A talking tuna, a mermaid and a bee walk into a supermarket and ... Sounds like the set-up for a joke, yes? It is, however, for real, as three long-time competitors whose brands are represented by those characters join forces to stimulate demand for the pantry staple they all sell.
The grocery mainstay is tuna, which is being celebrated in a campaign sponsored by the makers of StarKist (the chatty fish), Chicken of the Sea (the mermaid) and Bumble Bee (buzz, buzz). The campaign is under the aegis of the Tuna Council, a unit of the National Fisheries Institute.
The campaign, now under way, is also being supported by tuna processors in Thailand. It marks the first time that the leading tuna marketers have teamed up for marketing purposes, pitching their common product in a general way.
The campaign is in addition to the regular efforts by Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist to market themselves separately.
For instance, last week Chicken of the Sea started a campaign centered on the mermaid, which has been the brand’s symbol since 1952. Commercials feature the vintage jingle known as “Ask Any Mermaid.â€
And StarKist brought out a campaign last year that carries the theme “Have you been StarKist?†and more recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its talkative brand mascot, Charlie the Tuna. (These days, a line often heard in vintage StarKist commercials, “Sorry, Charlie,†is taking on a whole new meaning.)
The new tuna campaign is being created by Grey New York, part of the Grey division of the Grey Group, which is owned by WPP.
The theme of the campaign is “Tuna the Wonderfish,†which is expressed in a light-hearted and playful manner rather than literally. The humor is intended to reflect that eating tuna is meant to be fun rather than a chore or a duty.
The media costs for the campaign are estimated at $15 million. There are television commercials, which are also appearing on a microsite, and on YouTube; print advertisements; ads online; and a public relations initiative, overseen by Coburn Communications in New York.
There is also a presence in gyms and fitness centers through a buy with the Health Club Media Network, part of Outcast Media. There are posters and commercials on digital screens along with giveaways of items like insulated nylon lunch bags and recipe brochures.
Although there are many campaigns that unite the producers of agricultural products like avocados, cheese, milk and pork, ads financed by makers of competing brands are not as common.
They are increasing, though, as evidenced by a campaign called Clear on Calories from rival soft-drink marketers like Coca-Cola, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo. Those ads, under the umbrella of the American Beverage Association, promote a voluntary agreement by those companies to start displaying calorie counts on the fronts of product packages.
The decision by the tuna marketers to swim in the same direction comes as per-capita consumption of canned tuna has declined to 2.5 pounds a year in 2009 from a high of 3.4 pounds a year in 2003.
A big reason for the falloff was an advisory in 2004 from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. They urged women who are pregnant or nursing, as well as young children, to limit consumption of albacore tuna because of concerns about methylmercury, a neurotoxin.
Many consumers responded by not buying any canned tuna, which, needless to say, has hurt the companies that sell Bumble Bee (Bumble Bee Foods, part of Lion Capital), Chicken of the Sea (Chicken of the Sea International, owned by a Thai company, Thai Union International) and StarKist (part of a South Korean company, the Dongwon Group).
“Tuna was losing relevance,†says Mary Anne Hansan, vice president at the National Fisheries Institute in McLean, Va., “and we felt the time was right to put a strategy together, and a budget together,†to try reversing that.
Research found that “consumers think they’re eating as much canned tuna as they ever have,†Ms. Hansan says, and they “could be inspired to look at our product again.â€
That led to a review to seek an agency for a campaign, from which Grey New York emerged as the victor. The agency “certainly has a lot of packaged-goods experience,†she adds, as well as “food and restaurant experience.†Such clients include Dairy Queen, Jif, Olive Garden and Smucker’s.
It was not that difficult getting the three tuna companies to agree on the campaign, says Joe Tuza, senior vice president for marketing at StarKist in Pittsburgh. (Yes, Mr. Tuza markets tuna.)
“We worked together surprisingly well,†he adds, as “we found the most common denominator in the tuna category†to emphasize in the ads.
“Our hope is that as the water level rises,†Mr. Tuza says, referring to the goal of increasing sales of tuna, “all boats rise with the tide†— that is, the three brands bankrolling the campaign.
The timing of the campaign is good, Mr. Tuza says, because of “economic trends.†For one thing, consumers “are eating more at home†to save money, he adds, and as a result are “looking for simple meal solutions.â€
So tunathewonderfish.com offers copious amounts of tuna recipes, which can be found in two places. There is a prosaic section devoted to recipes that are listed alphabetically.
There is also another, more fanciful, section, which offers a random recipe generator designed to look like a slot machine. That section declares, “Have fun with tuna,†in keeping with the upbeat tone of the campaign.
