Across Jamaica the distinctive ‘Cool Cards’ sign is appearing in many locations as vendors catch on to the unique method of selling phone cards being provided by this young company.
Cool Cards has stormed the telecommunications industry with its creative use of technology, bold branding and innovative marketing strategies. In an effort to take full advantage of the deregulation of the telecom industry, Cool Cards, of which Joey Issa is a senior partner, invested $120 million dollars in technology, hardware, software and branding in just eight months has become the largest purveyor of pre-paid electronic calling cards for Digicel and Cable & Wireless.
Cool Cards now prides itself with having more than 300 vendor locations island-wide and has plans to bring several hundred more on stream in the coming months. With its roots in plastic card distribution, Cool Cards continues to play a major role in the distribution of the traditional plastic prepaid calling cards. Digicel Flex Cards are distributed in the Kingston and St. Catherine area from their Kingston base on Mountain View Avenue and the full range of Cable and Wireless cards are available for island-wide distribution from their office on Main Street in Ocho Rios.
Andrew Grant, managing director of Cool Cards, was the general manager of Prospect Plantation, when he was approached with the idea of building a new company with a focus on technology and the ever-popular prepaid phone card. As the immediate past president of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce, a Justice of the Peace, and an engineer by trade, Mr. Grant was more than capable of drawing together a group of young creative professionals to get the company focused on providing simple electronic solutions for people interested in selling phone cards. Mr. Grant knew if he could keep his team young and nimble it would be able to respond to the emerging market and make the necessary adjustments to the business plan without the constraint of a large bureaucratic organization.
SUPPORT
In fact, Grant credits the success of the company to the support he has from his team, which includes dynamic sales representatives stationed across the island, strong behind-the-scenes administrators and friendly customer service representatives.
The Cool Card electronic calling card solution is easy to set-up; all vendors need is access to a telephone line and an electrical socket. With as little as two days notice, Cool Cards can put a machine in a vendor’s location and training can be done in as little as half an hour. Cool Cards provides vendors with the signs, stickers, buttons and posters that serve as fillips to the business.
Cool Cards Complete Calling Card Centre, based in Ocho Rios, quickly became a household name in St. Ann and St. Mary. “The $10,000 giveaway aired live on Reggae Sun TV weekly has really helped us get our message out,” said Andrew Grant.
“Consumers realize winning $10,000 is as easy as getting into the habit of buying Cool Card electronic phone cards and holding on to the pink paper then checking the winning numbers. Complimenting the $10,000 give away is the branding we created with a talented group of graphic designers from the US,” Mr. Grant added. Striving to create strong recognition, the colourful, strong and crisp branding can be seen everywhere; bill-boards, tow trucks, shops, pharmacies, supermarkets, gas stations and restaurants have all chosen to go Cool.
Mr. Grant went on to say the company has been careful not to rely solely on its innovative product and strong branding, but has complimented this with full customer and vendor supports services as well as excellent benefits to both customers and vendors.
“Creating a rewards programme targeting both consumers and vendors has had a strong influence on our brand loyalty. The Cool Card electronic phone card system is inherently safe and secure for the vendor thereby creating a product which is sought after by shopkeepers and other sellers of phone cards,” Mr. Grant stressed.
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
Joe Issa's Innovative Cool Card Business taking Jamaica by Storm! 
http://www.coolcorp.com/cool-card-centre-introduces-the-ez-card-gleaneroutlook/
Cool Corp
Cool Card Centre introduces the “EZ Card”
Published on July 7, 2003.
Gleaner/Outlook
Electronic Calling Cards are all set to redefine the calling card business in Jamaica by creating an online network. This network will allow easy and immediate access to calling cards, and is available island wide. Cable and Wireless has upgraded its products and just recently introduced its prepaid electronic calling cards.
Cool Cards Complete Calling Card Centre is the first company in Jamaica to be selling these cards over an electronic network. The company, backed by executive vice president of SuperClubs, Joe Issa, has been successful selling Digicel’s Flex-E-Cards for the past three months and will now be able to sell Cable and Wireless’ cards from the same Cool Card Verifone terminals. Marketed under the brand EZ Card, the electronic calling cards work on the Readi Cellie phones and replace the popular Classic prepaid calling card. Cool Card’s network presently consists of 30 terminals at locations across the island and a central server in Ocho Rios. Cool Card will be introducing the new EZ Cards on Cool Card terminals in Kingston at Petcom Hagley Park and Sugar and Spice and Red Hills Road. ED Cards can also be purchased from Cool Card terminals in St. Ann. All the company’s terminals should be able to sell these cards within the next two weeks.
http://affiliate-marketing.capnix.com/tag/cool/
Experience in Hospitality, Branson Strategies Helped Grow Cool Brand Joe Issa
Posted on August 12, 2014
Business guru Joe Issa, says in an interview that the experience gained in running the family chain of all-inclusive resorts and the corporate strategies employed by Sir Richard Branson in growing the Virgin brand have greatly influenced the growth of his Cool Group of companies.
