Looking to bring to life the personalities who catch, and cook, its seafood, Red Lobster is pushing ahead with a new national advertising campaign featuring “real people.”
It’s the latest step in a multi-year effort to refresh the casual seafood chain’s brand and broaden its appeal by making a more personal connection with its customers.
The new campaign features a new tagline, “Sea Food Differently,” intended to communicate the brand’s recent changes, including wood-fire grilling, a “Today’s Fresh Fish” menu comprising five to eight species and a “Quick Catches” lunch menu. Red Lobster is also remodeling all of its nearly 700 restaurants with a New England-inspired motif.
The new campaign also showcases Red Lobster’s new logo, featuring an updated lobster icon with the slogan “Fresh Fish, Live Lobster.” The logo will appear at the end of each new ad, as well as on new restaurant signs, menus, gift cards and the recently redesigned Red Lobster website and Facebook page.
The first 30-second TV spot began airing on 25 July in both the United States and Canada in support of Red Lobster’s “Crabfest” promotion. The ad features Jon Forsythe, an Alaska crab fisherman and highlights Red Lobster’s commitment to top-quality seafood. The promotion runs through 5 Septmember. The second 30-second TV spot, “Grill Master,” also debuted on 25 July 25 in the United States, featuring Charles Himple, one of Red Lobster’s Certified Grill Masters, from the company’s restaurant in Bronx, NY.
Click here to watch the “Crabfest” spot and here to view the “Grill Master” spot.
The new campaign was created by Grey New York, which retained by Red Lobster about a year ago.
“At Red Lobster, we’ve made some exciting changes but have yet to communicate everything that’s new and different to our guests,” said Salli Setta, Red Lobster’s executive VP of marketing. “Who better to tell this story than our own people, who bring to life the warmth, vitality and genuineness of our brand.”
Red Lobster is continuing to improve after struggling in recent years. In the fourth quarter, which ended on 29 May, Red Lobster posted a 5.6 percent increase in sales to USD 701 million, driven by a U.S. same-restaurant sales increase of 3.8 percent.
Red Lobster is owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, the world’s largest casual-dining company with more than USD 7 billion in annual sales. The company also operates Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse.
