Fisherman’s Friend revamps marketing campaign
Fisherman’s Friend throat lozenges have announced a new campaign aimed at double-digit growth for the brand.
The campaign, designed by Stuart Alexander, marks a switch from TV advertising, which has seen steady growth for the brand, to an “aggressive below-the-line marketing campaign, driven by experiential sampling”.
The campaign introduces two new “Fisherwoman”, in green (Fresh) and hot red latex (Feisty) ‘waders’, to represent both the Fresh Mint and Original Extra Strong varieties.
The campaign will focus on in-person marketing of the brand, with consumers able to interact with the Fisherwomen at large-scale sports events, being asked whether they are “fresh or feisty” and invited to try the lozenges.
Campaign designer Paddy Bryans said the campaign was the next move after the successful “slap in the face with a fish” TVC, with the brand now positioned as a very strong product.
“The problem the brand has got however, is because of that success, you either love it or won’t even try it,” said Bryans. “The aim of this campaign is to get people to try the product on the spot.”
Bryans said the campaign was also designed to bring down the average buyer age of the product, aiming at a demographic of around 30, compared to its current popularity with older customers.
The campaign will be supported by Point-of-Sale activity and in-store displays across a range of retail outlets from the start of June.Garry Browne, Managing Director of Stuart Alexander said, “We have experienced steady growth in market share for Fisherman’s Friend over the past three years. Last year, the introduction of the resealable pack in July 2010 provided positive growth of over 4% in the highly competitive Grocery Channel.
“However we believe that the move from traditional advertising to a consumer focused experiential campaign provides an exciting opportunity to engage directly with our target audience and challenge them on their perceptions of the Fisherman’s Friend taste. As a result we believe we can look forward to watching the brand’s popularity grow within the Australian market.”
The experiential campaign will also run within the New Zealand market, focusing on the Blackcurrant and Original Extra Strong variants.
Paddy Bryans, Head of Confectionery Marketing for Stuart Alexander said, “Fisherman’s Friend is an iconic brand with extremely high awareness and a core proposition of ‘strength’ that can make it quite challenging – many consumers are literally afraid to even try it! The new marketing strategy we have developed recognises and maintains the core proposition whilst finding a creative way of inviting consumers to reconsider their perceptions of the brand and its flavour. It’s a terrific brand and marketing challenge and one we relish.”
The campaign will run during the winter months, from June to August.
Where are the peppermint (green pack) fisherman’s frien (not the sugar free) I cannot buy them at my local supermarket stores anymore. There were good even the granskids like them.