The announcement came as Issa, who in 2015 will celebrate 20 years of his Cool business, is interviewed on the success of his corporate strategies and the growth of his Cool brand companies, which have earned him several awards.
My time at the family SuperClubs resorts was a tremendous journey, from knowing nothing about the hospitality business when I started working as a teenager, to running one of the largest chain of hotels in the island.
It is this experience and the corporate strategies employed by Richard Branson in growing the Virgin Group of over 400 companies which gave me the knowledge base to start my own business and make the quantum leap to having over 50 companies today under the Cool brand, says Executive Chairman of Cool Group, Joey Issa.
He says, What we did at the family all-inclusive resorts was to set strict standards for food service, room comfort and checkout, among other areas, and we praised and rewarded our team members when the benchmarks were met, Issa says, citing as an example, when the hotel outscored all others in Jamaica and the Caribbean, in a customer satisfaction survey by US tour operator, Apple Vacations, which was reported in the Saturday October 29 issue of the Jamaica Record.
After replicating this successful strategy at the other SuperClubs properties and developing the reputation as a turnaround manager, Issa copped the coveted Young Hotelier of the World award in 1994 at the age of 29 years.
A year later I formed my first company, a petrol station in St. Ann which we named Cool Oasis and thats when the business practices and brand-building strategies of Richard Branson really kicked in, Issa says, as he recalls following the growth of the Virgin Group and emulating some of the business processes and corporate strategies which he employed.
Issa says, Like Branson did with Virgin Records, selling an attitude and a lifestyle, Cool Oasis sold a way of life and introduced novel standards for service delivery to enhance brand loyalty. As a result Cool Oasis became the catalyst for the formation of several other Cool companies in the new millennium, by engaging in an array of business activities through its subsidiaries and affiliates.
In 2001, Cool Automotive Distributors was established to deliver motor oil and lubricants to gas stations, auto stores, companies with fleet vehicles and those involved in trucking. Today, it is one of the leading retailers of automobile-related lubricants and selected accessories in Jamaica. The distribution business has grown to include basic household products such as toilet paper and soap.
By 2002, Issa had formed Cool Card to distribute telephone cards in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. It became the #1 non-exclusive Top-Up Distributor in Jamaica, according to the North Coast Times March 28-April 3, 2003.
In 2003, through Cool Biz, which has a network of over 3,000 small businesses engaged in selling phone cards, soap, toilet paper and other household products, Issa introduced EZ Card, an innovative, electronic top-up of telephone credit operated by the Cool Biz customers, says the Financial Gleaner, January 17, 2003.
In 2005, Issa started Cool Petroleum, which became the licensed user of Shell brands in Jamaica. The company was the exclusive distributor of Shell bulk fuels, Shell chemicals and Shell lubricants, and the largest fuel retailer by volume, operating an extensive network of more than 50 Shell service stations, it was reported in the Business Observer Wednesday November 23, 2005 and Wednesday Gleaner May 10, 2006.
In April 2006, he started Cool Cash loans for micro businesses. After this came Cool Gear, Cool Beach and Cool Tours, among the many other companies which, at one point or another were part of Cool Group.
Our group is now one of the largest indigenous petroleum suppliers in Jamaica, accounting for a substantial percentage of the retail station market. We also have a publications division, fisheries division, a distribution division and an e-retail division among our many varied business interests, Issa informs.
References
Business Observer, 2005. Shell name and workers to remain. The Business Observer, 23 November .
Anon., 2003. Joey showcasing entrepreneurship Cool Card investment of $ 125M. North Coast Times , March 28 – April 3.
Business Observer, 2005. Growth of Cool. Business Observer, 23 November.
The Gleaner, 2003. Cool Card Centre introduces the EZ Card. Financial Gleaner, 17 January.
The Gleaner, 2005. 7. Growth of Cool; Cool Oasis is now one of the largest petroleum retailers in Jamaica. The Gleaner, 14 October.
The Gleaner, 2006. Neal & Massy Splits Shell with Joey. The Gleaner, 10 May
Joey Issa Creativity and Uniqueness
Joey Issa thinking “outside the box”
Creativity and uniqueness can be said to be the outcome of imagination, which German-born American scientist, Albert Einstein said “is more important than knowledge, it grows by exercise and is more powerful in the mature, and if put to use the possibilities become limitless.” Do you know of anyone who has demonstrated this?
