PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — The Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) has released results from its latest marketing campaign, “Choose Seafood with Standards,” conducted to coincide with U.S. National Seafood Month (October). This was the second consumer-facing campaign for GSA focused on building awareness of the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification program and driving sales of BAP-certified seafood.
Campaign tactics included a social media campaign with targeted influencer engagement, the creation and promotion of new recipes on BAP’s consumer website, and national and regional consumer media outreach. Public relations efforts resulted in consistent media mentions for BAP, including articles in HuffPost, Forbes, Tasting Table and The Daily Meal, a broadcast segment with CBS Austin with dietitian Mia Syn, and multiple posts from food bloggers.
Ten retail and foodservice partners signed on for this campaign, including ALDI, Giant Eagle, Green Chef, H-E-B, Iberostar Hotels, Lidl, Meijer, Secret Island, Wakefern Food Corp. (the supermarket cooperative that includes the ShopRite banner), and WinCo Foods.
Partners participated by working with campaign influencers, collaborating with GSA on PR opportunities, creating their own social content about BAP, posting and sharing BAP content and recipes on social media and promoting BAP on their websites, advertisements, in-store signage and in direct-to-consumer packages. Examples include this herb roasted salmon recipe on Giant Eagle’s website and accompanying video; this Instagram contest with Secret Island; the below page featuring a salmon chowder recipe and the BAP label in Lidl’s monthly magazine, The Dish; and the cheesy baked shrimp dip recipe ShopRite posted on their social media channels (below) that uses BAP-certified Wholesome Pantry shrimp.
The BAP label is featured in Lidl’s monthly magazine, The Dish, along with a recipe for salmon chowder.
An Instagram story from ShopRite featuring their game day shrimp recipe for National Seafood Month.
Using these tactics, BAP saw 775 media mentions from Sept. 1 through the end of the year, which had a reach of more than 2 billion people. This year, PR efforts were spread throughout the entire year instead of just during this focused promotional period. The social media campaign had a reach of 1.8 million and 720,000 engagements. This is a significant increase from the 1 million reach and 170,000 engagements in 2022. The six influencer posts alone had 1.3 million impressions and 692,000 engagements. See the infographic below for a summary of the results.
GSA plans to build on this momentum going into 2024 and will be conducting a digital campaign during Lent as well as other promotions throughout the year. The promotion will feature new recipes now available on BAP’s consumer-facing website. If you’re interested in getting involved in future campaigns, reach out to GSA’s marketing team here.
About Global Seafood Alliance
The Global Seafood Alliance is an international, nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing responsible seafood practices through education, advocacy and third-party assurances. Through the development of its certification programs, GSA has become the leading provider of assurances for wild and farmed seafood globally. The organization’s work addresses the full spectrum of responsibility, from environmental responsibility and social accountability to food safety. Established in 1997 as the Global Aquaculture Alliance, GSA is headquartered in Portsmouth, N.H., USA. To learn more, visit www.globalseafood.org.
