The Maine lobster industry wants to get more people around the world to eat its delicious, nutritious and versatile signature product.
To make that happen, the industry is exploring the possibility of committing one percent of the harvest’s landed value, or about $3 million annually once full funding levels are reached, to improve its promotion and marketing strategies. The money would be raised through license surcharges.
The details of the marketing plan and its funding is headed to the state legislature for consideration during its spring 2013 session. Whether the bill is approved or not, the Maine Lobster Promotion Council (MLPC) has already met with several advertising agencies to get some ideas on how to expand sales on the regional, national and global stage.
At an October meeting with three firms, the MLPC heard buzzwords such as buy-in, brand identity, positioning, consumer pull-through, target audience, optimized message, integrated promotion and critical strategic insights.
The firms responded to the MLPC’s request for proposals (RFP) for development of a position strategy and marketing plan to help strengthen and bolster global demand.
The RFP, dated Sept. 12, was sent to six firms.
According to the RFP, “The Maine lobster industry is preparing to strengthen and bolster its prospects for long-term economic stability by proposing a dramatic increase in funding for marketing with a primary focus on increasing global demand for Maine lobster.”
The RFP required proposals to define “attractive customer segments” for regional, national and international markets; evaluate competitor targets; define competitive advantages; include specific, measurable objectives and tactical elements that can be executed within the current industry structure; provide a blueprint for increasing demand for Maine lobster at any budget level; and provide a timeline and cost analysis.
The idea of improved promotion strategies comes in the face of the past summer’s market glut and a subsequent crash that saw prices reach a 30-year low.
In her organization’s newsletter, Patrice McCarron, Executive Director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association wrote, “It’s become painfully clear that the Maine lobster industry has failed to adequately invest in building consumer demand for Maine lobster. We have failed to consider how to match our business and harvesting strategies with the realities of 21st century markets and a more-than-100-million-pound fishery. We have failed to recognize the opportunities and limitations of the soft-shell lobsters that we land and we have failed to invest in creating new products from those lobsters.”
In August, the Department of Marine Resources’ (DMR) Lobster Advisory Council (LAC) voted to move forward with the $3 million plan which, if passed, would be phased in over three years.
The existing promotion surcharge on lobster fishing licenses yielded a tenth of that figure in 2011.
“We have to have money to get out there and build demand for Maine lobster,” wrote McCarron. “If we don’t, the Canadians will. Maine will be left behind.”
Among the goals, the LAC said Maine lobster must be identified as a unique product and must be differentiated from any other lobster in the world. Its identity must be associated with all forms of the product, not just live lobster.
Heads of the marketing firms Burgess Advertising and Marketing and Food Health and Wellness Group, both in Portland; and the New York-based futureshift offered examples of campaigns they mounted for products that had attributes similar to Maine lobster.
Each of the three firms that responded is experienced with the Maine “persona,” as one speaker put it. On the one hand, they have all worked with Maine products, Maine seafood, and/or Maine lobster in one capacity or another. On the other hand, each is a player in the larger arena of marketing beyond Maine.
Burgess creative director Daniel Routh said his experience with Arm and Hammer baking soda was an interesting parallel. The powder is no different from generics offered by supermarkets, but research shows that most consumers will reach for Arm and Hammer, he said.
“Working with Arm and Hammer hammered home the importance of making that brand so well known that people don’t question it,” Routh said.
For EfficiencyMaine, Burgess boosted awareness of compact fluorescent lightbulbs from 7 to 70 percent in three years, Routh said. The firm used a “Real Maine Farmers” tag to help make Maine’s Oakhurst Dairy the top branded milk in Maine and beyond.
“Once you start funding a message, you’ve got to keep going,” said Burgess. “It doesn’t change overnight. So with Oakhurst Dairy, we repeat, repeat repeat.”
Understanding issues and personae, in Maine and beyond, is essential to marketing, Burgess said. For example, she said, research shows that many people don’t know what to do with lobster and may be “creeped out” by its look.
Consumers are in control of deciding what to purchase, she said. A desirable image will result in consumers deciding that lobster from Maine is the best one to buy, she said.
Food and Wellness Group president John Sauve, who worked with the LAC earlier this year, said Maine lobster works in the health and wellness world. According to Sauve, health and wellness concerns drive food-purchasing decisions for many Americans today. Sauve was head of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America, which developed a successful strategy in the 1990s to elevate wild blueberries from commodity status to “nature’s antioxidant superfruit.” The campaign helped build global awareness of Maine’s wild blueberries, he said.
Sauve said it is essential to revitalize “brand identity” for Maine lobster, and position its health value.
“I think there’s going to be this magical story that’s going to come out,” he said. “Lobster is nature’s natural packaging for about three to four ounces of meat, which is about what you’re supposed to eat at every meal. There are probably some hidden insights to that product.”
Futureshift’s Jon Stamell said an industry doesn’t create its own branding position.
“It’s the market that creates your position,” Stamell said. “It’s your customers and consumers who are going to tell you what your position is. Ultimately, what you’re doing is trying to win decisions from your customers. Marketing is about winning those decisions.”
Stamell said the key to growth is about process rather than product, and communication and relationships. For example, he said, consumers don’t give high ratings to food, ambience and comfort at McDonald’s.
“There’s nothing about what McDonald’s offers you on the content side that is really that incredible in quality,” he said. “But McDonald’s has figured out that you want to eat fast, you want to eat cheap, you may want to eat in the car, you might have your kids. None of those have anything to do with the quality of the food. McDonald’s is a process-focused company, and it has grown along the process line.”
Stamell advised the MLPC to proceed cautiously.
“If you have $3 million that you’re going to be spend, everybody’s going to be coming to you,” he said. “They’ll have the best ideas in the world. Everyone in Maine will be after you. And then you’ll have everyone in New York after you.”
Laurie Schreiber is a freelance contributor living in Bass Harbor.