Of course no words can describe the devastation that many experienced in millions of different, personal ways during the #COVID pandemic. But as the end of the beginning appears we must now transition to a new phase, that of The Recovery. And for the #Seafood Sector and how it goes to market, now is the time to think about its destruction – its creative destruction. For as the old saying goes, “never let a crisis go to waste”, for the #Seafood Sector, this is certainly a crisis not be be wasted. That is, when seafood consumption in North America remains stuck at consistently low levels compared to the other big three proteins, when the only way towards growth is the acquisition of market share at a competitor’s expense, when seafood species are often thought of at best as an interesting special event food (#shellfish) and at the other end, as a nameless commodity (#farmed salmon), but rarely as a mainstream protein to consume as we do chicken, beef and pork, then perhaps it is time to rethink how producers build markets, connect with customers and grow consumption. How do we use this experience of the pandemic and the lockdown as a roadmap to relevance with the #consumer? How do we get the world’s most delicious, unique, #sustainable proteins into the grocery baskets of more consumers? Is it through a continued focus on production efficiencies and a constant emphasis on #sustainability? Perhaps most important for seafood’s next phase is a transition to #commercial and #marketing excellence.
Of course many things seafood does in its commercial approach to the markets and its customers is good, sometimes excellent. Many seafood producers have become better than most other fresh ingredient products in relating to the chef at the elite restaurant and sushi channels and engaging them with their stories and unique qualities. But how often do these stories get beyond the chef? How often does the consumer actually connect with the seafood producer’s message? If the seafood sector truly wants to succeed in growing its relevance with consumers, it must transition its approach.
First, it is time to transition from a business to business approach, towards a business to consumer approach. That will require a change in thinking, from a relentless focus on production, pricing and availability towards loyalty, brand connections, experiences and relationships with consumers. It doesn’t mean forgetting about those important production and sustainability fundamentals but it means upping our game to emphasize the consumer relationship. Many seafood producers, processors and distributors were forced during the pandemic to urgently transition their business towards home delivery and e-commerce. Well that transition must be maintained and in fact accelerated so that these relationships with consumers are built upon. This #consumer connection must become the new pillar upon which a producer’s marketing efforts rest and for those seafood companies that didn’t make this transition, they should take steps now to do so or risk falling forever behind. Hopefully by now, all seafood organizations, regardless of their role in the chain, have created or currently are developing their e-commerce site.
Second, making the transition towards consumers will not only require a commitment for change but it will also require a deep understanding of who the consumer is, what their attitudes, values, perceptions and preferences are and finding ways to meet those needs. This requires an investment in research and data collection. This was how I and my colleagues built the Skuna Bay Salmon brand and it is how seafood producers can gain insights with which to adjust and target their commercial strategies. For those who have successfully gathered consumer contacts to create a database, simple online survey tools, digital focus groups and one-to-one interviews can be conducted efficiently and inexpensively. We must commit to this step, it is no longer enough to know your intermediary customer – you must know your customer’s customer and that customer’s customer.
Third, it is absolutely necessary to commit hard dollars towards marketing efforts. This will be difficult for producers to do because this is a leap of faith, and it will be hard to measure tangible outcomes. But it is critical for seafood producers to create their own unique identity, tell the story professionally and develop tools to communicate this story broadly. And to do this costs money and a commitment to work with professionals, not cutting corners but investing in good quality marketing tools and identities developed by experts, not just the in-house graphic designer who developed your latest newsletter. And it is not simply a website with beautiful photos of crashing waves and glacier fed waters. A brand identity communicates what makes you different from the alternatives and it does this consistently, creatively and using multiple marketing vehicles.
Fourth, it must develop deep relationships with retailers and commit to supplying consistently good quality products, professional packaging and most importantly, fixed (not spot) pricing. It is time for seafood producers to move away from the ruthless pursuit of margin and commit to predictable prices that will allow retailers to set regular price levels for their customers. Seafood producers must become experts at the retail channel and have the same insights at retail that other protein providers and packaged goods manufacturers have. They must deliver to the retailer category insights on how their category and their product can meet and exceed the retailers’ needs. This will require an investment in Nielsen data, category management experts and new product development.
Fifth, we must put our best quality and innovative products forward and for those products that do not meet our highest expectations, develop value added products that can use the downgrades. High quality fresh sushi products, appealing frozen single serve products, interesting RTE products. How many times have we gone to the retailer’s fresh case and been sadly disappointed by the product presentation and poor quality? Poor presentation is a major barrier for the consumer and we must not allow poor quality to represent us. And just like the customer holds the supplier to account on poor quality, producers must hold the customer to account on poor handling and presentation.
Finally, we must change the insular relationships that prevent new personnel with new ways of thinking from entering the business. And we must embrace this new thinking rather than hold onto conventional wisdom. If we are going to become the 21st century protein (it’s not too late!) then we must abandon the old ways of doing things and embrace the new and that includes new people with new relationships, taking phone calls, having new meetings (even virtual ones!).
The seafood sector experienced terrible demand destruction, pent up supply, business distress and financial hardship during the pandemic. Now The Recovery is upon us, let us use this time to make the hard decisions and difficult but ultimately rewarding transitions that the sector desperately needs for its future success.
#seafood #marketing #consumer #creativedestruction #TheRecovery #sustainableseafood
