New Lobster Marketing Initiatives Reach Millions

continued from January 2016 Homepage


 

Our messaging
works in the U.S.—
Maine-made,
independent fishermen, sustainability.


 

“Our total budget was $1.5 million,” Jacobson said. “Just our media outreach alone returned more than our budget. Couple that with our social media reach and our chef outreach. We are creating value above our cost.”

The collaborative relaunched six social media channels—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube—and a new website; more than doubled its Twitter and Facebook reach and grew its Instagram following by 123 percent; attended five industry events that reached more than 1,000 consumers and food “influencers,” and educating them about the “Maine New Shell Lobster” brand; and connected with about 100 high-end chefs, including restaurant celebrities Bobby Flay and Tom Colicchio.

“We found enormous resonance meeting one-on-one with chefs,” said Jacobson. “We talk with them, we bring them to Maine, put them on a boat, and show them how it works. Or we go to them, give them a new-shell/hard-shell taste test, and tell them our story. Chefs we met called their purveyors following our meetings and placed orders.”

In an interaction typical of these visits, Jacobson was joined by Long Island fisherman Steve Train and Barton Seaver, an Esquire magazine Chef of the Year, author, and leader in the sustainable seafood movement who lives in South Freeport.

“We brought a tub of new-shell lobster and a tub of hard-shell lobster,” said Jacobson. “We told them the story of sustainability. Steve told them what a lobsterman does. We told them about culinary applications. Then we gave them the taste test.”

In August, in a resolution sponsored by Maine Senator Angus King, the U.S. Senate designated Sept. 25 National Lobster Day, which was written up in more than 100 publications, receiving over 153 million impressions. On social media, the #NationalLobsterDay hashtag reached over 14 million users. Maine lobster was served by the White House that evening at a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping; the menu was highlighted in more than 67 Chinese media articles, said Jacobson. The collaborative has other promotions in the works, such as tailgate parties for lobster tails.

Reaching chefs is essential, since most lobster is consumed in restaurants, Jacobson said. Even so, a 2014 survey found that only 4 percent of upscale restaurants from Maine to Baltimore had Maine lobster on the menu.

“We said, ‘Let’s get it on the menu,’” said Jacobson.

Fishermen are working closely with the collaborative, receiving media training along the way.

“Anytime we can get a fisherman in front of media or chefs, we do it,” he said.

For 2016, the collaborative plans to scale up its interactions by creating educational/social food events in three cities for influential chefs, media, and food bloggers. The collaborative will continue to track chefs and their menus.

“We want to see how many put it on their menus, and whether they become evangelists for us,” he said.

Jacobson said he avoids using price as a metric of success, instead focusing on awareness and demand.

“If we do that, then the industry will be healthy and we’ll keep demand constant,” he said.

Some dealers are working to expand exports, and the collaborative supports that in concept, Jacobson said. “But we haven’t been to Pittsburgh yet. We haven’t been to Cleveland, Atlanta, or Dallas. There are lots of big cities in the U.S., and the supply chain is easier. Our messaging works in the U.S.—Maine-made, independent fishermen, sustainability. And we haven’t exhausted our opportunities here.”

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