“Use your mouse to pull the lever,†says Joy, the proprietor of the kitchen, who also appears in the commercials and video clips. The slot machine has three sections: “tuna when†(occasions like lunch, a snack, whenever), “tuna with†(choices like vegetables, no mayonnaise, whatever) and “tuna how†(suggestions like healthy, classy, however).
Three virtual pulls on the lever on Sunday yielded recipes for, in order, stuffed tomatoes, tuna Waldorf salad and Caesar salad. The recipes can be e-mailed, printed or shared through Facebook and Twitter.
In the commercials and videos, Joy (an actress named Elizabeth Bond) also can be found in the kitchen, singing the praises of tuna for qualities like being “good for your heart,†“part of a healthy diet†and “great on the go.â€
She is joined by wacky characters — not a talking tuna, a mermaid or a bumble bee, but rather groups of offbeat people who share common interests in the form of “27 Latin lovers,†“31 astronauts in training†and “35 bungee jumpers.â€
The motif continues in the print ads, which carry headlines like “Thirty-one professional hula hoopers agree tuna is good for your waistline,†“Thirty-four speed walking champions agree tuna is great on the go†and “Forty-five hourglass-shaped belly dancers agree tuna is good for your figure.â€
The idea is that “tuna is a fun food, so let‘s have fun with the advertising,†says Tor Myhren, president and chief creative officer at Grey New York.
“There’s a need to for a breakthrough, disruptive quality†to “make sure the ads don’t go unnoticed,†he adds. “When you’re advertising something like tuna, you have to have fun, or it’s going to be invisible.â€
Ms. Hansan says the broad humor prevents the campaign from “getting caught up in the nutritional benefits†of tuna, which could make it seem “like medicine.â€
“It’s a great way to connect people with the weight benefit, life style benefit,†she adds, “without talking about omega-3 fatty acids.â€
Mr. Myhren describes “the message, the strategic platform†of the campaign as seeking to “make tuna amazing all over again.â€
That partly accounts for the theme being “Tuna the wonderfish,†he adds, calling it “my favorite part of the campaign.â€
“Along with the humor, we really wanted to modernize this food,†Mr. Myhren says, which can suffer from an image of being “dated, a food from the past.â€
The campaign is “highlighting the benefits†of tuna “in a very entertaining way,†he adds, and amid the humor “everything hits hard on a benefit†like “good for your heart†or “helps keep your weight down.â€
For instance, the Latin lovers, who dance around Joy’s kitchen, demonstrate “high energy,†Mr. Myhren says, and the bungee jumpers “are very athletic.â€
The bungee jumpers also illustrate that tuna is “a great food on the go,†he adds, as they swoop down from a bridge into her kitchen, which is floating on a barge underneath them. First they take all the tuna dishes on the counter, and when all the food is gone one jumper grabs Joy.
Perceptually, when consumers consider a meal or snack, Mr. Myhren says, “‘I’ll get it out of the can and add a little mayo’ sounds a lot harder than ‘I’ll drink my smoothie.’â€
“We have to get over some of that†by showing the portability of tuna, he adds, which can now also be found in “different packaging†like pouches as well as traditional cans.
The commercials are running on broadcast shows like “The Bachelor,†“Conan,†“Dancing with the Stars,†“Good Morning America,†“Modern Family,†“60 Minutes†and “Today.â€
They are also appearing on programs on cable channels like ABC, ABC Family, Bravo, Food Network, HGTV, Lifetime, Nick at Nite, Oxygen, OWN, Style, TBS and USA.
The online ads are appearing on Web sites operated by the likes of the Walt Disney Company, Food Network and Weight Watchers.
There are 893 health clubs taking part in the campaign, in 20 markets.
The sponsors have made a three-year commitment to the campaign, Ms. Hansan says, with a caveat, that “we need to see results year to year.â€
There are “specific goals†that have been set for the first year, she adds, and “if we can get to those goals, which are realistic though aggressive, we could move to Year 2.â€
At more than $15 million, the budget for the first year of the campaign is well above what the three leading tuna brands have spent lately to advertise in major media.
According to Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, in 2007 Bumble Bee spent $2.5 million, Chicken of the Sea spent $13,000 and StarKist spent $84,000, for a total of $2.6 million.
In 2008, Bumble Bee spent $612,000, Chicken of the Sea spent nothing and StarKist spent $136,000, for a total of $748,000.
In 2009, the last full year for which totals are available, Bumble Bee spent almost $4.5 million, Chicken of the Sea spent $40,000 and StarKist spent almost $4.6 million, for a total of $9.1 million.
And for the first nine months of 2010, Bumble Bee spent almost $4.3 million, Chicken of the Sea spent $123,000 and StarKist spent $3.5 million, for a total of $7.9 million.
