Integrated operational plan for the promotion of frozen fishery products 2012-2015

The frozen fish industry is one of the most important in the food category, with annual domestic turnover of more than €380m.

In recent years, frozen fish has gained increasing acceptance in the Greek market, with more than 50% penetration, even though prejudice regarding its quality has not been overcome.

The objectives of the sectoral promotional plan are:

• to clarify the needs of Greek consumers today, 
• to provide information about frozen fish
• to increase the number of consumers in Greece 
• to enter new markets and increase market share in them

The programme was financed by the Fisheries Operational Programme 2007-2013.

ACTIONS

1. SURVEY OF CONSUMPTION IN GREECE

The object of the survey was to investigate and quantify the penetration of frozen fishery products in the Greek market. 
The survey was conducted from 21 to 28 June 2012 on a nationwide sample of 1702 people over the age of 18.

2. PRINT AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION PROGRAMME

Electronic communication – website

A website was created for the programme, with information about the sector and its products, and the production processes and nutritional value of frozen fishery products.

The site also featured recipes for adults and children, accompanied by advice on storage.

The site was updated once a week with articles, photographs, graphics or videos, such as: recipes, ways of using products, wines to accompany fish dishes, and quality control during production, i.e. information that made visitors want to return to the site.

It was linked to social networks that were constantly monitored to respond to user posts and prevent malicious interference and spam posts.
There was also permanent monitoring of visitors and their history: where they came from, if they became permanent users, and which articles attracted most traffic. The results were used to shape the content.

Media communication programme

Television and internet advertising campaigns were used to promote frozen fish consumption.

Three 20-second TV commercials were screened on Mega, Ant1, Star, Alpha, Skai, ERT, ETV and Nova.

On the internet, banners appeared on queen.gr, mothersblog.gr, gossip-tv.gr, tlife.gr, newsbeast.gr, kathimerini.gr, skai.gr, govastileto.gr, protothema.gr, real.gr, enikos.gr, iefimerida.gr, palo.gr, ladylike.gr, newpost.gr, tovima.gr, tanea.gr, protagon.gr, tvxs.gr, womenonly.gr, jenny.gr, mixanitouxronou.gr, news.gr, thetoc.gr, koutipandoras.gr and parapolitika.gr

Production of audio-visual material

Six videos were made featuring the celebrity chefs Lefteris Lazarou, Vissarion Parthenis, Diane Kochilas, Dimitris Skarmoutsos and Dina Nikolaou, each presenting their own frozen fish recipe and encouraging consumers to use frozen fish regularly.

The videos were hosted on popular health and nutrition websites and promoted on search engines.

Supplementary promotional material

Recipe cards have been produced with easy-to-make dishes using frozen fish, and are used as promotional material at events and trade fairs.

Programme review video

A seven-minute video was created as a programme review, along with a short one-minute presentation of all the actions and the material created as part of the programme.

3. Informational and promotional actions in Greece and abroad

Consumer events

Events were held in large shopping centres in Athens and Thessaloniki between 12 noon and 8pm.

During the events, the chef Dina Nikolaou demonstrated the preparation of a different dish every two hours.

In partnership with a catering company, larger quantities of each dish were made (approximately 300 mini portions) so that they could be offered to consumers both by the chef and by serving staff.

At the same time, the nutritionist used a computer screen to present the nutritional values of fish and seafood, their importance in daily nutrition, and the quality assurance standards during the freezing process. 

The response of the public to all the events was extremely positive: the visitors showed interest in the recipes and in listening to the nutritionists explaining about the advantages of frozen fish and seafood.

There were live demonstrations of five recipes using frozen fish and seafood:  shrimps, calamari, octopus, and fillet of sole and grouper. Samples and leaflets about the programme were handed out to consumers by promotional models wearing branded shirts and caps.

A total of eight events were held, four in Athens and four in Thessaloniki, which were covered in the press and online.

Participation in commercial trade fairs in Greece and abroad

The programme took part in trade fairs in Greece (HORECA, DETROP) Germany (ANUGA), France (SIAL) and Belgium (ESE).