the safest banking systems in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4S1-W66fF0

The music videos created by the Bank of Jamaica are an example that other banking institutions would do well to emulate. Very few individuals understand the banking system and view it with distrust, while almost everyone understands inflation and how it affects their wallet.

Photo source: Bank of Jamaica, 123rf