It is not possible to compare business savvy Joseph J. Issa with the Nobel laureate, Einstein, who wrote the general theory of evolution, but if what he said about imagination is true, it mirrors the creativity and growth of Joey’s endeavours over the years, from philanthropy to business, to advocacy.
Joe Issa’s creativity surfaced very early in life when he imagined winning the Head Master’s Award at Campion College and he did in 1982. Similarly, he set off to university in the mid-1980s, with eyes focused on being the youngest resident Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Jamaica. He did that too. Joey says if you can imagine it you can achieve it.
Growing up with much, he often imagined what it was like having so little. Joey first realised his vision of greater access to education by less fortunate Caribbean and Jamaican children when, while attending the London School of Economics (LSE) in the United Kingdom, he founded “Educate the Children Fund”.
The creative idea, which was endorsed by the Jamaica High Commission in London was taken onboard by the LSE and given a life of its own, managed by a committee comprising the LSE, the Afro Caribbean Society of which Joey was president, and the Jamaican Government.
Joey and his team held a raffle and raised £3,000 to enable the Ministry of Education in Jamaica to purchase Mathematics and English Language textbooks for five of the neediest schools. Jamaica was given first take of the proceeds as it was celebrating its 25th Independence anniversary.
If imagination begets imagination, examples are abound in Joey’s next big moves, including full scholarship for one bright Jamaican child every four years to attend Collage of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he graduated Valedictorian with more than one Jamaican first.
With two big initiatives now living their own lives, ‘Joey tun up di ting’ in his next endeavour a year later, when he founded “Global Education 2000”, in which Jamaican and US schools collaborate to train Jamaican teachers, among other benefits. His various philanthropic initiatives have been widely reported in the Jamaican media.
As in philanthropy, Joey is quite imaginative when it comes to business. This has been shown many times in his working life as a hotel executive and entrepreneur.
Joey famously brought to Jamaica in may 2000, Robin Leach, famous for the hit series ‘Livestyle of the Rich and Famous’, as the major attraction for one of his marketing ideas, ‘Leach on the Beach’, providing the ultimate in entertainment while filling up resort rooms for his parents’ SuperClubs chain of hotels.
Another show of inventiveness was Joey’s ‘SuperClubs Radio Remote Broadcast’, involving 10 foreign radio stations from new Jersey, Philadelphia, Denver, Huston, Dallas, New Orleans, North Carolina, California, and Buffalo.
The initiative drew many visitors from these cities to SuperClubs, as it hosted their favourite radio stations to broadcast back home about Jamaican culture and heritage. The project brought many benefits to Jamaica, including increased visitor arrival and trade.
Joey also brought new meaning to the old adage, ‘What you sew, is what you reap’, by increasing the satisfaction level of his staff, who in turn increased guests’ satisfaction, which is critical for success in the hospitality business. To achieve this Joey came up with the “People Development Programme” idea, under which workers were helped to buy and develop land.
His many innovative marketing strategies over the years have transformed the SuperClubs into a top rated, highly classy and sough-after chain of resorts and this did not go unnoticed He earned several awards, including Young Hotelier of the World in 1999, and the Jamaica Observer’s Tourism’s Brightest Spark award and a place among the country’s top 10 Personalities.
But it is in entrepreneurship that Joey has been most imaginative, building an empire on a ‘Cool’ brand, from one petrol station, Cool Oasis, to one of the largest petroleum retailers in Jamaica within 15 years. He also came out with the idea of ‘Cool Biz’, under which some 3,000 active businesses sell phone cards, soap, and toilet paper, among other household goods.
Joey’s
successful business strategies have been likened to those of Sir. Richard
Branson. He is famously known as founder and chairman of the Virgin Group of more than 400 companies.
As in philanthropy and business, Joey has shown much imagination in his advocacy work, not least was his well endorsed idea of making politicians sign a covenant with their constituency to make them more accountable.
The idea, which became known as the ‘Issa initiative’ was widely supported by members of parliament and by the media. The editorial in the April 20, 2005 edition of The Gleaner, which was devoted to ‘Seeking Accountability’, spoke highly of the initiative.
Calling the idea “a watershed in Jamaica’s political culture,” the newspaper said it “has the potential of bringing about a change in the relationship between constituents and their elected representatives.”
Lascelles entering phonecard market.
A race is on between one of Jamaica’s veritable corporate brands and a trendy upstart to become the major seller of airtime on mobile phones, using electronic terminals rather than the plastic cards that have become ubiquitous with the cellular revolution.
“We have the set intention of doing our bit to preserve the environment by making plastic phonescards extinct,” says J Paul Thomas, the CEO of Lascelles Telecoms, a subsidiary of the Lascelles Group, which is about to launch its operation under eSprit brand.
