These Spaniards Are as Fresh as It Gets

Our client’s challenge was the kind that feels overwhelming: increase the present and future competitiveness of Spanish farmed fish.

The first thing we did was ask people why they weren’t buying more Spanish fish — through a market study — because we needed to uncover the real truth. And we discovered some very interesting things.
For instance: besides wanting their fish cleaned and ready — and keeping the head to make stock if they were over 50 — consumers valued Spanish origin and were willing to pay more for locally sourced fish, because they associated it with freshness, a key category driver.
So then, why weren’t they buying more of our sea bass, meagre, sea bream, trout, and caviar? The reason was actually quite simple: there was no way to tell Spanish fish apart from fish of other origins at the fishmonger’s counter. In other words, at the point of sale, the ice made everything look the same.

So we created a brand to solve it: Crianza Mares y Ríos de España(Farmed in Spain’s Seas and Rivers). And we obtained authorization to use the colors of the Spanish flag, so that even the most absent-minded shoppers would get it.
We started using it on the product itself, on the ice picks, on the price tags — so our fish could be easily identified by consumers. And we linked it to freshness: it’s from here, it doesn’t travel, it’s fresher.

SPANISH FISH. FRESH FISH

We also told the fishmongers. And the purchasing managers at supermarkets and large retailers. And we bought advertising at the point of sale — not just in the fish section, but in other departments too, so no one would slip through the net.
And we backed it all with an outdoor and digital campaign with geolocation targeting. Everyone got the message: if the fish is Spanish, it travels less — and therefore, it’s fresher. And they learned to recognize it by looking for our seal.

We had a presence in over 800 points of sale, where we achieved 87 million impressions and very high advertising effectiveness.
We know this because we went back and asked consumers how it went — and they said it went great. The purchasing managers at large retailers, whom we also asked (because we’re big on asking), told us the campaign had helped them increase sales.
So everyone was happy — and we went right back to work on that great challenge, as simple and as complex as it is.