Client: Chicken of the Sea
Fresh, high-quality, delicious selection of canned seafood.
Challenge
Before rolling out a new brand positioning, Chicken of the Sea wanted to know if the concept they were considering would actually make consumers think differently about the brand, and if the creative interpretation would have the desired impact on purchase behavior. They had done significant traditional research that led to the selection of the positioning, but were still unsure if they should proceed. Given the amount of time and money already invested, they wanted something fast and inexpensive to aid in making their final decision.
The Chicken of the Sea Facebook community consisted of over 300,000 highly engaged fans and followers of the brand, providing the perfect panel to conduct the type of testing needed. But to collect the feedback required, while remaining within the boundaries of what high-quality, effective social media entails, the content could not be perceived as brand research.
Social
Strategic Solution
A three week, twelve-post campaign utilizing the available Fish Called Chicken (rebrand) assets were created. Each post was designed to tell a specific component of the new brand story, eliciting comments that would qualitatively indicate whether the new positioning and creative interpretation were radically different or just nominally better than the brand’s current stance.
Minimal yet sufficient amounts were spent on boosting (~$14,000 total), but only within targeted markets where weekly sales are variable and thus increased consumption would be detectable using correlation analysis.
Impact
Over 200,000 engagements were made during the test period, and positive sentiment toward the brand increased significantly compared to previous periods (month-over-month/year-over-year). However, weekly sales lifts within the targeted markets were all within the normal variation expected, indicating the new positioning and creative interpretation could provide a step change for the brand, but most likely would not produce the game-changing effects desired. In all likelihood, this simple test saved Chicken of the Sea millions of dollars on a campaign that would have had minimal impact.
This project was completed by the E29 team while at a previous agency and in collaboration with another who is not an E29 employee.