But while consideration for the environment — an estimated 16 million of non-biodegradable phonecards are used by Jamaicans annually — may have played a role in Lascelles’ initiative to enter the market, it is likely to have had another, more powerful incentive. Jamaicans spend about $18 billion a year talking on mobile phones, and about 90 per cent of that is through pre-paid services using plastic cards.
Paul Thomas
Indeed, Lascelles Group CEO, Billy McConnel is known to have long contemplated on ways to get into this lucrative market, having privately joked that telephone cards were, incongruously, perhaps the biggest competitor to one of the group’s best known brands — Wray & Nephew Overproof White Rum.
Next month, when eSpirit rolls out its product it will, according to Thomas, have 400 machines dispensing on paper PIN numbers for mobile phones similar to how lottery numbers are sold. “The goal is to install between 3,000 and 4,000 machines by next September,” Thomas said, estimating that the market potential is for up to 10,000 machines.
Lascelles, whose businesses range from growing sugar cane and distilling rum to insurance and product distribution, may be hoping that such corporate muscle and its long experience in reaching markets will help provide fillip for success in the new technology-related venture.
But it will also have to be nimble and quick if it is to outpace the Ocho Rios-based Cool Cards. Eight months ago Cool Oasis was a single service station/rest stop just outside St Ann’s Bay on the island’s north coast. Its principal, Joe Issa, was executive vice president of SuperClubs, the famous hotel chain controlled by Joe Issa’s father, John. But Cool Oasis’ its brightly coloured, tropically welcoming billboards, gave a sense of an organisation and operation much larger in scope.
But since then, Joe Issa has been leveraging Cool Oasis’ heady, fun-time livery and image with the Cool Cards phone cards, and is now going aggressively in the electronic delivery end of the business.
In fact, Cool Cards, in its eight month, has established 300 vendors and is moving quickly to expand that number, according to Issa, who is now full-time in the business after his abrupt departure from SuperClubs, apparently over family differences.
“We are programming 250 terminals right now to put on the market over the next two months,” says Issa.
Others firms, with technology similar to that being installed by Cool Cards and Lascelles Telecoms, have the capacity to also sell mobile phone airtime via electronic terminals. But for now, it is a relatively small incremental operation for those who do. Cool Cards and Lascelles apparently hope that they will have had a big headstart in the market by the time these others are fully aware of the potential and are able to substantially shift gears.
“About 10 per cent of the market is electronic cards, but in two to three years we expect that to move to about half,” says Cool Card’s managing director, Andrew Smith.
But according to Cool Card’s Issa, his firm is not only focusing on the electronic delivery of mobile phone airtime.
“We are into the physical side of the business as well,” he told the Business Observer. “We are setting up a one-stop centre for mobile phone. For instance, we will be into the co-branding of phone cards as well as offer other mobile phone related services. If you are on a short stay in Jamaica and you want to rent a mobile phone, we will do that.”
Cool Cards, says Smith, is seeking to sell its service not only to the three mobile service providers – Digicel, Cable & Wireless and the minnows, Oceanic. It is also targeting, and is in discussion with several of the companies that have received licences to carry wired and long-distance services.
“We are distributing for everybody,” says Issa. “We are not taking sides in this (aggressive competition between the players). We will allow the chips to fall where they will.”
Issa says that his company has already invested J$120 million or US$2 million to roll out its services and to bring it to its present position. “We expect the investment to reach US$6 million (J$360 million).”
For the phone companies keen to concentrate on expanding their networks, and marketing their services rather than having to expend energy on the gritty retail end of the business — where they do not necessarily have the expertise — such developments are welcome.
“We have taken the deliberate decision to outsource the distribution channel,” says Digicel’s director, Harry Smith. “We prefer to put our resources on building our core business — building and maintaining our telecommunications infrastructure, our corporate and dealer sales teams etc.”
Moreover, competition of the type being launched by Lascelles and Cool Cards will expand the reach of the phone companies’ products to the market. The competition will likely mean, too, lower commissions and tighter margins for firms that operate at this end of the market.
In fact, both Cool Cards and Lascelles Telecoms are seeking to leverage their investment in technology, seeking to do some of the things being explored by the lottery companies and other investors in these information and communications systems.
For instance, Lascelles Telecoms’ Thomas says that his company is already in negotiation with the building society-led, financial services group, Jamaica National (JN), to carry its bill payments and remittance services. The idea is that Lascelles will be able to generate the economies of scale to offer services which would otherwise be difficult for JN to offer.
“It is not now economical for JN to put an ABM in an area with less than 5,000 people,” Thomas explains.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20030729T230000-0500_46980_OBS_LASCELLES_ENTERING_PHONECARD_MARKET.asp
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