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Raincoast Trading

 

 

Situation:

Raincoast Trading, a small, sustainable, gourmet canned seafood company, came to Epic PR seeking a cost-effective means to create strong consumer awareness of its brand.

 

Objective:

The primary goals of the public relations campaign were to differentiate the brand, raise awareness of the company’s commitment eco-friendly canned seafood, and encourage initial trial with new customers.

 

Solution:

During the planning phase Epic PR worked with Raincoast Trading to identify how the company and its products would be uniquely differentiated. We identified a number of points: 1) Raincoast’s affiliation with the respected OceanWise program 2) the company’s history & family roots 3) its authenticity as a longtime environmentally-conscious company 4) eco-friendly packaging 5) sustainable fishing methods 6) processing methods and 7) high quality, natural ingredients.

Phase one of the PR program kicked off with a comprehensive press kit and an announcement that the company was the first sustainable retail seafood product to be OceanWise-endorsed, a successful marine conservation program established by the Vancouver Aquarium.

Phase two focused on educating consumers through the media. Epic PR shared the product’s unique qualities with Tier One media and high profile nutritionists. This effort helped generate a pipeline of short-lead and long-lead placements across Canada, and built support for later phases of the public relations campaign.

Phase three of the PR campaign leveraged all the awareness built around the brand to further differentiate the company with a series of ongoing news opportunities: a new product line of flavoured sardines, a partnership with Babine First Nation to sell the Band’s lake-caught salmon, and Raincoast receiving top ranking in Greenpeace’s annual sustainable tuna report.

Ongoing PR – Epic PR also leveraged various community relations initiatives to secure media coverage and raise the brand’s profile including large canned seafood donations to community food banks and participation in Can-Struction, a local charity event where Raincoast donated hundreds of cans of tuna to build an enormous Inukshuk that was on display at the Vancouver Aquarium.

Social media – Epic PR worked with Raincoast to offer seafood lovers in Canada and the U.S. a chance to win a year’s worth of sustainable canned tuna and. To enter, contestants were invited to participate in various Raincoast social media channels where they tweeted, became fans on Facebook and participated in online conversations. Epic PR also conducted blogger outreach with health, food and lifestyle blog writers who were encouraged to promote the social media contest with product giveaways that we provided them.

 

Results:

Through these various activities, Epic PR helped to generate more consumer interest and awareness throughout North America, which resulted:

  • increased product sales in Canada and the U.S.
  • increased website traffic and more product inquiries
  • extensive media profile locally and nationally with TV and print media including mainstream, food, health/lifestyle and business
  • widespread food and lifestyle blog coverage as well as online product reviews across North America
  • increased Facebook fans through ongoing PR outreach
  • goodwill in local communities through charitable donations


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