The Global Shrimp Council (GSC) has announced a marketing campaign aimed at getting more people to eat more shrimp, starting with the U.S. market.
The GSC was founded in 2023 to create a unified industry effort to significantly change market dynamics for shrimp, he said. It hired Miguel Barcenas, the creator of the highly successful “Avocados from Mexico” promotional campaign, to lead an effort to create a global shrimp marketing campaign.
During the third annual Global Shrimp Forum, held in Utrecht, Netherlands, from 3 to 5 September 2024, Barcenas said to grow shrimp consumption and to overcome obstacles currently facing the industry, there’s a strong need for a collective industry brand.
With this in mind and with the GSC having grown to comprise 43 members, the organization is launching its “Global Shrimp – Happy Protein” campaign, aimed at fulfilling the GSC’s overriding mission of encouraging people to eat more shrimp more often.
“We want [consumers] to love it, so we’re creating a ‘love brand,’” Barcenas said.
Consumers want to be inspired by their food choices and want to eat healthier foods, Barcenas said. Subsequently, the campaign will demonstrate that shrimp fits the bill as a nutritious protein. It will also provide consumers with traceability details, which the public is increasingly demanding, he said.
“Research tells us there are lots of discussions about protein and sustainability, that shoppers want true honesty, and also that they want to be inspired. We need to listen to the consumer,” he said.
The campaign’s language will incorporate shrimp's nutritional value, its versatility, and its convenience into its messaging, seeking to show consumers consuming shrimp is a “smart, delicious, and happy decision” that will make them feel good inside and out, he said.
“We want to build this productive brand in a place where there is no brand. I have lived in the U.S. for 30 years, and honestly, I don't know of any shrimp brand. I think we can benefit from a collective brand – a brand that [the industry] can use together with your own brands,” Barcenas said. “We want to reinvent shopper marketing. We did this with avocados: If you travel to the U.S. and go to any supermarket, you will walk in and find an avocado stand right there; it’s always front and center.”
Barcenas said his avocado marketing campaign raised annual sales 344 percent, compared to the wider fruit industry’s 9 percent growth.
“That required a lot of work, working with retailers and convincing them that we are very good to be right out in front. We're going to work with that [with shrimp],” he said. “Imagine a calendar full of activation across all the retail players and foodservice.”
Barcenas said though many people have told him that avocados and shrimp are very different entities, over the past 18 months working on the GSC’s marketing strategy, he believes the two foods have strong similarities.
“Why? Because we face [common] challenges,” he said. “People are looking at you and trying to find out what you're doing wrong. So, we need to have our house in order before we start jumping out saying we have everything ready,” he said. “In the avocado business, we have reforestation programs, corporate social responsibility programs, and water conservation programs; these are all visible on websites, and the press are invited to visit the orchards. With shrimp, we have to look at what we have, because 99 good stories are destroyed with one bad story.”
Barcenas said he will also draw on his success with a previous campaign that helped multiply coconut water sales.
“Coconut water had been in the marketplace for 20 years, sold in small cans. Now, if you go to Costco or Walmart, coconut water is everywhere,” he said. “Why? Because we told people it was good for them, and we made it convenient and available.”
If it’s done right, the campaign will ensure the global shrimp industry will become bigger and better, Barcenas said. However, educating consumers will be key, especially teaching people how to select shrimp, prepare it, and keep it fresher for longer.
“We will talk about the universal truths of shrimp so everybody can benefit. It's going to take a little time; it’s going to take continuity,” Barcenas said. “But, we have a three-year plan, and we believe we can make it happen.”
The U.S. will be the focus of the initial campaign launch, according to Barcenas. Shrimp is the top seafood species sold in the U.S. but still ranks behind chicken, beef, and pork in U.S. per capita consumption.
“It has lots of room for growth,” he said.
Barcenas estimatedthe campaign will take at least three years to begin garnering measurable results.
