Imbert defends CAL's $1.2m sponsorship of Machel's One Show concert

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert has defended Caribbean Airlines' (CAL) $1.2 million sponsorship of Machel Montano's concert in February. He said through the airline's partnership with the soca star, it earned seven times more than the amount of money donated.

He was responding to questions by the Opposition in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon.

Montano's concert, Machel 40-One Show, was held on February 17 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

The seven-hour show featured a string of local artistes as well as Nigerian Afrobeats stars WizKid, Rema and Ayra Starr.

The show received heavy criticism which led to the organisers eventually issuing a public apology.

Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo asked Imbert for a list of all 2023 Carnival activities for which CAL provided financial support and the dollar value of each.

Imbert said CAL gave the National Carnival Commission $250,000 and $1,275,000 went towards Montano's concert.

Tancoo then asked if there is a policy which allows a company that is not generating a profit to "engage in donations."

In August 2021, the airline released its unaudited financial reports, which reported an operational loss of $326.6 million for the first half of 2021.

And for the same period in 2020, it recorded a loss of $331 million.

Imbert said Montano's concert provided "the highest brand visibility platform for amplification of the CAL Welcome Home brand story for 2023."

CAL launched its Welcome Home campaign in January, which was also when Montano released his song Welcome Home which featured fellow soca star Aaron "Voice" St Louis and Jamaica's dancehall great Jeffrey "Agent Sasco" Campbell (formerly called Assassin).

Imbert continued, "In line with the refreshed branding and the strategic five-year expansion plans, it is imperative that CAL differentiates itself as the leading airline of the Caribbean."

He said the partnership provided "extensive channels" for CAL to target the diaspora through music and video streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Shazam, Amazon Music and Deezer.

Through these platforms, he said, the show reached fans in India, Russia, South Africa, France, Japan, the UK and the French Caribbean.

"The Machel Montano video attained the highest performance on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook to date. The advertising strategy focused on driving brand awareness."

He said the ticket sales on CAL's website as a result of this ad amounted to US$1,151,000.

"Seven times the amount of sponsorship given by CAL!" he said.