GAPP Lent-Season Campaign Reaches Nearly 2 Million Consumers

 

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON—As the popular fish-focused season of Lent concluded on Sunday, new data shows that nearly two million consumers came to the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) social platforms for content related to Wild Alaska Pollock over the last forty days, GAPP announced today. The campaign, waged solely on GAPP’s Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest channels, put geotargeted quick-service restaurant (QSR) menu options, retail products, and recipes—all featuring Wild Alaska Pollock—on the “feeds” of hungry fish-friendly consumers, yielding impressive results.

 

Consumers who caught a glimpse of GAPP’s social media were treated to factual, yet fun, information about the fish’s attributes: wild-caught in Alaska, unmatched sustainability and health attributes, and of course its mild taste. GAPP drove consumers to new content on their website and a new “seasonal” special each day. The campaign capitalized on the increased number of QSRs and brands that called out Wild Alaska Pollock by name on the packaging and in advertisements, adding to the name recognition for the species and providing excellent fodder for social media. GAPP also actively engaged with the food bloggers and social media celebrities that performed product reviews ad tested Lent menu items—adding to the buzz. 

 

“Last year, our proprietary research showed that 10 million additional U.S. consumers knew Wild Alaska Pollock by name due, in part, to GAPP’s efforts to put the name Wild Alaska Pollock on front of the pack or on the menu and associate the name with our fish’s core attributes,” said Craig Morris, GAPP Chief Executive Officer. “We know that marketing this fish is a numbers game—more people, learning about Wild Alaska Pollock products, every day. We used the Lenten season and the work our partners in retail and foodservice were doing to put seafood front of mind to also grow GAPP’s following on social media so that hopefully all year long people can learn about our amazing fish.”

 

GAPP featured menu items from popular chains including Wendy’s, BoJangles, Arby’s, Del Taco, McDonald’s and others as well as new GAPP Partnership Program products including 7-Eleven with their brand new “fish bites” and Denny’s with their Fish and Chips special platters with paid dollars behind the content to ensure it was reaching the right consumer, in the right region at just the right time to be relevant and engaging. As a result of this targeting, consumers followed and engaged with GAPP and more importantly “clicked-through” to learn more about specific products available in their regions.

 

“This campaign was successful because it was relevant and actionable and went beyond the generic. We knew people were able to find the products we were promoting and that made the campaign a success,” said Morris. “We wanted our brand partners to help us make the content relevant and then use that relevancy to drive traffic to our platforms for people to learn more about the fish they were enjoying and continue to move consumer familiarity and positive association with our fish up. I think we can safely say the results more than lived up to the investment and we’re excited to continue to analyze how we can do even better in the weeks to come as more data comes in.”

 

GAPP’s new followers will get a first-hand look this spring at the new industry Life Cycle Assessment findings and more engaging content throughout the year as GAPP works to further develop its online community. Based on the success of this campaign we’ve already made plans for a similar push in the fall timed around back-to-school time as well as National Seafood Month to see what we can do to build on the success of this campaign.  

 

To learn more about GAPP’s social media campaign and all of the great Wild Alaska Pollock available right now, visit the GAPP website or follow GAPP on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.