Boosting demand in a changing industry

On moving tides

NSC tasked us with increasing their UK market share and to do so would mean we would need to reach the grocery retail buyer, food service and consumers. We would need to get Norwegian Seafood more widely stocked and readily available, before encouraging consumption. Finally, we would need to convince the core consumer audience of mums, cooks and people who eat out of the home that the taste, quality and freshness of Norwegian seafood goes hand-in-hand with its sustainable fishing practises.

But the question was how to do so when Norway and its culture are not very familiar to many in the UK and brands here have a long-established narrative that 'British is Best'?

Our approach would utilise a fully integrated campaign across our core areas of expertise including advertising, PR, media, shopper marketing and experiential.

Hungry for change

Our initial research highlighted that the trade were hungry for information and details on the back-story of Norwegian fish and its industry as a whole because this would give them the credibility to help sell into other sectors of the trade (buyers), as well as raise awareness amongst consumers.

Before we could prompt consumers to choose Norwegian seafood, we needed to ensure they could find it. Our integrated strategy began with focusing on the trade initially, and PR became central to our trade campaign, with advocacy at the core of the message.

Consumer communications began in late 2012 and will continue throughout 2013. The core idea of the creative campaigns are to distil Norway's essence, communicating the spirit of the country and its intrinsic relationship with its coastline and sea including its sustainability, heritage, health and, of course, taste – all key consumer concerns with seafood purchases.

On behalf of the NSC, we forged partnerships with like-minded organisations and individuals to promote the benefits of the NSC’s sustainable fishing practices. This advocacy has resulted in:

• the NSC sponsoring the first ever 'Young British Foodies' awards
• amplifying Mitch Tonks as our first ever UK ambassador of Norwegian Seafood
• bespoke promotions and in-store activity at key retailers, including Harrods, Booths and Tesco
• a promotion that gave fish & chip shops the chance to win a tonne of cod and their consumers the chance to win the trip of a lifetime to Norway

The Result?

It is still early days for the campaign but in six months we have smashed the 12 month coverage targets, with a reach of over 297 million and an ROI of 10:1. Overall figures are not available due to reporting complexities in the sales chain but in the first week of their in-store promotion, Harrods saw a 113% YOY increase in Skrei Cod sales and the growth held well with sales still 61% in week four.

Here's what Johan Kvalheim of the Norwegian Seafood Council had to say:

“I have been working with Bray Leino for the past two years. In that time, they have continued to impress me with their professional approach, their grasp of our very complicated industry and the challenging task they have been given. The team have developed an insightful and well thought through strategy that has already delivered some fantastic results.”