Chicken of the Sea is no chicken when it comes to spending money on marketing.
The San Diego-based company launched phase two of its aggressive marketing, business and brand strategy, with costs for the campaign totaling $20 million.
The campaign includes print, broadcast, online and in-store marketing efforts, said Don George, the senior vice president of marketing for the seafood company.
“This is the cost to get the word out,” George said.
The company aims at using a new eye-catching spokesman, dubbed the Chicken of the Sea Hunk, to increase brand loyalty and bring consumers back to the firm.
The seafood company is capitalizing on its target market of women ages 25-54 by using the hunk image, played by actor Zen Gesner, who played the role of Sinbad in the syndicated series “Adventures of Sinbad,” according to company officials.
Phase one of the campaign, which began in 2004, introduced the quality improvements made in chunk light tuna, while phase two, which began in February, is a continuation and expansion of the campaign, George said.
The campaign coincides with the “What Women Want” survey, which will measure women’s attitudes on different aspects of life, including family, career and relationships.
While the majority of the money dedicated to the campaign will be spent on television, the campaign will also extensively focus its efforts on directing consumers to Chicken of the Sea’s Web site, he said, adding that in the first week of the campaign the company reported 2.5 million hits on the site.
The public relations aspects and strategies of the campaign were created and implemented by San Diego-based public relations agency Nuffer Smith Tucker, Inc. Public Relations, while the artwork was created by the Marketing Partners, based in Orange County.
NST has been the agency of record for Chicken of the Sea since March 2000.
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Agency Welcomes International Colleagues:
From March 10-12, local public relations agency Gable-Cook-Schmid PR will welcome 25 public relations practitioners from across the world as the agency hosts the spring meeting for IPREX, an international partnership of independent public relations firms.
The meeting will be held at the Omni Hotel In Downtown San Diego and will include a meeting of the IPREX executive committee, sharing the best practices in client service and management and exploring new ideas in technology, said Tom Gable, the chief executive officer of Gable-Cook-Schmid PR.
“We are going to try and improve the way we do work,” he said.
Established in 1983, IPREX is an exclusive group jointly owned by 50 independent public relations firms in major markets around the globe.
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More Biz For PR Firm:
The Windows Factory of San Diego, a manufacturer of windows and doors selling directly to homeowners, has selected the McRae Agency, a San Diego-based full-service public relations firm, to handle PR for the company.
The agency will be managing a variety of marketing activities for the company, producing an all-new quarterly newsletter and a regional and national publicity campaign, and assisting in the launching of the company’s new House Armor Windows, a burglar-resistant window containing break-resistant glass similar to the glass used in a car windshield.
The new window was recently featured in a TV commercial in which members of the San Diego Gulls hockey team continually shot hockey pucks into it to demonstrate its strength.
The McRae Agency, which has a branch in Phoenix, specializes in consumer and real estate public relations.
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PR Promotions:
Formula, a San Diego-based public relations agency, has promoted Michelle Metter to vice president of the business technology and travel divisions. In her new position, Metter will develop new business in the business technology and travel and tourism industries. Formula has also promoted Rachel Kay to account executive in the company’s consumer products and services division, and Maria Amor to assistant account executive in the business and technology division. The company, which specializes in strategic public relations campaigns, has hired Tara Fanning for the consumer products and services team.
Please send all media/marketing news to Lisa Kovach via fax at (858) 571-3628 or e-mail at lkovach@sdbj.com. Call her at (858) 277-6359, Ext. 3107.
