Raised in the U.S.A.: the Catfish Institute addresses fishy issue with strategic marketing campaign. (Best of show: public relations).

The American farm-raised catfish industry -- the country's first and greatest aquaculture success story -- was invaded by a foreign fish fraud. After The Catfish Institute (TCI), Belzoni, Miss., spent 15 years building a market in the United States, Vietnamese importers effectively applied the colloquial name "catfish" to their similar variety, called basa. More favorable production costs overseas created a lower price for the imported fish, which rapidly displaced sales of the domestic fish at a rate representing 20 percent of the U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish fillet market. Furthermore, U.S. catfish industry leaders feared the different taste and texture of the imported product would disappoint American consumers.

To stop the erosion and reclaim market share, TCI teamed with Fleishman-Hillard's food and agribusiness experts to differentiate U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish from the foreign competition.

"The Catfish Institute has done a great job of building a market for catfish in the United States," said Henry Gantz, TCI president. "Consumers now expect the high-quality, consistently mild-tasting fish supplied by the industry. We're concerned that consumers could turn away from catfish entirely if they had a bad experience with Vietnamese basa."

It was time to shift TCI's communications emphasis from promoting catfish to emphasizing U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish.

SCHOOL OF KNOWLEDGE

Fleishman-Hillard and The Catfish Institute poured over primary and secondary research to understand current attitudes about fish in general, and catfish specifically, as well as emerging food trends. "The research revealed real opportunities to highlight the Southern roots of U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish, to strengthen its homegrown image and appeal," explained Jamie Greenheck, Fleishman-Hillard senior vice president and senior partner. Her Kansas City-based team of food experts developed a strategic plan, which creatively connected U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish to high consumer expectations of American-made goods, helping distinguish it from its foreign foe by addressing the benefits of the homegrown product.

Ultimately, the plan sought to establish consumer preference for U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish and to position the product as a consistently high-quality and versatile fish. "We wanted to educate consumers on the positive attributes of U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish, but also saw the fun and quirkiness of catfish as an opportunity to maximize publicity opportunities," said Greenheck. "This proved to be a very effective strategy to communicate our primary messages -- that U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish is a quick and easy mealtime option, strict quality controls make the product among the most consistent available, and it's suitable to a wide array of flavor applications and cooking methods ... you don't have to fry it to love it!"